All news

An application to the police has been prepared against the Azerbaijani director Tural Safarov, who runs his blog under the pseudonym "Pantural", demanding to punish him for his statement about women who dress openly. Safarov has apologized, but it hasn't convinced the authors of the petition.

The documentary "Unclenching The Fists", filmed in North Ossetia by Kira Kovalenko, a director from Kabardino-Balkaria, has won the Grand Prix of the "Un Certain Regard" author's film contest at the Cannes Film Festival.

Zaurbek Dzaurov, a resident of Ingushetia, convicted within the case of mass protests in Magas, has been released from SIZO (pre-trial prison).

In the Agdam District, which has come under the Azerbaijan's control after the last autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh, a new military unit has been stationed; two other units were deployed in this district in June. In total, at least 25 units of the Azerbaijani Army have been formed in the territories around Karabakh.

Charges of group violence have been brought against two attackers on the cameraman, Lekso Lashkarava, and a member of the LGBT community, as well as against 22 other detainees. 41 people have been recognized as victims, the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Georgia has informed.

Islam Barzukaev, a native of Derbent, needs two surgeries, but did not receive medical treatment because of his transfer to a Rostov SIZO (pre-trial prison), while Gasan Kurbanov received medical assistance only partially due to a shortage of doctors, relatives of the defendants reported.

Azerbaijani journalist Polad Aslanov, who has been on a hunger strike in penal colony for the fifth day, refused the offer of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help with the transfer to another penitentiary institution. The pressure on Polad Aslanov is being ordered by the authorities, so the change of the penal colony will not change anything, a prisoner’s wife explains.

Investigators reported on the institution of a second criminal case against a resident of the Derbent District, suspected of involvement in an illegal armed formation (IAF).

Media professionals and human rights defenders believe that authorities fail to take action against organizers of the violence. Journalists announced their large-scale action on July 17.

The statement of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) about the shelling of its positions from the Armenian ones stationed in the Gegarkunik District of Armenia has nothing to do with reality, the Armenian MoD has stated.

On July 15, in Shushi, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces fired short submachine gun popples in the direction of Stepanakert, Gegam Stepanyan, the Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsperson, has stated. He believes that to prevent such incidents, clear inquiry mechanisms should be introduced.

At the request of residents of the Martakert District, Russian militaries have ensured their safety during the wheat harvest near the contact line, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed.

Members of a small indigenous people in Dagestan and Azerbaijan – the Rutuls – have treated the publication of a collection of fairy tales in their mother tongue with interest; parents want to read this book to their children. The publication of the collection guarantees that the Rutul language will not disappear in the next half century, says Svetlana Makhmudova, a philologist the author of the book.

Tofig Yagublu, an Azerbaijani politician, has been sentenced by the Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) to a 2.5-year conditional imprisonment. His guilt was not proved; and his defence will seek his acquittal at the Supreme Court (SC), his advocate has stated.

Three men supplied food to members of the armed underground and transported them in cars across the territory of Ingushetia, investigators reported. One of the three detainees is suspected of illegal possession of weapons.

The Georgian parliament elected judges of the country’s Supreme Court (SC) in violation of agreements with the opposition, the US Embassy claims. Opposition MPs believe that the new judges are fully under the control of the authorities. At the parliamentary hearings, candidates for judges demonstrated their incompetence, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association stated.

Investigators began checking for slander an article by the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” about extrajudicial executions in Chechnya, made public by a former fighter of the Kadyrov special-purpose police regiment.

The police removed a banner with portraits of murdered public figures, including Natalia Estemirova, posted in the Pushkar Garden of Saint Petersburg on the anniversary of the human rights defender’s murder.

The authorities have not yet responded to the call of the Muftiate of Kabardino-Balkaria to investigate the circumstances of the July counterterrorist operation (CTO) in Nalchik, human rights defender Zaur Shokuev reported.

The girl, who moved to Makhachkala because of her religious beliefs, has complained that she was seriously injured in a fight in the hospital and because of this she can't find a job. Some users of the social network expressed their support for her, noting the low culture of local residents; however, their opponents pointed to the intemperance of the girl herself.