News

The defence of Eldar Gasanov again requested the General Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan to change the pre-trial restriction measure for his treatment at a clinic because of the deterioration of his condition at a hospital.

The defendants were aware that their acquaintance was involved in the activities of a terrorist organization and was plotting to create an illegal armed formation, but did not report the above information to the law enforcement bodies, investigators claimed.

Anti-COVID measures imposed by the authorities in Southern Russia; reappointment of Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister of Armenia; preparation for the September elections in Southern Russia; new successes of athletes from the Caucasus and Southern Russia at the Tokyo Olympic Games, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of August 2-8, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

During the week from August 2 to August 8, 2021, no information was received about any perished or wounded persons during the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from open sources.

Law enforcers used torture to obtain confessions of participation in the attack on Nalchik in 2005, two convicts indicated in their answers to the questions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), despite Russian authorities' assurances that they had not been tortured.

On the 13th anniversary of the start of the 2008 "five-day war", relatives of those who perished therein have visited the fraternal cemetery and memorials in Tbilisi. Five European states have made statements in support of the territorial integrity of Georgia.

The person accused of killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili looks like Vadim Krasikov, said a latter's relative, but could not confidently identify him. The relative has refrained from identifying the defendant out of fears for his safety, Hristo Grozev, the head of the Bellingcat's investigation division, has written.

Law enforcers have detained Giorgi Chaladze, a leader of the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party, for disobeying law enforcers. The oppositionist has linked his detention with his political activities.

Doctors of the EGE-Hospital clinic have found out that the reason for the deterioration in the health condition of Ogtai Gyulyalyev, an Azerbaijani human rights defender, was in an infection in the abdominal cavity. His health condition has somewhat improved after the treatment prescribed in the clinic, his wife said.

Azerbaijani military have suppressed the fire delivered by Armenian units on the border with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR), the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed. The Armenian organization "Security and Democracy" complained to international structures about deliberate arsons of fields in this border section.

Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, suffers from water supply outages. Due to the intense heat, rivers have dried up; and the stock of drinking water at purification facilities has decreased.

On August 6, Alizamin Salaev, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), has ended his hunger strike after the colony bosses assured him that in the coming days he would be transferred to a medical unit or prison hospital.

In 2021, the jury of the annual contest named in honour of the assassinated journalist of the "Caucasian Knot", Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev, considered 50 materials about the Caucasus. The first place was awarded to Alexei Pivovarov for the video report "Why Dagestan has become a hot spot on the epidemic map".

The "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Channel has reported that the State Security Service (SSS) was wiretapping politicians and activists, after which human rights defenders demanded from the Prosecutor's Office to conduct an investigation. The Georgian Parliament should take the work of special services under its control, the Georgian NGOs have demanded.

The persecution of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT) and Igor Kalyapin, the head thereof, is a consequence of the work of this organization engaged in investigating human rights violations, including those committed in Northern Caucasus, human rights activists said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Army is unable to fulfil its functions, since it has lost a significant part of its military equipment, Tigran Grigoryan, a political analyst, has noted. It is beneficial for Armenia to attract UN or OSCE peacemakers to the region, but Russia is hindering this, Naira Airumyan, a political observer, believes.

Ogtai Gyulyalyev was transferred to the intensive care unit; he is very weak, his son has informed. Clinics are afraid of responsibility for his health condition; as public attention is riveted to him, said Mekhman Aliev, the director of the "Turan" News Agency.

The court dismissed a motion for conditional early relief (CER) filed by Alizamin Salaev, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), and the defence of the oppositionist will challenge the above court’s decision. Alizamin Salaev said that he was on hunger strike for the third day because of the lack of medical assistance.

In Austria, a court sentenced Sarali Akhtaev to life imprisonment in a case on the murder of Mamikhan Umarov, a blogger, well-known for criticizing Ramzan Kadyrov.

On suspicion of illegal possession of firearms, a person may be detained for at least three days, but in the case of a Chechen law enforcer in Khasavyurt, his relationship with the Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya played its role, veterans of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) suggested.