News

January 03, 2022 17:56

• Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of December 27, 2021-January 2, 2022

  New Year celebrations; courts’ decisions in the liquidation of the “Memorials”* NGOs, adoption of a notorious law on the media in Azerbaijan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 27, 2021-January 2, 2022, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

January 03, 2022 13:14

• Peacemakers bring humanitarian aid to children of Stepanakert rehabilitation centre

  Russian militaries, acting jointly with employees of the charity association, have held a humanitarian action at the children's rehabilitation centre in Stepanakert.

January 03, 2022 12:56

• Militaries announce over 3000 exercises in Southern Russia

  During the combat training, military servicemen will master their skills of setting up and using groupings in operative directions; they will also take part in the all-army contests "ArMI-2022", the press service of the Southern Military District has informed.

January 03, 2022 11:39

• Azerbaijani serviceman blown up by mine in Kalbadjar District

  An Azerbaijani serviceman was blown up by a mine near the village of Baglypyaiya in the Kelbadjar District; the wounded serviceman Yusif Einiev was hospitalized, the APA News Agency reported on January 2, citing the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD).

January 03, 2022 11:26

• Azerbaijani border guard suspected of killing colleagues

  For some unknown reason, one of the servicemen opened fire on his colleagues at the Azerbaijani frontier post "Gubadly"; as a result, three persons perished. The shooter threw down his firearm and disappeared; he was put on the wanted list.

January 03, 2022 11:12

• Magomed Daudov complains about blackmailing girls on his behalf

  Magomed Daudov, the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, said that he has "turned to special services" about the people who write to Instagram users on his behalf. Some commentators have noted that they were waiting for a public apology from the scammers.

January 03, 2022 10:58

• Azeri authorities report transfer of apartments to families of perished soldiers

  Before the New Year, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection handed over the keys to 80 new apartments built in the city of Ganja to families of victims and disabled people of the 2020 Karabakh war, the "haqqin.az" has reported citing the Ministry.

January 02, 2022 23:56

• Lawyer explains background of activist Yangulbaev's detention

  The search and detention of Abubakar Yangulbaev, an employee of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT), for interrogation as a witness fit into the framework of a criminal investigation and do not mean that investigators have claims against him, Timofei Shirokov, a lawyer, has explained.

January 02, 2022 16:35

• Instagram users ridicule decoration of Kadyrov with human rights medal

  Ramzan Kadyrov has unreasonably ranked himself among human rights defenders by accepting the medal "Honoured Human Rights Defender of the Chechen Republic", social network users have pointed out. Many of them have noted that the Chechen Ombudsperson had encouraged Kadyrov after the mass kidnappings of relatives of critics of the Chechen leadership.

January 02, 2022 16:28

• Armenia: POWs' relatives spend New Year's Eve at the government building

  At night on January 1, parents of the Armenian soldiers captured as prisoners of war (POWs) during the Karabakh war held a sit-in picket outside the government building in Yerevan, demanding the release of their sons. There was no authorities' response to their action.

January 01, 2022 23:50

• Saakashvili's supporters end hunger strike

  The mass hunger strike demanding the release of the former president of Georgia was stopped after Mikheil (Mikhail) Saakashvili threatened to join his supporters' protest action, the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party has informed.

January 01, 2022 23:46

• Activists in Azerbaijan criticize tougher punishment for blogger Gurbanov

  A court in Baku has ruled to toughen the punishment for the blogger, Aslan Gurbanov, by transferring him from a colony to a prison for two years. Gurbanov, convicted of publications in support of Talysh nationals, should be released, Rufat Safarov, a human rights defender, and Khilal Mamedov, a Talysh activist, have stated.

January 01, 2022 23:43

• Yerevan: protesters demand to release Ashot Minasyan

  In Yerevan, oppositionists held an action in support of Ashot Minasyan, a veteran of the three Karabakh wars. Investigators have stopped prosecuting Minasyan under articles on plotting an attempt on the life of the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, and on an attempt to usurp power, leaving only the charges of illegal weapons possession, the protesters have noted.

January 01, 2022 23:41

• USA, EU and three other countries condemn Russia for liquidating "Memorials"*

  Western countries express their regret about the decision of the Russian Supreme Court (SC) to ban the International Historical and Educational Society "Memorial", as well as of the ruling of the Moscow City Court (MCC) to liquidate the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"*.

January 01, 2022 16:14

• Kadyrov awarded medal for protecting human rights after mass kidnappings in Chechnya

  The Chechen Ombudsperson announced Ramzan Kadyrov and his parents to be honoured human rights defenders. The leader of Chechnya received a medal for protecting human rights amid the reports about mass kidnappings of relatives of the persons who criticized the authorities of the republic.

January 01, 2022 16:05

• Georgian President Zurabishvili pardons 14 convicts

  Out of the fourteen prisoners pardoned by Salome Zurabishvili, President of Georgia, on the eve of the New Year holidays, nine have got the opportunity to leave prison today, while the terms of punishment have been mitigated for the other convicts.

January 01, 2022 14:37

• An excavator blown up by a mine in Karabakh conflict zone

  An anti-tank mine exploded in the Agdam District of Azerbaijan during the works on the ground, and an excavator driver was not injured, the Prosecutor’s Office reported.

January 01, 2022 14:36

• Council of Europe Venice Commission criticizes Russia for liquidating “Memorial”*

  According to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the Russian law on foreign agents contradicts the international legal standards, and the decision to close the “International Memorial”* has become excessive punishment for administrative violations.

December 31, 2021 23:18

• Two residents of Georgia released in South Ossetia

  The authorities of South Ossetia have released two Georgian citizens, the Georgian State Security Service reports.

December 31, 2021 23:12

• Norway: picketers urge authorities to react to wave of kidnappings in Chechnya

  On December 30, about 50 members of the Chechen Diaspora held a protest in Oslo, calling on the authorities to seek sanctions against Ramzan Kadyrov and Vladimir Putin in connection with kidnappings in Chechnya and liquidation of the "Memorials"*.