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Regional * Azerbaijan has appointed a new lawyer to represent former Nagorno-Karabakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, who remains imprisoned in Baku on what his defence describes as fabricated charges. During the latest hearing at the Baku Military Court, presided over by Judge Zeynal Aghayev, the court approved Vardanyan’s request to dismiss his previous attorney, Avraham Berman, citing dissatisfaction with the trial process. The court then appointed Emil Babishov, a member of Azerbaijan’s Ba
Regional * A South Ossetian parliamentary delegation has participated in the 12 conference of the North Caucasus Parliamentary Association in Arkhyz, Karachay–Cherkessia. The delegation was led by First Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Zita Besayeva; the chair of the parliamentary committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Relations, Zaza Driayev also participated. * Twenty Russian human rights activists and organisations have appealed to the Armenian authorities, calling for a ‘prompt, t
Regional * Chechen human right commissioner Mansur Soltaev has released audio recordings of Aishat Baymuradova, who was found dead in Yerevan. He did not explain how he obtained them. In the published excerpts, she mentions a conflict with an individual over money. Soltaev has accused human rights activists of abducting and killing the woman. * German police have deported to Georgia Zurab Khangoshvili, the brother of former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who was killed in Ber
Armenia * Three Gyumri municipality employees have been arrested for threatening employees to organise protests in support of detained Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan under threat. The Investigative Committee has reported that the officials allegedly instructed several staff members — under threat of dismissal — to order kindergarten directors to send children home and gather at the municipality to prevent the mayor’s arrest. Following these orders, multiple kindergarten directors reportedly sto
