Regional
- On Friday, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry stated that it ‘continues to draw the attention of the international community’ to the issue of the release of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan. They also stated that the Azerbaijani authorities ‘are using this judicial spectacle as a tool for political pressure on’ Armenia.
- In response, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry ‘resolutely’ condemned and rejected Armenia’s statement. It said that the Armenians on trial ‘either have been charged or war crimes, ethnic cleansing, military aggression, torture, and other serious offences’, and that Azerbaijan was obligated to ‘investigate and prosecute these offences under the Geneva Conventions and generally under international and domestic law’.
Armenia
- Mane Tandilyan, the president of the Country to Live party, affiliated with the Nagorno-Karabakh former State Minister Ruben Vardnayan, began a hunger strike in Armenia’s Republic Square ‘as a request’ to Vardanyan to stop this hunger strike. Vardanyan began his hunger strike on 18 February in protest against his trial and arrest by Azerbaijan.
- On Friday, a demonstration was held near the Armenian Foreign Ministry and the UN office in Yerevan against the trials of Armenians in Azerbaijan. According to Armenpress, they demanded that the Armenian authorities ‘convene a meeting with accredited diplomats in Armenia to present the crimes taking place against our compatriots in Baku and demand substantial steps’.
- On Saturday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that his government made ‘possible diplomatic efforts’ in the direction of the release of the Armenian prisoners and that they ‘bring up this issue in discussions with Azerbaijan’.
Azerbaijan
- Journalist Fatima Movlamli was detained on charges of smuggling as part of the crackdown on Meydan TV. Movlamli was detained on 28 February, with the police allegedly finding €13,500 ($14,000) under her mattress after raiding her home.
- Pro-government media outlet Caliber has reported that UNDP, UNCHR, and the International Committee of the Red Cross ‘were informed that they must leave’ Azerbaijan. The outlet cited sources as saying that the organisations were notified about ‘the need to review the format of cooperation’ between them and the government.
Georgia
- The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has blocked the extradition of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadigov to Azerbaijan as a temporary measure. Following this decision, the journalist ended his 161-day hunger strike. The measure remains in effect until Sadigov’s case is substantively resolved in the ECHR.
- Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that a special commission will investigate the damage caused by heavy snowfall in western Georgia. According to him, the state will renovate damaged houses, and citizens whose homes are beyond repair will be provided with alternative housing.
- In the central Georgian city of Chiatura, miners and other locals are holding protests against Georgian Manganese, accusing it of not fulfilling its obligations to its employees.
Abkhazia
- Former vice president Badra Gunba has won the run-off of the presidential elections, securing 54.7% of the vote and besting his competitor, oppositionist Adgur Ardzinba.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Gunba on his election as president. Putin yesterday told Gunba that his ‘which took place in conditions of free expression of the people’s will, confirmed the support of the citizens of Abkhazia for your line on ensuring domestic political stability and progressive socio-economic development of the country’, adding that he expected that Abkhazian–Russian relations will continue to ‘strengthen for the benefit of our fraternal peoples’.
The North Caucasus
- A Russian citizen was extradited from Egypt on Sunday, accused by Russian law enforcers of kidnapping a businessman from Daghestan and extorting ₽30 million ($340,000) from him. The case in question is most likely the one in which two former members of the Wagner private military group from Daghestan kidnapped the director of the Gold Project construction company in November 2023.
- On Friday, a local resident was arrested in Magas on charges of aiding alleged terrorists. The authorities have not revealed his name, but official sources state that the person provided vehicles to members of the Islamic State in April 2023. A series of attacks on police officers took place in the spring of that year.
- On Friday, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, reacted to complaints about gas, water, and electricity outages from residents of a Daghestani village in Kizilyurt. Bastrykin has placed the investigation under the control of the committee’s central office.
- State Duma deputy from Daghestan, three-time Olympic champion Buvaisar Saitiev, died on Sunday. According to preliminary information, Saitiev died as a result of heart failure.
For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
