Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of June 23-29

Georgia's signs the Association Agreement with the EU; pleadings at the Rostov-on-Don Court in Said Amirov's case; appointment of Rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan; first candidates for the post of President of Abkhazia; scheduling of the date for the election of the leader of Kabardino-Balkaria; withdrawal of the licence of the Vladikavkaz bank "Dig-Bank", – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of June 23-29, 2014, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Georgia signs Association Agreement with EU

On June 27, in Brussels, Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia, signed the Association Agreement with the EU. The document envisages integration of Georgia in the EU free trade zone. Georgian political analysts speak positive concerning the Georgia's signing of the Association Agreement with the EU. However, they point out to several mistakes committed by the Georgian Government. In particular, according to Gulbaat Rtskhiladze, Director of the Georgian Eurasian Institute, the society was not provided with a chance to discuss the text of the Association Agreement. Georgy Gvimradze, a political analyst and an expert of the "Centre for Strategic Studies", also believes that the Georgian Government had paid too little attention to the need to get Georgian citizens be thoroughly acquainted with the conditions of the Georgia-EU Association Agreement. Archil Chkoidze, the head of the Georgian NGO "Irakli II Society", believes the signing of the Georgia-EU Association Agreement was a mistake. According to Iosif Archvadze, Professor of the Kutaisi University, Georgia will benefit from the Association Agreement with the EU due to the enhanced requirements to quality of products.

In Rostov-on-Don, Court finishes pleadings in Said Amirov's case

During the past week, in Rostov-on-Don, the North-Caucasian District Military Court held pleadings in the criminal case against Said Amirov, Mayor of Makhachkala, temporarily dismissed from office and accused of plotting a terror act. On June 26, public prosecutor asked the Court to sentence Said Amirov to 13 years and his nephew Yusup Djaparov to 11 years of imprisonment. The defendants' advocates and the defendants themselves have called on the Court to pronounce the verdict of acquittal. In his final speech, Said Amirov claimed that he is not guilty and that the case against him had been falsified. The Court is to pronounce the verdict on July 9. Political analysts questioned by the "Caucasian Knot" treat the public prosecutor's request to sentence Said Amirov to 13 years of imprisonment as unprecedented.

PACE appoints Spanish MP Pedro Agramunt to be Rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan

On June 23, the PACE Bureau approved the draft resolution entitled "Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the Council of Europe: what steps are taken in terms of respect for human rights?" On the basis of the above resolution, the PACE Bureau adopted the document "Proposal for resolution on political prisoners in Azerbaijan". The issue on political prisoners in Azerbaijan was sent to the PACE Committee on Human Rights, and on June 25, Spanish MP Pedro Agramunt was appointed PACE Rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. His candidacy was supported by members of the Azerbaijani delegation to the PACE. Human rights defenders applauded the resumption of the activities of PACE Rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. However, they have stated that Pedro Agramunt will unlikely mitigate the acute problem of political prisoners. The human rights defenders also reminded about Pedro Agramunt's loyalty to the authorities of Azerbaijan. It should be noted that on June 24, the sidelines of the PACE summer session disseminated a list including 81 political prisoners, agreed by 11 Azerbaijani NGOs engaged in human rights issues.

Abkhazia defines first candidates to run for post of President of Abkhazia

On June 27, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Abkhazia registered the initiative group that nominated Leonid Dzapshba, the head of the Civil Union for the Rule of Law, Stability and Democracy, ex-Minister of Internal Affairs, as a candidate for the early election of the President of Abkhazia. On June 26, the Abkhazian CEC registered the initiative group, which nominated Beslan Eshba, former Deputy Prime Minister, as a candidate to run for the presidency of the republic. And on the other day, the Abkhazian CEC has registered the initiative group to nominate Mirabeau Kishmariya, Acting Defence Minister of Abkhazia, as a presidential candidate. On June 18, the Coordinating Council of Political Parties and Public Organizations recommended to nominate one more prospective candidate for the presidency Raul Khadjimba, the leader of the "Forum of National Unity of Abkhazia" Party. The date of July 14 is the deadline for the nomination of candidates to run for the position of President of Abkhazia, which became vacant because of the political crisis in the republic.

Kabardino-Balkaria announces date for election of its leader

Kabardino-Balkaria will hold its presidential election on October 9. The Parliament of Kabardino-Balkaria announced the above decision on June 26. MPs are to choose one of three candidates nominated by the President of the Russian Federation. Thus, the Kabardino-Balkarian leader will be elected by MPs of the new convocation of the Parliament, since the elections to the Parliament have been already scheduled for September 14.

In North Ossetia, "Dig-Bank" faces withdrawal of its licence

On June 23, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBRF) withdrew the licence of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Dig-Bank" from Vladikavkaz. According to the CBRF, the financial institution was conducting a high-risk credit policy, and it was involved in suspicious activities concerning cash transactions. The clients of the "Dig-Bank" are to begin receiving insurance compensation payments no later than on July 7. On June 27, it became known that the "Rosselkhozbank" had been appointed as the agent bank to effect insurance compensation payments to depositors of the "Dig-Bank". According to the publicly available information, in total, the individuals' deposits at the bank amount to 1,873,014,000 roubles, and more than 300 pensioners used to receive their pension payments through the "Dig-Bank".