News

January 30, 2020 08:30

• Rights defenders treat MIA's refusal to issue foreign passport to Kerimli as unjustified

  The refusal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) to issue a foreign passport to Ali Kerimli, the leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), which means an actual ban on his travels abroad, has political motives, as in the cases with other critics of the authorities, rights defenders are sure.

January 30, 2020 08:19

• Action in support of Abdulmumin Gadjiev held in Moscow

  Activists held a series of solo pickets outside the building of the Permanent Mission of Dagestan in Moscow, demanding the release of the Dagestan journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev.

January 29, 2020 22:18

• Rights defenders point to sudden termination of Machalikashvili's case

  The Georgian Prosecutor's Office has closed the Temirlan Machalikashvili's murder case right at the moment, when investigators indicated inconsistencies in law enforcers' testimonies, the Human Rights Monitoring Centre has noted.

January 29, 2020 22:02

• Kadyrov declares authors of reports about detentions in Chechnya to be enemies

  Ramzan Kadyrov has ordered law enforcers to find and punish those residents of Chechnya who spread information about kidnappings and detentions in the republic. His order to search for "gossipers" in the around-the-clock regime was issued after publications about the detention of 25 residents of Chechnya for a photo collage with the head of the republic.

January 29, 2020 18:16

• Police identify authors of video with apology of Vladikavkaz student

  In North Ossetia, officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) held a preventive conversation with three young people who recorded a video of the female student's apology for a dance. The verification of their actions is underway, the police report. A mother of the student thanked the law enforcement bodies for protection.

January 29, 2020 18:06

• Salome Zurabishvili demands compensation from Russia to deported residents of Georgia

  Russia did not fulfil the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to pay 100 million euros to Georgian citizens deported in 2006, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili recalled at a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

January 29, 2020 17:52

• Serzh Sargsyan's case transferred to court

  The General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia has approved the indictment in a case on misappropriation of more than a million US dollars, in which Serzh Sargsyan, the third President of Armenia, and four other persons are involved as defendants.

January 29, 2020 13:43

• Facebook users support harassed female student from Vladikavkaz

  Journalist Anna Kabisova and psychologist Alyona Ramonova initiated a flash mob with the hashtag #I'm_not_an_ideal_dancer to support a female student who was subjected to harassment after a public dance.

January 29, 2020 13:26

• In Tbilisi, political analysts assess damage to authorities from Sergey Lavrov's possible visit

  President Salome Zurabishvili agreed to host a Russian delegation led by Sergey Lavrov at the Council of Europe's events in Georgia this May. The authorities are to comply with the Council of Europe (CE) regulations, but this will harm them in the eyes of voters, believe political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

January 29, 2020 11:19

• Rights defenders point to atmosphere of hatred in Armenia

  In Armenia, the hate rhetoric has become a serious threat to democracy; it is used by both the former and current authorities, experts said in their comments on the parliament's decision to set up a working group to combat the spread of hatred in the country. The creation of the above working group was initiated by one of the MPs from the "My Step" ruling bloc.

January 29, 2020 11:07

• Human rights defenders expose Umarov's slyness

  Djambulat Umarov, the Chechen Minister for National Policy, has denied the fact that residents of the republic had been detained for disseminating a collage with Kadyrov. However, the minister's slip of the tongue about the need to "warn a dozen troublemakers and scoundrels" means that there had really been detentions of Chechen residents, the rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

January 29, 2020 10:54

• PACE: residents of Chechnya tell about torture and kidnappings

  Three residents of Chechnya have spoken at a sitting of the Legal Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and told their personal stories about human rights violations in the republic. Oleg Orlov, a board member of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", told the PACE that a totalitarian regime has been established in Chechnya.

January 29, 2020 08:35

• Kadyrov escapes party punishment amid Ignatiev's expulsion from Edinaya Rossiya

  Mikhail Ignatiev, the head of Chuvashia, was expelled from the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party after his call to "crackdown" journalists for criticism, while the demand of the head of Chechnya to "kill, imprison and intimidate" authors of negative materials was ignored by the above ruling party.

January 29, 2020 08:26

• Republics of Northern Caucasus notable for high unemployment rate

  The December 2019 "Employment and Unemployment Rating in the Russian Federation", published by the Federal State Statistics Service, has shown that in the last quarter of 2019, the worst employment situation was observed in the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD).

January 28, 2020 22:34

• Georgian PO closes Machalikashvili's murder case

  Temirlan Machalikashvili, a resident of Pankisi, was shot dead by law enforcers, when he tried to detonate a grenade; the inquiry into the alleged abuse of powers has been stopped, the Prosecutor's Office (PO) of Georgia has stated today.

January 28, 2020 21:53

• Narek Malyan detained at "Veto" office in Yerevan

  Narek Malyan, the head of the "Veto" Socio-Political Movement, has been detained in Yerevan. His supporters are sure that the detention is politically motivated.

January 28, 2020 18:05

• ECtHR awards almost 10,000 euros to Krasnodar resident for his extra stay in SIZO

  The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that in 2008, Anatoly Ataev, a resident of Krasnodar, was unfoundedly left in SIZO (pre-trial prison) after a court had pronounced a decision to release him. The ECtHR obliged the Russian authorities to compensate the man for moral harm.

January 28, 2020 17:54

• Appeal to release Zarifa Sautieva raises more than 170 signatures

  Cultural workers, scientists, journalists, human rights defenders, and activists signed an open letter to the administration of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) with the demand to release Ingush activist Zarifa Sautieva. The appeal posted on January 27 was signed by 171 people.

January 28, 2020 17:32

• Chechen residents concerned over Umarov's statement on detentions for photo collage with Kadyrov

  Djambulat Umarov, Chechen Minister of National Policy, declared inaccurate the reports about the detention of 25 Chechen residents for disseminating a photo collage with Ramzan Kadyrov. Meanwhile, the Chechen minister confirmed the authorities' willingness to "teach a lesson" to people disseminating such photo collages, residents of the republic note.

January 28, 2020 14:40

• Aslan Bzhaniya claims being poisoned with dimethylmercury

  Aslan Bzhaniya, the leader of the Abkhaz opposition, is ready to present to the Prosecutor's Office the evidence of his poisoning before the presidential election in 2019. Earlier, the General Prosecutor's of Abkhazia questioned the version about the poisoning of the politician.