Week in the Caucasus: review of main events on November 18-24

Conviction of Krasnodar Court on Kuschevskaya massacre; first in two years meeting of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan; death during a special operation in Makhachkala of alleged organizer of the terror act in Volgograd, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of November 18-24, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Court in Krasnodar convicts figurants of Kuschevskaya massacre case

On November 19, the Krasnodar Territorial Court sentenced Sergey Tsapok, the main figurant the case of the mass murder in the village of Kuschevskaya committed in November 2010, to life imprisonment in a special security colony. Life-long terms were also awarded to Vladimir Alekseev and Igor Chernykh. The rest of the defendants received long prison sentences.

During the trial, all the defendants refused to plead guilty on any of the charges. The defence plans to appeal against the verdict at the Criminal Panel of the Supreme Court of Russia.

Meeting of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan

The first in two years meeting of Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia Ilham Aliev and Serzh Sargsyan took place on November 19 in Vienna. As a result thereof, the heads of the states agreed to intensify negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have reported.

According to politicians and political scientists of Nagorno-Karabakh, the meeting has granted an opportunity to continue the negotiation process of the two countries; and generally such meetings contribute to maintaining stability in the region. In the opinion of Armenian experts, the meeting of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan was in itself a positive fact; however, there are no grounds to expect any significant changes in the negotiation process on the Karabakh conflict. In their turn, political scientists of Azerbaijan stick to the opinion that the negotiations have essentially failed.

Suspected organizer of terror act in Volgograd killed in special operation in Makhachkala

On November 19, the Kirov District of Makhachkala was put under the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime, after police units were twice shelled in the city. An occasional passerby and two policemen were killed in the shelling; two other policemen were wounded. One of the suspected attackers was killed and later identified as Ruslan Kazanbiev, who is considered by power agents to be an accomplice to the organizer of the bus explosion in Volgograd on October 21. A few other attackers were blocked in a private house and killed on November 20 during a special operation. According to the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC), Murad Kasumov, the leader of the "Makhachkala" armed grouping, who gave an order to make the bomb that was triggered in Volgograd, was identified among the casualties.

New government launched in Georgia; Ivanishvili declares his retirement from politics

On November 20, the Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili, who was elected at the October 27 presidential election, signed a decree on appointing Irakli Garibashvili, the Interior Minister, to the post of the Prime Minister. On the same day, the MPs of Georgia expressed, at an extraordinary session, a vote of confidence to the new government and the government's programme of "Strong, United and Democratic Georgia". Mr Garibashvili has stated that the government will continue the course taken by the previous Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Alexander Chikaidze was appointed to be the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia – he was the only new minister in the government.

In Moscow, Astrakhan Regional Duma Deputy Oleg Shein hospitalized with stab wounds

On November 21, Oleg Shein, a Deputy of the Astrakhan Regional Duma deputy from the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party and a former candidate for the Mayor of Astrakhan, was hospitalized in Moscow with three stab wounds. The politician was operated on; and his life is out of danger. Tatiana Pavlova, a fifth-year student of a Magnitogorsk higher school was detained for assaulting the Deputy; she called what had happened to be an occasional incident. Mr Shein's party colleagues have also stated that the attack on him had nothing to do with his political activities.

Detained Astrakhan Mayor charged with bribe-taking and temporarily removed from office

On November 22, the court suspended Mikhail Stolyarov, accused of taking a bribe of 10 million roubles, from the post of Mayor. It also became known that the territorial branch of the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party had suspended Stolyarov's party membership. Earlier, Mikhail Stolyarov refused to plead guilty and refused to testify.