News

July 05, 2024 23:57

• Former official from Stavropol Territory repeatedly sentenced in absentia in case on fakes about Russian Army

  The Basmanny District Court of Moscow found Maria Mamedova, a former employee of the Stavropol Territorial Department of the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ), earlier convicted in a criminal case on promoting terrorism, guilty of spreading fakes about the Russian Armed Forces and sentenced her in absentia to eight years of imprisonment in a penal colony. That was reported by the “Mediazona”* portal.

July 05, 2024 23:48

• Chechen activists assess risks for Khalitov

  The publication of threats voiced by Adam Kadyrov against blogger Khasan Khalitov does not reduce the risks for the critic of the Chechen authorities living abroad, but confirms the involvement of the Chechen authorities in the kidnapping of his relatives, a political analyst and a human rights defender state.

July 05, 2024 23:12

• Kremlin and State Duma distance off niqab-ban discussion

  The topic of banning niqabs in the republics of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) is not discussed in the Kremlin, the presidential press secretary has stated. The issues of religious clothing fall within the competence of the clergy, the Russian State Duma MPs have indicated.

July 05, 2024 21:10

• Death case of Dagestani Kurban Dalgatov gets to court

  Eleven law enforcers from Makhachkala have faced trial on charges of torturing Kurban Dalgatov, who died after detention. The cases of two other figurants are being considered separately.

July 05, 2024 19:57

• Haste in opening case against Dagestani blogger Khanov raises doubts about its grounds

  Blogger Khadjimurad Khanov asked for house arrest in a criminal case on illegal arms trafficking, but a court placed him in custody, an advocate and a friend of Khadjimurad Khanov report. The criminal case against the blogger looks strange, since it was instituted several days after the scandal over a niqab, a Dagestani human rights defender and a journalist emphasize.

July 05, 2024 17:48

• Analysts argue about masterminds of militants’ attack in Dagestan

  The involvement of participants in a militants’ attack in Dagestan in the “Islamic State”* and other organizations has not been confirmed; there are no signs inherent in the actions of the above-mentioned terrorist organization, analysts note.

July 05, 2024 17:08

• Law enforcers' provocations put gays in Dagestan under additional threat

  Gays in Dagestan were in danger even before law enforcers held provocations and raids on them; and after the arrest of the gay blogger Matvei Volodin, threats have grown manifold. However, as noted by rights defenders, law enforcers have no real grounds to open cases against gays under the article on extremism.

July 04, 2024 23:57

• Sochi resident convicted of preparing for treason

  The Southern District Military Court has found a Sochi resident guilty of preparing to defect to Ukraine and sentenced him to six years in penal colony.

July 04, 2024 23:08

• Religious scholars assess likelihood of observing ban on niqabs in Dagestan

  The niqab-banning fatwa is not mandatory; it will be observed only by those for whom the Dagestani Muftiate is an authority; and they are not all residents of the republic. This is the result of polling religious scholars and a former Imam conducted by the "Caucasian Knot".

July 04, 2024 20:52

• Coordination Centre for Muslims of Northern Caucasus calls niqab a threat

  Wearing niqabs and burqas in modern conditions causes practical harm to Muslims and threatens discord in interreligious and interethnic relations, announces the Coordination Centre for Muslims of Northern Caucasus.

July 04, 2024 20:45

• Human rights defenders recognize Mikhail Balabanov as political prisoner

  The case against Mikhail Balabanov, convicted under the article on terrorism for preparing to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office in the Stavropol Territory, was the result of a provocation by the FSB, stated the “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” human rights project.

July 04, 2024 17:19

• Dagestani Muftiate announces temporary ban on niqabs

  A ban on wearing niqabs has been introduced in Dagestan; it will remain in force until a new theological conclusion, the republic's Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM or Muftiate) has announced.

July 03, 2024 23:58

• Krasnodar priest explains his departure from Russia with threat of arrest for pacifism

  Archpriest Andrei Drugai from Krasnodar, deprived of the right to conduct priestly services, reported that he had to leave Russia due to the threat of arrest for preaching about peace, contrary to the policies of the Russian Orthodox Church.

July 03, 2024 23:49

• Dagestani blogger Khadjimurad Khanov arrested for two months

  The court has appointed the freedom deprivation measure of two months for Dagestani blogger, Khadjimurad Khanov, with in the case of illegal arms trafficking.

July 03, 2024 23:38

• Teacher in Dagestan fined for speaking out against SMO

  The Tlyaratinsky District has fined Zharula Ramazanov, a school teacher, by 30,000 roubles for speaking against the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine and deaths of servicemen from Dagestan there.

July 03, 2024 18:12

• Scandal with niqab in Khasavyurt provokes Khanov’s detention

  Charges brought against Khadjimurad Khanov in a criminal case on possession of firearms and a grenade is absurd, and the attention of the law enforcement bodies is caused by the scandal surrounding the demands for an apology from a doctor in Khasavyurt, who asked a patient to remove her niqab during a medical examination, to which the leader of Dagestan reacted, Dagestani journalists and activists believe.

July 03, 2024 16:03

• Kidnapping of Khalitov's relatives alarms rights defenders

  The kidnapping of the relatives of Khasan Khalitov, a Chechen blogger living abroad, is revenge for his call to Aishat Kadyrova, the current Vice-Premier of Chechnya; threats to Khalitov were voiced out by Adam Kadyrov, a son of the head of Chechnya, human rights defenders report, expressing concern for the health condition of the blogger's relatives, especially his elderly father.

July 02, 2024 23:23

• Dagestani gay man leaves Russia after being forced to denunciation

  After an arrest of porn actor Matvei Volodin, law enforcers in Dagestan launched a campaign against gay men and organized raids against them. Yusuf, one of the detainees, left Russia after he was forced to agree to cooperate with the law enforcement bodies.

July 02, 2024 22:54

• Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of June 24-June 30, 2024

  Terror acts in Dagestan, Georgian government under pressure, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, Ramzan Kadyrov at the federal level, 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 June 24-June 30, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

July 02, 2024 22:51

• Kadyrov critic Khasan Khalitov reports kidnapping his relatives in Chechnya

  Khasan Khalitov, an oppositional blogger and a Ramzan Kadyrov's critic, has stated that several days ago authorities summoned his father and two brothers to Grozny for a talk; and since then their whereabouts remain unknown.