Week in the Caucasus: review of main events on November 4-10

Explosion in a store selling alcohol and the murder of a judge in Makhachkala; "Million Mask March" in Yerevan that turned into clashes with the police and arrest of its members; talks in Geneva on security and stability in Southern Caucasus, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of November 4-10, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Dagestan: explosion in a store that sells alcohol and murder of a judge

On November 8, in Makhachkala, in the store "24 Hours", an explosion was triggered by unidentified criminals, who also opened fire at store employees. As a result, a security guard was killed, and at least one person was wounded. The responsibility for the terror act was later claimed by the organization named "Ansaru ash-Sharia", which stated that this was their way to fight the spread of alcohol.

Another resonant crime was committed in Makhachkala on November 4: Zainudin Madanov, a Federal Judge of the Lenin District Court of the Dagestani capital, was shot dead. He was attacked upon leaving his car. The basic version of his murder has to do with his service activities. Madanov is, thus, the fourth judge assassinated since the beginning of 2013 in Dagestan, and the fifth – in the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD).

Armenia: "Million Mask March" in Yerevan ended in clashes with the police and arrest of participants

On November 5, several hundred activists wearing masks of Guy Fawkes joined the "Million Mask March", organized by Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party in Yerevan. The marchers had clashes with the police. According to the latter, eight policemen and a teenager suffered from the marchers' actions; 37 persons were detained; 20 of them were arrested, including Arutyunyan. They were charged with resisting authorities with use of violence. On November 9, an action in support of those arrested was held in Yerevan.

Krasnodar Territory: start of Savva's trial and announcement of jury's verdict on massacre in Kuschevskaya

On November 5, in Krasnodar, the hearing of the case of Professor Mikhail Savva from the Kuban State University professor, the director of grant programmes of the Southern Regional Resource Centre (SRRC), who is accused of a fraudulently theft of about 360,000 roubles. The defendant refused to plead guilty. On November 9, it became known that the Council on Human Rights under the Russian President, some members of which are now in Krasnodar, addressed the Russia's Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika asking to change Mr Savva's freedom restraint for the form not related to custody.

On November 8, the jurymen finished announcing their verdict in the case on the murder of 12 persons on November 4, 2010, in the house of Server Ametov, a farmer from the village of Kuschevskaya. The jury found all the defendants guilty of all the imputed crimes. Besides, Sergey Tsapok was found guilty of heading a gang in Kuschevskaya. The defendants' advocates have treated the jury's verdict as unfair; they plan to appeal against the court verdict to be announced on November 12.

Parties at Geneva debates try to reach agreement on security and stability in Southern Caucasus

On November 5-6, Geneva hosted the 25th round of debates on security and stability in Transcaucasia. After the end, officials from Russia and Georgia stated that the talks on the agreement on non-use of force had been disrupted. The sitting also discussed the issues related to the situation on the Georgian-South-Ossetian border, where, according to the Georgian party, there were violations of the rights of residents of the border villages of Ditsi and Dvani. The delegation of South Ossetian urged the Georgian authorities to jointly delimit and demark the state border. The parties also discussed the fates of missing citizens of South Ossetia and those who serve their terms in Georgian jails, and violations of the rights of those residents of South Ossetia, who travel abroad.

Advocate of defendant in Budanov's murder case becomes figurant of two criminal cases

On November 7, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) said that the Moscow lawyer Murad Musaev had become a figurant of two criminal cases – a bribery of witnesses and interference into the trial of Yuri Budanov's murder. During this trial, Musaev represented the interests of Yusup Temerkhanov, a native of Chechnya, who has already been convicted. Besides, Murad Musaev is also an advocate of the defendants in the Kuschevskaya massacre case, and in the case on the murder on October 7, 2006, of the journalist of "Novaya Gazeta" Anna Politkovskaya. Musaev has rejected all the allegations and said that the prosecution against him was aimed to neutralize his work in the above three trials.