Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of May 12-18

Replacement of Russian President's Envoy in Northern Caucasus and setting up a ministry to be in charge for development of the region; landslide in Georgia causing human deaths, highway closure and interaction of gas supplies to Armenia; start of parties' pleadings at MCC on Anna Politkovskaya's murder; daring attack of unidentified persons on law enforcers in Gunib District of Dagestan; conviction of journalist Parviz Gashimli in Azerbaijan; decision of the court in Rostov Region on recognizing the "Union of Don Women" as a foreign agent, – read the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of May 12-18, 2014, prepared by the"Caucasian Knot".

New Presidential Plenipotentiary appointed in NCFD; new ministry created

On May 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of the Ministry for Development of Northern Caucasus within the Russian Govt. It is headed by Lev Kuznetsov, a former governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In accordance with the Decree "On the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Affairs of Northern Caucasus", its main functions will be the implementation of the state policy in the sphere of socio-economic development and coordination of the respective federal programmes. Later it became known that the new Ministry will be supervised by Alexander Khloponin, the former presidential envoy to the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), who preserved his post of Vice-Premier. His successor as the envoy to the NCFD is Sergey Melikov, the commander of the unified military grouping in Northern Caucasus.

The Kremlin's new cadre decisions for Northern Caucasus show a force trend in policy, while the administrative regulation of Northern Caucasus' economic demands has proved to be inefficient, experts told the "Caucasian Knot" in their comments on the situation.

Georgia: landslide kills people, blocks highway and suspends gas transit to Armenia

On May 17, a landslide hit the Darial Gorge in Georgia, killing three workers and blocking the entry to the tunnel, where there were people. The rock mass also blocked the Terek River bed. The disaster halted the gas transit through Georgia to Armenia, interrupted the operation of the "Kazbegi" customs checkpoint on both Georgian and Russian sides, and stopped traffic on the Georgian Military Road. The Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) of North Ossetia has reported that the catastrophic consequences were caused by a slide of the Devdorak Glacier; because of a threat of flooding the surrounded residents were recommended to leave their houses and stay with their relatives in other parts of the country – this concerns inhabitants of villages Ezmi, Chmi and Nizhni Lars. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Georgia, rescuers saved 164 residents of the Darial Gorge. As of the morning of May 18, two victims, citizens of Turkey and Ukraine, were in a critical condition in hospital in Tbilisi; in the evening it became known that the Ukrainian died.

MCC starts debate on Anna Politkovskaya's murder case

On May 14, the Moscow City Court (MCC) began pleadings on the murder case of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper, where four natives of Chechnya are the figurants: brothers Rustam, Ibragim and Djabrail Makhmudov, and Lom-Ali Gaitukaev, as well as a former police officer Sergey Khadjikurbanov; all of them deny their guilt. On that day, the public prosecutors asked the jury to find all the defendants guilty and deserving no leniency. Djabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov were dismissed from the trial till the end of the debate for the shouts during the prosecutor's speech. On May 15, the court was addressed by the suffered party. The advocates of three defendants urged the jury to demonstrate the principles and pass acquittal. One of them said that at the trial the state prosecution was correcting the errors of the investigation. It is planned that on May 19 the debates will be over.

Dagestan: daring attack on law enforcers in Gunib District

On May 15, in the village of Sogratl, Gunib District of Dagestan, unidentified persons attacked policemen; the incident ended in death of three and injuries of ten policemen. According to local residents, the policemen got under fire, when they were moving in three cars. First, all the three drivers were killed; then, the attackers opened automatic gunfire at the policemen, who jumped out of the cars. They managed to hide behind a KamAZ truck, which moved in the opposite direction. On the same day, the Gunib District was put under the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime. On May 15 and 16, the vicinities of Sogratl were patrolled by helicopters; military vehicles arrived, and the road to the village was blocked. On May 17, information appeared about the ongoing searches in the village, which resulted in detention of several people. It is noteworthy that at night on May 9 in Sogratl unidentified attackers blew up an obelisk to the heroes of World War II; however, the locals believe that the explosion of the monument and the attack on the police have nothing in common.

Azerbaijan convicts journalist Parviz Gashimli

On May 15, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Parviz Gashimli, a reporter of the "Bizim Yol" newspaper, the head of the website "moderator.az" and the head of the Public Association "Defence Centre of Citizens' Civil and Political Rights", to 8 years of imprisonment. He was accused of trying to arrange sale of arms from Iran. Gashimli denied all the charges and declared that his case was politically motivated. His verdict was condemned by journalistic organizations in Azerbaijan, Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE's Special Representative on Media Freedom and the international human rights organization "Reporters without Borders". His advocate said that he would challenge the conviction.

Rostov Region: court obliges NGO "Union of Don Women" to get registered as foreign agent

On May 14, the judge of the Novocherkassk City Court, Rostov Region, ruled to satisfy the claim lodged by the City Prosecutor's Office and obliged the NGO "Union of Don Women" to get registered as a foreign agent under the Law of the Russian Federation "On Non-Profit Organizations", which affixes this stigma to those NGOs that are engaged in "political activity" and receive funding from abroad. The lawyers who represent the interests of the Union intend to appeal against this ruling at the Rostov Regional Court and at the European Court of Human Rights, as activists of the "Union of Don Women" deny their involvement in political activities.