Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of December 2-8, 2024

Protests in Georgia, Kadyrov: pros and cons, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, new arrests of the opposition in Azerbaijan, and official data on the natives of Southern Russia who perished in Ukraine, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 2-8, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot” .

Protests in Georgia

Protests have been taking place in the cities of Georgia for the 11th day. On December 8, residents of the capital, as well as Kutaisi and Batumi, gathered for a protest action. The police are carrying out harsh dispersals of protests with the use of tear gas and water cannons and detaining protesters. From November 28 to December 5, representatives of the Georgian Ombudsperson visited 268 detainees. Of those, 191 people complained about violence by law enforcers, 138 have visible injuries, the Ombudsperson’s office reports.

On December 7, in Tbilisi, a group of people wearing masks attacked a film crew from the “Pirveli” TV Channel, including journalist Maka Chikhladze and cameraman Giorgi Shetsiruli, who were covering the beating of protesters by the police. The injured journalists were hospitalized with concussions. Their filming equipment was stolen.

On the other day, journalists and cameramen held a solidarity rally with their colleagues by blocking traffic.

A spouse of Beslan Kmuzov said that the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent was convicted under the article on failure to obey the police.

On December 8, religious figures of various confessions joined the rally on Rustaveli Avenue, marching from Republic Square, the “Interpressnews” reports. The religious figures unfolded a poster with the inscription on it reading: “Together – for Real Peace”, and the rally participants greeted them with applause.

Nika Meliya, the leader of the “Coalition for Change”, came to the rally in Tbilisi. He called on the protesters not to clash with the police. However, the Nika Meliya’s call did not calm the people who gathered for the rally, and some of them even entered into an argument with the politician. “You politicians have already brought things to the extreme situation. Instead of defending our votes, you have gained all this,” one of the protestors expressed his position.

Officials from several public institutions have submitted letters of resignations due to disagreement with the policies of the “Georgian Dream” Party.

Kadyrov: pros and cons

When commenting on the criminal case against Roman Murdiev, Ramzan Kadyrov expressed his dissatisfaction with the actions of Vladimir Kolokoltsev and Alexander Bastrykin, the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation, respectively.

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov has not commented on the Ramzan Kadyrov’s criticism of the head of the Investigating Committee and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The teenager, for whom Ramzan Kadyrov stood up, is accused of beating minors on the streets of Moscow. The defence insists that Roman Murdiev is not guilty. According to the advocates’ version, the teenager was defending the boy from another participant of the conflict, who was behaving aggressively and provocatively.

When criticizing the heads of the Investigating Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the leader of Chechnya is measuring his influence with theirs. At the same time, Ramzan Kadyrov drew his attention to the case of the Chechen teenager living in Moscow, although hundreds of Chechen natives have been convicted on fabricated charges, human rights defenders believe.

Sergey Kusmakov and Sergey Klimov, two MPs from the Krasnodar Territory, criticized Ramzan Kadyrov for his statements addressed to Alexander Bastrykin and called on the Chechen leader to apologize.

On December 4, in Grozny, a building of the Akhmat Kadyrov Special Police Regiment was attacked by a drone. As a result, the roof of the building was destroyed, Ramzan Kadyrov announced. The leader of Chechnya posted a video of his meeting with Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Grozny and suggested placing them on the roofs of possible air attack targets.

Air defence systems in the republics of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) need to be strengthened to ensure protection against drone attacks, and placement of prisoners of war on the roofs of buildings as proposed by Ramzan Kadyrov is not capable of preventing drone attacks, military experts state.

Persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia

The Soviet District Court of Vladikavkaz fined 57-year-old Andrei Kolomiets 50,000 roubles in an administrative case on publicly discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. While staying in an office of one of the organizations, the man spoke negatively about the actions of the Russian authorities, claimed being humiliated on national and ethnic grounds, and stated that some territories of Russia, including North Ossetia, belonged to another state.

A resident of Tuapse is suspected of publicly disseminating false information about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces during the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine. A criminal case has been instituted against him.

In the Narimanov District of the Astrakhan Region, a court fined Rasim Gushanov 30,000 roubles, recognizing that his comments posted on Telegram discredited the Russian Armed Forces. According to the investigators’ version, in August, Rasim Gushanov posted several comments that the police considered undermining the authority of the Russian Armed Forces. Rasim Gushanov himself claimed that his Telegram account was hacked.

Vyacheslav Golub, a resident of Adygea, was fined under the article on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. The man posted a video on the “Odnoklassniki” social network with “the statements aimed at discrediting the use of the Russian Armed Forces.”

New arrests of the opposition in Azerbaijan

Political analyst Azer Gasymly has been detained in a criminal case on extortion. He was detained “on the basis of a citizen’s complaint,” the press service for the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Azerbaijan reports. “There is a person who owed Azer Gasymly money. The political analyst won the debt in court. Now that person has been asked to testify that Azer Gasymly allegedly demanded money from him under threats,” said advocate Agil Laidj.

On December 6, “Meydan TV” employees Aynur Elgyunesh, Aytadj Tapdyg, Khayalya Agaeva, Aysel Umudova, Natig Djavadli, and journalist Ramin Deko (Djabrailzade) were detained on suspicion of foreign currency smuggling committed by a group of people by prior agreement. The journalists associate the criminal case with their professional activities. The recent round of persecution of journalists has become a sign of the strengthening of the dictatorship, the Azerbaijani opposition claims.

All six suspects have been charged, and the court has sentenced them to four months of arrest.

On December 3, Rufat Safarov, the executive director of the “Line of Defence” human rights organization, was detained in Baku. The Ministry of Internal Affairs explained the Rufat Safarov’s detention by an investigation into a conflict over the purchase and sale of land. A father of Rufat Safarov associates the detention with his son’s human rights activities and his plans to go to the United States to receive an award. The court sentenced Rufat Safarov to four months of arrest.

Official data on natives of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine

By December 8, the authorities and the law enforcement bodies reported about at least 5418 residents of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine, including 2601 residents of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) and 2817 residents of the Southern Federal District (SFD).

In Dagestan, the authorities reported about 1140 local residents perished in Ukraine, in the Volgograd Region – 1023, in the Krasnodar Territory – 601, in the Rostov Region – 600, in the Stavropol Territory – 545, in the Astrakhan Region – 420, in North Ossetia – 328, in Chechnya – 216, in Kabardino-Balkaria – 192, in Kalmykia – 104, in Ingushetia – 97, in Karachay-Cherkessia – 83, and in Adygea – 69.