Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of June 10-16

Court removes Mayor of Makhachkala Said Amirov from office, and his suicide attempt in SIZO was reported; refusal of Russian government from building Kudepsta TPP in Sochi; start of hearing on the merits of the case of former city manager of Stavropol Igor Bestuzhy; strike of lawyers in Armenia against non-transparent methods of country Court of Cassation; sentence for hostage taking in Astrakhan by using mock firearm and bomb, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of June 10-16, 2013, prepared by the"Caucasian Knot".

Said Amirov dismissed from post of Makhachkala Mayor

On June 14, the Basmanny Court of Moscow temporarily removed – on the request of the investigation – Said Amirov from the post of Mayor of Makhachkala. Amirov was arrested by the court until August 1 on charges of an ordered killing of the investigator. He refuses to plead guilty, treats his case as fabricated, and did not object to his removal from office.

One day before, on June 13, it was reported that the Mayor of Makhachkala, while in the Moscow SIZO (pre-trial prison), cut veins in his wrists and feet. The information about Amirov's suicide attempt was repeatedly confirmed by Christina Belousova, the spokesperson of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (known as UFSIN), who noted that Amirov was kept not at the Lefortovo SIZO, but in hospital. However, Amirov's advocate insist that their client was not going to commit suicide; Amirov himself stated that he was not going and had no intention to do it. It is noteworthy that both the advocates and political experts believe, in their comments on the Amirov's alleged suicide attempt, that they would not rule out a mitigation of his freedom restriction measure.

On June 13, it was announced that Murtazali Rabadanov, the Rector of the DagestaniStateUniversity, was appointed as the acting Mayor of Makhachkala. Formally, this appointment had to do with the vacation of the former acting Mayor Bagand Magomedov, the department of the head of the republic for home policy has reported.

Krasnodar Territory: authorities refuse to build Kudepsta TPP after residents' protests

The Russian government has abandoned the original plans to build the Kudepsta Thermal Power Plant (TPP) in Sochi within the Olympic Project, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said on June 14. According to the officials of the developer, the reason was in a lower calculated load on the power grid during the Olympics. However, according to Mr Kozak, the decision was made due to the fact that the investor had failed to guarantee the completion of the TPP by the start of the 2014 Olympics. The TPP project was opposed by Kudepsta residents, who claimed that it would destroy the resort area. They kept on duty there at night, trying to hinder the passage of construction equipment, and carried out pickets and rallies.

Stavropol: case of former city manager Igor Bestuzhy considered on the merits

On June 13, the Oktiabrskiy District Court of Stavropol began the consideration on the merits of the criminal case of Igor Bestuzhy, the former city manager, accused of attempting to receive a bribe of 50 million roubles and taking a bribe of 1.8 million roubles and illegal arms trafficking. The court listened to the prosecution and the defendant's advocates. According to Inna Denisova, one of the advocates, some of the documents that acquit Igor Bestuzhy were removed from the case files. Also, the advocates have stated that their client made all his confessions under torture, when kept in SIZO in Vladikavkaz.

Armenia: lawyers hold strike against non-transparent methods of CoC

On June 10 and 11, over 200 members of the Armenian Bar Association held a strike in protest against the arbitrary application of laws by the country's Court of Cassation (CoC). The main strikers' criticism was about the application by judges of "double standards" when considering cassation complaints. It is noteworthy that the Bar Association of Armenia announced that it did not support the strike. The Bar acknowledged the presence of plenty of problems in the country's judiciary, but noted that a one-time protest of a group of advocates can only harm the work of the Bar in its efforts to improve the legislation. Officials from the Judicial Department of the Ministry of Justice of Armenia said that at present they were working towards amending the judicial legislation, in view of lawyers' demands, and urged them to wait for the changes to be adopted. The CoC did not comment the actions and statements of the lawyers.

Astrakhan: hostage-taker sentenced to 9 years in prison

On June 11, the Astrakhan City Court ruled on seizure of hostages in the FisheryCollege, which occurred on March 14. Then, according to the investigation, a resident of Astrakhan Alexander Kuptsov took five people as hostages, then releasing one. The hostages were successfully released, no one was hurt. Kuptsov was holding his hostages by showing them a box that simulated an explosive device and an object resembling a pistol; he demanded to provide him with food, a car and money. He was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment in a high security colony. The judgment of the court took into account the nature and degree of social danger of the committed crime and Kuptsov criminal record – he had been earlier convicted for a theft.