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Threats and blackmail were an attempt to force blogger Khasan Khalitov to stop criticizing the Chechen authorities, since the goal was not achieved through the kidnapping of his relatives, human rights defenders explained. They suggested that officials from the Chechen authorities were involved in the kidnappings and blackmail of the Ramzan Kadyrov’s opponents.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on the protection of the rights of LGBT people in Europe, with the focus on persecution based on sexual orientation in Chechnya. The PACE requested the authorities of Russia to protect the victims and punish the perpetrators.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya refused to consider arguments presented by advocates of brothers Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev concerning the need to transfer their case for consideration to another region of Russia.

Members of the Estonian parliament nominated the “Memorial”* as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

On January 26, in Strasbourg, fourteen organizations, including NGOs from Azerbaijan, announced the Campaign to Uphold Rights in Europe (CURE).

In Pyatigorsk, a court reduced the sentence of Malika Djikaeva, who was convicted in Chechnya in a drug case, from three to two years of imprisonment. Malika Djikaeva is to be released in March.

The relatives of the blogger, Khasan Khalitov, who live in Chechnya are restricted in their freedom of travel; his father was fired from his job; and his sister was forced to close her business, the blogger has informed.

A 38-year-old resident of the city of Izberbash have joined an international religious association, where he studied extremist ideology, investigators assert.

At detention, Zarema Musaeva was beaten up by law enforcers; and her husband, Saidi Yangulbaev, was subjected to a lengthy interrogation at the airport as he was leaving the country, Aliya Yangulbaeva, the daughter of the abducted woman, has reported.

The "Committee against Torture" (CaT)* has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the interests of Rustam Kuchmenov, a citizen of Nalchik, who accuses law enforcers of torturing him.

Eduard Ataev, a Dagestani activist, who has spent the night at the police station after his picket, has explained that the aim of his regular pickets in Makhachkala to stop illegal mining in the territory of the dwelling settlement of Endirey. Ataev also demands to suppress corruption in the Khasavyurt District.

Abdul-Malik Albogachiev, a native of Ingushetia, who is serving his term in an Astrakhan colony, was never given the family Koran; and the colony bosses insist on his transfer to a barrack with the inmates who are in conflict with him, Zarema Barakhoeva and Pyatimat Yusupova, rights defenders, have informed.

Human rights defender Abubakar Yangulbaev responded from Georgia to the leader of Chechnya to accusations that the Yangulbaev family allegedly supported terrorism. Abubakar Yangulbaev called the kidnapping of his elderly mother by Chechen law enforcers an act of terrorism.

According to the court’s decision, Ashot Minasyan, a participant in three Karabakh wars, accused of illegal possession of firearms, will be released after bail is paid. Ashot Minasyan pleads not guilty.

For years, Ramzan Kadyrov allows himself to make judgments about the Russia’s foreign policy, including the situation with Ukraine, despite the Kremlin’s statements about the need for subordination in such matters. The Kremlin’s reaction to the repeated call to annex Ukraine to Russia voiced by Ramzan Kadyrov looks formal, political analysts note.

The statements on the Ukrainian issue are the personal viewpoint of an ordinary citizen, Ramzan Kadyrov has stated, adding that if there are no people in Ukraine who will help the country to resist the United States, Russia should come to the rescue.

Eduard Ataev and Ruslan Magomedov, who were detained at solo pickets, spent the night at a police station in Makhachkala. Eduard Ataev has been taken to court, but he does not know what he is accused of, the activist says. Today, the police have again refused to allow an advocate visit Ruslan Magomedov, his defender reports.

Khasan Khalitov, an oppositional blogger has identified the person who had demanded from him to stop criticizing Chechen authorities under the threat of publicizing the degrading photos of his sister.

Near the city of Djabrail, Karabakh rescuers have found remains of an Armenian military serviceman who perished in hostilities in November 2020. The total number of found bodies and remains has reached 1708, the Emergency Service of Nagorno-Karabakh has reported.

After the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) refused to reconsider the murder case of the Chechen human rights defender, Natalia Estemirova, her relatives and colleagues have exhausted all the chances at the national and international levels to bring her killers to justice, Oleg Orlov, a human rights defender, has stated.