News

November 02, 2021 22:26

• Azerbaijan: people with disabilities complain about problems with receiving payments

  Azerbaijani authorities have introduced new criteria for defining disability; and the review of the entitlement to benefits has led to delays in payments and refusals to certify disability, local residents have complained.

November 02, 2021 12:30

• Saakashvili calls on his supporters to take action

  The opposition should seek to overthrow the ruling power and early parliamentary elections, Mikhail Saakashvili, a former Georgian President, has stated. His advocate fears that Saakashvili, who is on a hunger strike for 32 days already, may be kidnapped if transferred to a hospital in Gori.

November 02, 2021 12:07

• Torture traces on Ravil Rasulov's body cast doubt on law enforcers' version about what caused his death

  Ravil Rasulov, who died at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in the Volgograd Region, could have been tortured, Igor Nagavkin, a human rights defender, has stated, adding that there were traces of beatings on Rasulov's body. Ravil's wife has also denied the version of his suicide.

November 02, 2021 12:01

• Two inmates of Novocherkassk colony set fire to their clothes

  In the city of Novocherkassk, Rostov Region, two inmates of a maximum security colony have climbed onto the roof of a building and set fire to their clothes in protest against removal to another detachment.

November 02, 2021 11:57

• Peacemakers report on delivery of clothes and footwear to refugees in Nagorno-Karabakh

  Peacemakers have brought essentials, clothes and shoes to refugees and large families in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Ministry of Defence has informed.

November 02, 2021 01:56

• A warder of Vladikavkaz penal colony suspected of negligence after prisoner’s death

  In North Ossetia, an assistant to the chief of a penal colony did not stop the violation of the rules of behaviour by prisoners at night, which led to the death of one of them, investigators suggested.

November 02, 2021 01:50

• Residents of Dagestan report difficulties associated with imposition of QR codes

  In Dagestan, without a QR code or a coronavirus survival certificate, people are not allowed to visit shopping centres or go to the market, and visitors to cafes must also produce the above-mentioned documents, local residents say. The innovation affected the activities of small businesses, as the number of cafe visitors decreased significantly, entrepreneurs note.

November 01, 2021 20:53

• Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s Office recognizes torture of defendants in “Terter case”

  Sixteen officials are found guilty of using violence against more than 100 suspects accused of cooperation with the Armenian special services and the preparation of acts of sabotage and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The above has been announced by the Deputy General Prosecutor of Azerbaijan.

November 01, 2021 16:14

• Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of October 25-31, 2021

  Second round of municipal elections in Georgia; beginning of the unplanned holidays announced because of the coronavirus spread and the introduction of QR codes in Southern Russia; anniversary of the terror act during the “Nord-Ost” musical show; visit of the President of Turkey to Azerbaijan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of October 25-31, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

November 01, 2021 14:54

• Law enforcers scold Gudermes girls for video on balcony of high-rise building

  In Gudermes, law enforcers took three 14-year-old girls to the police; one of them posted a video filmed on the edge of the balcony; and their parents were brought to responsibility. Instagram users who watched the video clip reproached their parents for their poor control over the teenagers.

November 01, 2021 14:34

• Week of October 25-31 passed without victims of armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

  During the week from October 25 to October 31, 2021, during the ongoing armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, no information about casualties or wounded persons was reported. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other sources.

November 01, 2021 12:25

• Social media users criticize "Roskomnadzor" for demand to block story about Gisaev's torture

  The "Roskomnadzor" (the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media) has demanded from the YouTube to block the video by Adam Gisaev, a native of Chechnya and a former prisoner, telling about torture at the Irkutsk SIZO (pre-trial prison), which was posted on the channel of the human rights project Gulagu.net.

November 01, 2021 12:23

• TV report with reprimands of women-sorcerers in Chechnya sparks bewilderment among social network users

  The "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company) has presented the report, in which three women detained by Chechen law enforcers for practising witchcraft, were scolded, as "psychics' battle under law enforcers' supervision." Some Instagram users believe that this sarcasm was inappropriate.

November 01, 2021 12:21

• Georgia: international observers point to election violations

  The election campaign passed amid intimidation of voters and pressure on them, the Embassy of the European Union (EU) to Georgia has stated. A sharp imbalance of resources in favour of the ruling party has affected the election outcomes, the head of the mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) has stressed.

October 31, 2021 12:05

• Nalchik activists treat authorities' help to victims of political repressions as meagre

  After their return from exile, the repressed residents of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) failed to receive compensations for their seized or lost property; now they are paid only a small surcharge to their pensions, Marx Shakhmurzov, the head of the Association of Victims of Political Repressions, has stated at a rally held in Nalchik.

October 31, 2021 11:31

• Georgian MIA reports on eight criminal cases on election incidents

  Eight criminal cases have been initiated in connection with the incidents that occurred during the voting at the second round of municipal elections, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has reported. The NGOs "Transparency International" and the "Georgian Young Lawyers' Association" (GYLA) have filed 32 complaints with the Central Election Commission (CEC).

October 31, 2021 11:11

• Volgograd townspeople lay flowers at monument to victims of political repressions

  On October 30, residents of Volgograd, individually and in small groups, laid flowers at the monument to repressed people and read out their names.

October 30, 2021 18:06

• Analysts pointed to risks of severe sentence to Vadim Cheldiev

  Vadim Cheldiev, an Ossetian opera singer, who is accused of organizing riots in Vladikavkaz, may be harshly sentenced by the court. In this way, authorities hope to prevent a rise of protest sentiments amid roughening restrictions on coronavirus, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

October 30, 2021 16:02

• Georgian authorities and opposition blame each other of election provocations

  Several skirmishes have broken out during local elections in Batumi and Zugdidi. Members of the ruling "Georgian Dream" Party and the opposition have exchanged accusations of trying to interfere with observers' work.

October 30, 2021 15:16

• Observers in Tbilisi point to low voter turnout

  The second round of elections in the Gldani District of Tbilisi began with a lower voter turnout than the first round, observers have noted.