OC Media
Vafa Naghi. Photo: Turkan Bashir.
Vafa Naghi is 36-years-old former journalist and graduate of Istanbul’s Sabahattin Zaim University. She could have had a bright career in Baku or abroad. But after graduation, she moved back to Kholgaragashli, the village of her birth, to start a small sewing workshop to help the local women find jobs and their independence. After submitting this piece, she was elected to the municipal council. [Read more…]
An earlier protest in Magas on 4 October 2018. Photo: Aznaur Tashayev /OC Media.
A Russian court has convicted three people for their participation in protests in the Ingush capital Magas on 26–27 March, the first of 34 arrested in the wake of the protests. [Read more…]
The former Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Cherkessk. Photo: jw-russia.org.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has raided the homes of nine Jehovah’s Witnesses in Karachay-Cherkessia, detaining 10 people, the Jehovah’s Witnesses of Russia has reported. [Read more…]
Giga Makarashvili, For Freedom activist at the protest held on 17 November. (Mari Nikuradze / OC Media)
Amidst protracted preliminary court hearings, 10 of the 37 people arrested following the protests on Monday have been sentenced to administrative imprisonment. Opposition groups have called for their release and vow to restart street protests next week. [Read more…]
A protester being detained. Footage from MeydanTV.
The authorities in Azerbaijan have prevented the opposition Musavat Party from holding a protest in Baku, detaining several senior party members including party leader Arif Hajili. [Read more…]
The Russian Supreme Court. Official picture.
Four rights groups operating in different republics of the North Caucasus may face closure due to a lawsuit filed by Russia’s Ministry of Justice in the Russian Supreme Court. The ministry is seeking to close down Russian rights movement Za Prava Cheloveka (‘for human rights’), of which the groups are members. [Read more…]
A screenshot of the footage leaked online.
Footage allegedly filmed in a South Ossetian detention centre showing prisoners being beaten by security forces has been leaked online, leading to calls for the resignation of the interior and justice ministers. [Read more…]
Photo: RES
South Ossetian prisoners who were on hunger strike in Tskhinvali last Friday were severely beaten, local media report. [Read more…]
Muslims praying outside Batumi’s only mosque during Friday prayers. Photo: Mari Nikuradze/OC Media
Batumi City Court has ruled that the city authorities’ refusal to grant a permit for the local Muslim community to construct a second mosque in the city was discriminatory. [Read more…]
(OC Media)
The recent domestic violence scandal involving the Popular Front Party has revealed a dark side of Azerbaijan’s opposition. Those wishing to build a democracy in the country cannot hope to do so while supporting oppressive values. [Read more…]
