At today's session of the Tbilisi City Court, a preventive measure will be chosen for one of the leaders of the opposition party "Coalition for Change" Zurab Girchi Japaridze. The politician refused to pay bail in the amount of 20 thousand lari, assigned to him for refusing to appear for questioning at the investigative commission of the parliament.
The Southern District Military Court sentenced Eduard Taushev and Temirali Zarakayev to 19 and 13 years in a maximum security penal colony, respectively. This was reported by Interfax, citing information from the FSB Directorate for Stavropol Krai. The defendants were found guilty of attacking the Botlikh District of Dagestan during the second Russian-Chechen war.
On May 21, the day of remembrance and mourning for the victims of the Caucasian War, about 500 people gathered in Istanbul for a rally - Circassians, Chechens, Abkhazians, Ossetians and other descendants of the peoples of the North Caucasus. They came to honor the memory of the victims of the mass expulsion from their historical homeland that occurred 161 years ago.
The former judge Elena Khakhaleva, who was wanted in Russia, left Azerbaijan and went to another country. According to her lawyer, this case in Azerbaijan is closed. After the court decided to refuse her extradition at the request of the Russian side, Khakhaleva left the republic.
17-year-old Adam Kadyrov was awarded a commemorative medal for his contribution to the development of the Russian National Guard, in particular the OMON unit "Akhmat-Krepost". It is noted that he was awarded this honor for his active participation in the "SVO", as well as for "assistance in carrying out combat missions and developing the department's structures."
On May 21, the Adyghe-Abkhaz peoples celebrate the day of remembrance and mourning for the victims of the Caucasian War. Mourning events were held in Nalchik and Cherkessk.
Georgia sent 16.3 thousand tons of potatoes to the Russian market for $6.8 million. This is a record monthly figure - in April last year, there were no such deliveries at all.
Today, May 21, an anti-Russian rally was held in the capital of Armenia in connection with the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. It is reported that the protest was organized by representatives of the "For the Republic" party. Demonstrators gathered with posters near the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Lavrov met with Armenian diplomat Ararat Mirzoyan.
From June 18 to 25, the most significant increases in gasoline prices were recorded in Crimea, Dagestan, Chechnya, and the Ivanovo region.
The Russian Ministry of Justice has added the Crimean Tatar human rights organization Crimean Solidarity to the register of foreign agents.
Representatives of Georgian civil society have issued an open appeal to international organizations, declaring what they believe is an intensification of Russia's annexation policy in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The document has been sent to the UN, the European Union, the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), the OSCE, and NATO.
Representatives of the Chechen diaspora in Vienna organized a protest outside the Finnish Embassy. The activists' main demand was to prevent the extradition to Russia of refugees from the North Caucasus, who face the threat of torture and repression in their home countries. Human rights activist Roza Dunaeva provided information on this matter.