Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of March 3-9

Start of Winter Paralympics in Sochi; rallies in Southern Russia in support of citizens of Ukraine and rallies in the countries of Southern Caucasus against the actions of the Russian authorities; mass poisoning of residents of the village near Baku with household gas; cancellation of the investigators' decision to close the case against the deputy in the Stavropol Territory who knocked down a pedestrian; another decision of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to revoke the license of a Dagestani bank, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of March 3-9, 2014, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Start of Winter Paralympics in Sochi

On March 7, in Sochi, the "Fisht" Stadium hosted the opening ceremony of the 11^th Paralympic Winter Games. 575 athletes from 45 countries will compete at the Winter Paralympics, and this is the largest number of participating countries during the whole history of the Paralympic Games. During 10 days, participants will compete for 72 sets of medals in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country skiing, ice sledge hockey, curling in wheelchairs. For the first time, athletes will compete in para-snowboarding. The Paralympic Games are held on the same arenas that were used during the Olympic Games. The first medals have been already won by Russian Paralympians.

The opening ceremony of the Paralympics was preceded by the Paralympic Torch Relay, which started on February 26 at Cape Dezhnev and, during a week, passed through 48 cities in eight federal districts of Russia. In the south of Russia, the first stage of the Paralympic Torch Relay was held on March 4 in the Ingush capital of Magas. On the next day, the 2014 Paralympic flame was lit in Volgograd, Taganrog and the Cossack village of Elizavetinskaya of the Krasnodar Territory. On March 6, the fire torch began its route through the streets of Sochi.

Actions in support of the people of Ukraine and Russia in the south against the actions of the Russian authorities in the countries of the Southern Caucasus

Last week, some cities of Southern Russia hosted rallies in support of the people of Ukraine, where a change of power took place after long-lasting mass protests against the government suspension of preparation for the signing of an association agreement with the EU that escalated into armed clashes. Being sanctioned and supported by the authorities, rallies were held in Volgograd, Astrakhan, Maikop, Stavropol, and the cities of the Kavkazskie Mineralnye Vody region. In the course of the rallies, people expressed their support for the decision of the Russian Federation Council to permit the use of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine at the request of the authorities of the Crimea. The authorities of the regions in Southern Russia have announced the beginning to collect humanitarian aid and money for the people of the Crimea, and several regions Dagestan and the Volgograd Region have already sent to the Crimea all what they managed to collect.

In the countries of the Southern Caucasus, activists say about the unacceptability of the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation in the territory of Ukraine. On March 5, picket was held in Baku near the Russian Embassy to protest against the policy of the Russian authorities in Ukraine. On the same day, in Yerevan, a picket to protest against the Russia's actions towards Ukraine was also held in front of the Russian Embassy. On March 6, in Georgia, the parliament adopted a resolution supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which protested against the Russia's intervention in the affairs of the country.

Azerbaijan: villagers near Baku got poisoned with household gas

On March 5, in the village of Lokbatan, located 10 kilometres south-west of Baku, a mass poisoning of people with household gas took place. More than 100 persons sought medical care; however, after the first aid had been rendered, some of them were let to go home. According to Azer Magsudov, the chief toxicologist of the Azerbaijani Health Ministry, 40 villagers were hospitalized, and by the morning of March 6, all of them were discharged from hospitals. According to local residents, Natalia Mamedova, a 45-year-old resident of the village of Lokbatan, died as a result of poisoning. On March 6, Anar Gadirli, the head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Health Ministry, denied the information about the death of Natalia Mamedova as a result of gas poisoning. However, on March 8, officials from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported that the death of the local resident was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. According to a representative of the "Azerigas", the poisoning of the people was caused by excessive additive gas odorant; the Baku Prosecutor's Office instituted a criminal case.

Stavropol Territory: Prosecutor's Office cancels investigators' decision to close case against the deputy, who knocked down a pedestrian

On March 4, the Prosecutor's Office of the Stavropol Territory recognized unlawful the investigators' decision to close the criminal case against Valery Kalugin, the deputy of the Fifth Convocation Duma of the Stavropol Territory, who in November 2012 knocked down a local resident by a car. The victim died from the received injuries. The investigators believed that the deputy's actions contained no elements of crime, since he did not violate traffic rules or rules of operation of vehicles, and since the killed pedestrian was crossing the road in the wrong place. However, officials from the Prosecutor's Office of the Stavropol Territory insist that during the investigation, the investigating authority has failed to reveal all the circumstances of the accident and to provide complete and comprehensive investigation into the case. Once the information had been announced, a number of deputies of the Duma of the Stavropol Territory have announced their resignation from the Committee on Legislation headed by Valery Kalugin.

Dagestan: license of Bank for Social Development "Dagestan" is revoked

On March 5, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation revoked the license on bank transactions earlier issued to the Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Commercial Bank for Social Development 'Dagestan'". The decision was reasoned by repeated violations committed by the credit institution in regard to the legal requirements of the Law of the Russian Federation "On counteraction of legalization (laundering) of criminal proceeds and terrorism financing" and conduction of suspicious transactions on cash withdrawal. According to the Bank of Russia, in 2013, the total volume of cash withdrawal exceeded the amount of 1.6 billion roubles. Officials from the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) have reported that payments to depositors of the Makhachkala bank will begin no later than March 19. The revocation of the license of the Bank for Social Development "Dagestan" continues the series of similar decisions with regard to credit institutions of the republic. And at present, the number of the Dagestani credit institutions, whose licenses had been revoked, has already reached at least eight.