News

July 28, 2023 21:09

• Verdicts to Ingush activists upheld

  The appellate instance of the Stavropol Territory has upheld the verdicts passed to seven Ingush protest leaders for their actions during the rally in Magas; they were convicted within the case of creating an extremist community. This was announced by the "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence in its Telegram channel.

July 28, 2023 17:48

• Ingush activists declare national character of repressions

  The first-instance court issued its verdict based on assumptions; while during debates at the appellate court, the prosecutor failed to answer a single defence's question, Malsag Uzhakhov, one of the activists, has noted in his last speech.

July 27, 2023 22:58

• Police explain refusal to issue foreign passport to Chechen woman

  A foreign passport was not issued for a young woman from Chechnya due to the requirement of the anti-terrorist commission not to issue foreign passports to persons under the age of 30 without the presence of their older relatives, the Chechen police informed a lawyer of the young woman.

July 27, 2023 22:48

• Human rights defenders declare need for hospitalization of Ali Bataev

  The condition of Ali Bataev, a native of Chechnya, who continues his hunger strike in a deportation centre in Switzerland with the demand not to be deported to Russia, has deteriorated sharply, but he has not succeeded in seeking hospitalization, report members of the “European Peace House” human rights organization.

July 27, 2023 21:07

• Kadyrov gives his nephew's posts to his son-in-law

  Viskhan Matsuev has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture of Chechnya. Earlier, these posts were held by Yakub Zakriev, who had headed the "Danone Russia" Company.

July 27, 2023 20:57

• Volgograd Regional Court finds it legal to call for military service without medical examination

  Anton Kuznetsov, a resident of the town of Kalach-on-Don, has appealed against the call for military service and sending to the assembly point without a medical examination, which the doctor had prescribed for him because of his chronic heart disease, but the courts saw no violation in this procedure.

July 27, 2023 19:45

• Ingush activist Ismail Nalgiev thanks activists and human rights defenders

  The judge has insisted that the Ingush activists begin giving the last word at the appeal trial, although they asked to give them time to prepare for their speeches. Ismail Nalgiev has reminded that he refused to plead guilty, and thanked all human rights defenders and activists for their support throughout the trial.

July 27, 2023 18:39

• Kadyrov gives number of soldiers from Chechnya in SMO zone

  More than 28,000 participants in the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine were sent there from Chechnya, including 13,000 volunteers, Ramzan Kadyrov has informed in his Telegram channel. According to his story, 7000 of them are now on the frontline.

July 27, 2023 17:36

• Social media users alarmed by report about capture of protester Chirkinov

  As follows from a video posted on the social media, Ramis Chirkinov, who had been sentenced in a case on organizing riots in Vladikavkaz, was captured in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine. Social media users expressed their sympathy to Ramis Chirkinov and wished him to return home.

July 27, 2023 16:49

• Sources report sending Imam Valid Kuruev, missing in Chechnya, to Ukraine

  Imam Valid Kuruev, who disappeared in Chechnya in May this year, has been sent as part of a law enforcers' detachment for taking part in the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine, sources have informed.

July 27, 2023 15:17

• Residents of Dagestan dispute about resonant museum photo session

  The photo session depicting a girl in the Makhachkala museum has unreasonably caused an angry reaction in Dagestan, some residents of the republic have pointed out. Meanwhile, others have objected that the indignation of the "fighters for morality" is justified.

July 26, 2023 23:56

• Chechen refugee placed in deportation centre in Switzerland

  Magomed Gelagaev, a 25-year-old native of Chechnya, who fled from mobilization, was placed in a deportation centre in Switzerland, where he had arrived to ask for asylum.

July 26, 2023 23:47

• Human rights defenders confirm Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev’s death

  Singer Zelimkhan Bakaev was in the field of view of the Chechen law enforcement bodies due to suspicions of homosexuality, and when the information was confirmed, he was killed, the “SK SOS Crisis Group”* reported. Human rights defenders note that the campaign to hunt for gays was initiated by Ramzan Kadyrov, while under his father’s ruling, homosexuals were not persecuted in Chechnya.

July 26, 2023 19:28

• Analysts point to the inadmissibility of forced reconciliation of blood feudists in Chechnya

  The authorities' and clergymen's efforts in Chechnya to reconcile the blood feudists can be assessed as positive, but the reconciliation should not be forced, analysts have noted.

July 26, 2023 18:42

• Friends of the Dagestani journalist Gadjiev declare that his guilt was not proven

  The demand to release Abdulmumin Gadjiev is supported by passers-by, the solo picketers in his support have stated. His friends treat the prison term demanded by the state prosecutor for Gadjiev as unfair.

July 26, 2023 18:16

• North-Caucasian Muftiates support Moscow action criticized by Kadyrov

  The provocative law enforcers' actions in the Moscow Region, which demonstrated disrespect for Islam, and the absence of response to demands to bring the participants and organizers of raids in mosques to justice, have caused understandable indignation among Muslims. This was stated by officials of the Muftiates of North Ossetia and Adygea.

July 25, 2023 23:26

• Photo session in Makhachkala museum sparks wrath of morality zealots

  A girl dressed in jeans and a tank top has starred in a photo made against the backdrop of the panorama "Storming the Village of Akhulgo" at the Makhachkala Museum. Social network commentators have treated her clothes as too open.

July 25, 2023 22:18

• Journalists hold pickets in support of Dagestani journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev

  Solo pickets in support of the tried Abdulmumin Gadjiev, an editor of the "Chernovik" (Draft) outlet, were held in Makhachkala by Magomed Magomedov and Idris Yusupov.

July 25, 2023 22:00

• Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of July 17-23, 2023

  Chechen agenda, Ingush activists’ case, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, military aircraft crash in Yeysk, blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, persecution 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 July 17-23, 2023, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

July 25, 2023 20:25

• Experts argue about origins of practice of public apologies in Chechnya

  The practice of public repentance for misdeeds existed earlier in the Chechen society and is provided for by the Muslim law, Islamic experts Alexander Arutyunov and Igor Alekseev point out. Chechen traditions do not provide for compulsion to make public apologies to the authorities, Oyub Titiev, a human rights defender from Chechnya, argues.