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In 2021, Azerbaijan faced a broader practice of violating citizens' civil, political and socioeconomic rights under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic, says the report by the non-governmental Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Education (CEMDE).

During the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020, a total of 3809 people perished, and 220 others are still missing; the data was released today by the Investigating Committee (IC) of Armenia.

Kidnappings of his relatives will not affect the position of the blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, and other critics of Chechen authorities; the campaign aimed to intimidate oppositionists by kidnapping their relatives turned out to be a failure, the human rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

A driver of a Moscow bus who responded with insults to attacks of Dagestani native Shugaib Bolatukaev should also apologize for his words. This opinion was voiced by Instagram users after the native of Dagestan publicly apologized for his act.

Today, a court has started to consider a case against David Tonoyan, the former Armenian Defence Minister. Activists who gathered in front of the courthouse have demanded a fair trial. The court hearing was held behind closed doors, despite the motion filed by the defence.

Journalist Polad Aslanov continued his hunger strike, despite the assurances of the General Prosecutor of Azerbaijan about the unbiased and fair consideration of the journalist’s complaint in the Supreme Court (SC).

Today, Alizamin Salaev, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), has been released in accordance with the Amnesty Act. The activist complains that his health state deteriorated during the imprisonment.

The Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has issued a memo recommending its citizens refrain from travelling to certain Russian regions.

The Novokubansk District Court has ruled to arrest Sergey Stroganov, an activist from Novokubansk, for five days finding him guilty of spreading extremist materials. In their turn, eco-activists believe that prosecution of Stroganov has to do with his statements against the construction of a mountain resort in the territory of the Lagonaki Plateau.

The Fifth Cassation Court in Pyatigorsk has considered the complaint lodged by Bagaudin Myakiev, an Ingush activist, and overturned the sentence passed for an alleged use of violence against a state servant. The cancellation means sending the case for a retrial, Magomed Aushev, an advocate, has explained.

In the Goranboy District of Azerbaijan, a local resident was blown up by a mine; his left leg was amputated.

As of today, the number of kidnapped relatives of the oppositional bloggers and human rights defenders still kept detained in Chechnya has decreased by at least 10 people; it follows from the data of the "Caucasian Knot" based on information from open sources and from Ramzan Kadyrov's critics themselves.

On the second day of their strike, social workers continued their action near the building of the Ministry of Public Health (MPH) of Georgia, seeking a meeting with the minister. Apart from higher salaries, they demand annual indexing thereof with account of the inflation.

The management of the “Georgian Airways” has announced a decision to sell the company for 150 million US dollars. The bankruptcy of the air carrier was caused by the losses associated with the closure of the Georgian borders during the pandemic, the court stated.

National courts in Armenia did not provide sufficient evidence of the Nikol Pashinyan’s guilt in organizing mass riots in March 2008, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) reports today. The Strasbourg Court pointed to a violation of the complainant’s rights, but did not award compensation, since Nikol Pashinyan did not request it.

The New York-based International Committee to Protect Journalists expresses concern about the health state of Polad Aslanov, the editor of the “xeberman.com”, who is on a hunger strike in custody. The human rights defenders call on the Azerbaijan’s authorities to release the journalist.

On January 17, activists held three solo pickets in the centre of Makhachkala, where they demanded to release journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev and political prisoners.

On January 17, in Tbilisi, near the office of the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC), an action was held by several dozen people, who protested against the increase in electricity tariffs.

Ramzan Kadyrov, who has declared that Ingushes have no claims against him, has deliberately ignored the appeals of the Ingush party, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe. In their opinion, the head of Chechnya is trying to reduce the level of the confrontation that he himself had initiated.

None of the military servicemen, who were taken prisoners of war (POWs) by Azerbaijan on November 16, 2021, was recognized as a victim; six of them, including three officers, have been arrested on charges of violating the order of service.