News

March 30, 2020 13:10

• Chechen authorities ignore restrictions imposed because of coronavirus

  Breaking their own imposed bans is a usual practice for Chechen authorities, Ruslan Kutaev and Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya have noted in their comment on the solemn opening of the Palace of Arts in Grozny amid the restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus.

March 30, 2020 11:24

• "Novaya Gazeta": Chechen law enforcers beat quarantine violators with pipes

  Law enforcers with polypropylene pipes in hands are on duty on roads in Chechnya and use pipes against quarantine violators. Local residents report that they beat up people who drive in cars without masks, although it is impossible to buy masks in Chechnya, the "Novaya Gazeta" writes.

March 30, 2020 11:04

• Nogai activists call on to release Elmira Kenzhibulatova

  The leaders of Nogai NGOs have called to mitigate the freedom restriction measure of Elmira Kenzhibulatova, a resident of the Tarumovka District of Dagestan, who was arrested after her return home from Syria. The woman went to the Middle East to pick up her child and not to take part in hostilities, her relatives and activists assert.

March 30, 2020 10:50

• Coronavirus situation affects trade and tourism in Abkhazia

  In Abkhazia, the state of emergency has forced the owners of trading outlets to curtail operations; while hotel owners have cancelled reservations, entrepreneurs inform.

March 29, 2020 11:02

• Social network users respond to coronavirus with anti-crisis projects

  The catalogue named "Quarantinum" has collected links to more than 150 resources and projects that will help to fruitfully and with pleasure spend time, despite the restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus, and also to help people at risk to receive the required psychological and legal support.

March 29, 2020 10:59

• Defence claims rights violation of Azerbaijani oppositionist Tofig Yagublu

  The police have seized a cell phone from the arrested politician Tofig Yagublu and deleted his records in social networks, his daughter, Nigyar Khazi, has reported. His advocate treats the police's actions as a violation of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

March 29, 2020 10:53

• KBR volunteers help elderly people in self-isolation

  82 volunteers are bring foodstuffs and medicines, and help in paying utility bills to older residents of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), who have to stay at home because of coronavirus infection threat.

March 28, 2020 23:55

• Residents of Ingushetia call for closing mosques because of coronavirus

  By not closing mosques during the coronavirus epidemic, the Ingush Muslim clergy endanger their believers, Facebook users have stated. They advise local residents not to attend services.

March 28, 2020 23:53

• NKR accuses Azerbaijan of 150 shelling attacks

  Since March 22, Azerbaijani soldiers have fired over 1200 shots at positions of the Defence Army, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has informed.

March 28, 2020 12:27

• Law enforcers collected believers' data during raid at "Tangim" Mosque in Dagestan

  At the "Tangim" Mosque in Makhachkala, law enforcers stopped parishioners and copied their personal data. Believers pointed to a reduction in the number of participants in the Friday prayer, linking it with the threat of coronavirus spread.

March 28, 2020 12:19

• Armenian Army serviceman wounded in conflict zone with Azerbaijan

  On March 27, a military serviceman was wounded as a result of a shot from the Azerbaijani side, a source from the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has stated.

March 28, 2020 12:13

• North-Caucasian pilgrims face threat of Hajj cancellation

  The demand for Hajj pilgrimage among North-Caucasian Muslims has dropped because of the spread of coronavirus and rouble depreciation, tour operators report. Saudi Arabia may cancel the Hajj; and operators will have to return the money to unfortunate pilgrims, said the office of Ilyas Umakhanov, the Hajj Commissioner under the Russian government.

March 28, 2020 12:06

• Analysts explain difference of coronavirus spread in Georgia and Armenia

  The number of coronavirus cases has reached 329 in Armenia and 83 in Georgia. The significant difference in the number of infected people is explained by the fact that Tbilisi took preventive measures against the epidemic earlier than Yerevan. However, such a gap in figures can be explained also by the fact that the data on the number of coronavirus infected people depends on the number of performed tests, analysts have noted.

March 28, 2020 11:45

• Attendance of Friday namaz in Chechen mosques drops

  After the Mufti's call to people at risk not to visit mosques for coronavirus threat, the collective namaz (prayer) in Grozny on Friday was less crowded.

March 28, 2020 11:23

• Kadyrov equates coronavirus carriers with terrorists

  The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has demanded that quarantine violators be imprisoned, deprived of food and buried in pits. The threats may well come true, residents of the republic believe.

March 27, 2020 23:59

• Ramzan Kadyrov organizes solemn ceremony in Grozny despite quarantine

  On March 26, the Chechen TV Channel showed a story about the opening ceremony at the Palace of Arts in Grozny. The authorities of Chechnya organized a solemn ceremony despite their own calls to cancel all mass events. Users of social networks and residents of Chechnya criticized the inconsistent actions of the republic's authorities.

March 27, 2020 22:34

• Under quarantine: how Azerbaijanis survive in Georgia

  Two districts of the Georgian region of Kvemo Kartli became a hotbed of risk for the spread of the coronavirus infection, and a strict quarantine is introduced in those districts. The region is compactly populated by Azerbaijani natives, many of whom do not know the Georgian language. What the authorities are doing, what local residents are afraid of, why students are not able to attend distance lectures, and how the language barrier prevents people from maintaining social distancing, – read about these and other problems described for the "Caucasian Knot" by Alexander Kvakhadze, a researcher of the "Rondeli Foundation".

March 27, 2020 19:17

• Dagestani journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev left under arrest

  The Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan dismissed an appeal filed by the defence of Abdulmumin Gadjiev, a correspondent of the newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft), about his arrest in a case on financing of terrorism.

March 27, 2020 19:13

• Dispute over killed Gasanguseinov brothers' case results in conflict among Dagestani MPs

  At a session of the Dagestani parliament, MP Omargadji Aliev has reproached the republic's Minister of Internal Affairs and noted that till present, the case on the killing of the Gasanguseinov shepherd brothers has not been resolved. A dispute about the investigators' inaction resulted in a quarrel among Dagestani MPs.

March 27, 2020 18:48

• Rights defenders demand to inquire into torture case of four residents of Southern Russia

  The torture case of four Anapa residents has been reopened after repeated examinations, the Committee against Torture (CaT) has reported. The investigation of the case will move from a deadlock only after the transfer thereof to the central machinery of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), human rights defenders believe.