News

January 11, 2020 11:30

• Forcing people to clean streets in Chechnya contradicts global practice of road accident prevention

  The threat to seize a car, and forcing drivers to clean streets is used nowhere in the world to improve road safety, Sergey Kanaev, the head of the "Russian Federation of Car Owners", has stated. In Chechnya, detained drivers often face violations of their rights, Ruslan Kutaev, a public activist, has noted.

January 11, 2020 11:16

• Abkhazia: presidential election totals cancelled

  The Supreme Court (SC) of Abkhazia has upheld the complaint submitted by Alkhas Kvitsiniya, the leader of the "Amtsakhara" Party, and appointed presidential election in the republic.

January 11, 2020 10:26

• ECtHR starts considering complaint of the family of Pankisi casualty

  The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is waiting explanations from Georgian authorities on the complaint submitted by the family of Temirlan Machalikashvili, who perished during a special operation conducted in Pankisi, said Tamta Mikeladze, the head of the "Centre for Human Rights Training and Monitoring".

January 11, 2020 10:15

• Total fines imposed on "Memorial" amounts 4.5 million roubles

  At the initiative of the Ingush branch of the Russian FSB, a court in Moscow has fined the "International Memorial" by 300,000 roubles. In total, the court has considered 22 protocols drawn up against "Memorial" structures leaders thereof for the absence of the marking "foreign agent" in their publications.

January 10, 2020 23:57

• Chechen authorities invent dress code for tourists

  The Chechen Ministry of Tourism has issued a memo on how to dress in the republic and communicate with local women.

January 10, 2020 21:08

• Crisis centre employees report helping victims of violence in Caucasus

  Shelters for victims of domestic violence in the republics of Northern Caucasus help women who suffered from ill-treatment by their husbands or became pregnant without being married, as well as mothers with children, employees of crisis centres report. In Dagestan, about half of female victims of domestic violence return to their husbands, the human rights defenders report.

January 10, 2020 20:55

• Chechen Minister justifies himself for being awarded with Orthodox order

  Djambulat Umarov, Chechen Minister of National Policy, recorded a video message in response to negative reviews in connection with being awarded with the "Glory and Honour" Third Degree Order of the Russian Orthodox Church. Social network users and residents of the republic found that the Djambulat Umarov's award from the Russian Orthodox Church contradicted the concepts of Islam.

January 10, 2020 16:58

• Woman from Grozny reports return of her son who was missing for several days

  Shamkhan Khamurzaev, who disappeared in Grozny, returned home, his mother reported. The woman retracted an earlier statement that her son was found in a law enforcement unit. Human rights defender Oleg Orlov doubts the new version voiced by the woman from Grozny.

January 10, 2020 16:55

• Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of shelling attacks on two border villages

  The ceasefire in the Karabakh conflict zone and on the border with Armenia was violated 22 times, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reported.

January 10, 2020 10:48

• Caucasian experts assess Tumso's image losses after his words about Kunta-haji Kishiev

  The public criticism of religious views of Sufism followers in Chechnya, expressed by the blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, is inappropriate, said Akhmet Yarlykapov, an Islamic scholar. In his turn, Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, believes that the polemic on religious topics will not cause significant damage to the blogger, but some people will get disappointed in him.

January 10, 2020 10:41

• Analysts warn against inciting disputes among Vainakhs after destruction of Ingush towers

  The scandal around the towers destroyed by vandals has triggered violent Internet discussions among residents of Chechnya and Ingushetia, whose relations had been strained after changing their mutual borders, an expert on the Caucasus has noted.

January 10, 2020 10:34

• Ingush activist, Magomed Ozdoev, denies political motives of his attack on law enforcers

  Magomed Ozdoev, a participant in the March rally in Magas, has stated that he had attacked three employees of the "Rosgvardia" (Russian National Guard) not because of his political convictions, but in response to beating him up with a truncheon.

January 10, 2020 10:25

• President of Abkhazia refuses to resign

  Raul Khadjimba, the President of Abkhazia, has refused to voluntarily leave his post; but he is ready to meet representatives of the bloc of oppositional forces and hold talks, Dmitry Dbar, an MP of the People's Assembly. Aslan Bzhaniya has already arrived in Sukhumi.

January 09, 2020 21:44

• After serviceman's killing, analysts treat risk of escalation of Karabakh conflict as minimal

  The killing of the Azerbaijani border guard will not be an occasion to exacerbate the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, analysts have predicted.

January 09, 2020 21:36

• Opposition urges President of Abkhazia Raul Khadjimba to resign

  The President of Abkhazia, Raul Khadjimba, must step down so that the protests in the country do not lead to tragic consequences, the "Aitaira" Party has stated amid the storming of the building of the presidential administration.

January 09, 2020 21:27

• Total fines imposed on "Memorial" exceed 4 million roubles

  A court in Moscow has ruled on 21 out of 28 protocols, drawn up against the structures of the "Memorial" and their leaders, on the initiative, in particular, of the Ingush branch of the FSB (Russian Federal Security Bureau). The amount of fines imposed on human rights defenders for the absence of the marking of "foreign agent" in their publications has reached 4.2 million roubles.

January 09, 2020 15:24

• Residents of Chechnya criticize blogger for violating behaviour norms

  The act of blogger, Mukhamed Nosaev, who threw banknotes into a crowd of Volgograd residents, fails to meet the Chechen decency rules, residents of the republic pointed out.

January 09, 2020 15:16

• Azerbaijani activist Agalarov set free by Polish court during inquiry

  For the period of investigation, a court in Poland has released Dashgyn Agalarov, an Azerbaijani activist, who has called the charges against him far-fetched and politically motivated, from custody. Fikret Guseinli, a "Turan" TV presenter, has noted the help of international human rights defenders in Agalarov's case.

January 09, 2020 11:42

• Theologians point to loss of image by Georgian Church after Archpriest Mamaladze's case

  Relatives of Archpriest, Giorgi Mamaladze, have threatened to publicize the facts discrediting the Georgian Church, should they refuse to pardon the priest. The theologians interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" express doubts that the Patriarchy was interested in Mamaladze's imprisonment, but indicated that his case inflicted a serious blow to the image of the church.

January 09, 2020 11:39

• PO upholds "Matilda" movie, which caused Kadyrov's indignation

  The Prosecutor's Office (PO) of Saint Petersburg has conducted a series of checks of the "Matilda" movie by the film director, Alexei Uchitel, which in 2017 was opposed by authorities of the republics of Northern Caucasus, and found no violations of the law.