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The court handed down an overly lenient sentence to five law enforcers convicted of kidnapping and torturing a woman from Dagestan; and the lengthy investigation into the case is related to the systemic problems in the law enforcement system, lawyers have pointed out.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow found Maria Mamedova, a former employee of the Stavropol Territorial Department of the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ), earlier convicted in a criminal case on promoting terrorism, guilty of spreading fakes about the Russian Armed Forces and sentenced her in absentia to eight years of imprisonment in a penal colony. That was reported by the “Mediazona”* portal.

The publication of threats voiced by Adam Kadyrov against blogger Khasan Khalitov does not reduce the risks for the critic of the Chechen authorities living abroad, but confirms the involvement of the Chechen authorities in the kidnapping of his relatives, a political analyst and a human rights defender state.

The topic of banning niqabs in the republics of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) is not discussed in the Kremlin, the presidential press secretary has stated. The issues of religious clothing fall within the competence of the clergy, the Russian State Duma MPs have indicated.

Eleven law enforcers from Makhachkala have faced trial on charges of torturing Kurban Dalgatov, who died after detention. The cases of two other figurants are being considered separately.

Blogger Khadjimurad Khanov asked for house arrest in a criminal case on illegal arms trafficking, but a court placed him in custody, an advocate and a friend of Khadjimurad Khanov report. The criminal case against the blogger looks strange, since it was instituted several days after the scandal over a niqab, a Dagestani human rights defender and a journalist emphasize.

The involvement of participants in a militants’ attack in Dagestan in the “Islamic State”* and other organizations has not been confirmed; there are no signs inherent in the actions of the above-mentioned terrorist organization, analysts note.

Gays in Dagestan were in danger even before law enforcers held provocations and raids on them; and after the arrest of the gay blogger Matvei Volodin, threats have grown manifold. However, as noted by rights defenders, law enforcers have no real grounds to open cases against gays under the article on extremism.

The Southern District Military Court has found a Sochi resident guilty of preparing to defect to Ukraine and sentenced him to six years in penal colony.

The niqab-banning fatwa is not mandatory; it will be observed only by those for whom the Dagestani Muftiate is an authority; and they are not all residents of the republic. This is the result of polling religious scholars and a former Imam conducted by the "Caucasian Knot".

Wearing niqabs and burqas in modern conditions causes practical harm to Muslims and threatens discord in interreligious and interethnic relations, announces the Coordination Centre for Muslims of Northern Caucasus.

The case against Mikhail Balabanov, convicted under the article on terrorism for preparing to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office in the Stavropol Territory, was the result of a provocation by the FSB, stated the “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” human rights project.

A ban on wearing niqabs has been introduced in Dagestan; it will remain in force until a new theological conclusion, the republic's Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM or Muftiate) has announced.

Archpriest Andrei Drugai from Krasnodar, deprived of the right to conduct priestly services, reported that he had to leave Russia due to the threat of arrest for preaching about peace, contrary to the policies of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The court has appointed the freedom deprivation measure of two months for Dagestani blogger, Khadjimurad Khanov, with in the case of illegal arms trafficking.

The Tlyaratinsky District has fined Zharula Ramazanov, a school teacher, by 30,000 roubles for speaking against the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine and deaths of servicemen from Dagestan there.

Charges brought against Khadjimurad Khanov in a criminal case on possession of firearms and a grenade is absurd, and the attention of the law enforcement bodies is caused by the scandal surrounding the demands for an apology from a doctor in Khasavyurt, who asked a patient to remove her niqab during a medical examination, to which the leader of Dagestan reacted, Dagestani journalists and activists believe.

The kidnapping of the relatives of Khasan Khalitov, a Chechen blogger living abroad, is revenge for his call to Aishat Kadyrova, the current Vice-Premier of Chechnya; threats to Khalitov were voiced out by Adam Kadyrov, a son of the head of Chechnya, human rights defenders report, expressing concern for the health condition of the blogger's relatives, especially his elderly father.

After an arrest of porn actor Matvei Volodin, law enforcers in Dagestan launched a campaign against gay men and organized raids against them. Yusuf, one of the detainees, left Russia after he was forced to agree to cooperate with the law enforcement bodies.

Khasan Khalitov, an oppositional blogger and a Ramzan Kadyrov's critic, has stated that several days ago authorities summoned his father and two brothers to Grozny for a talk; and since then their whereabouts remain unknown.