Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said Yerevan does not rule out taking its dispute with Russia over the management of the South Caucasus Railway to an international court if the issue cannot be resolved through negotiations. At the same time, he stressed that the Armenian authorities hope to settle the matter through talks.
Crimean Tatar Rustem Gugurik was placed in solitary confinement in IK-8 in Buryatia three times in six months. According to his relatives, the man is losing his hearing, is not receiving medication for his heart, and his stomach problems have worsened.
In addition, it became known that the political prisoner is being held in a barracks for those registered for terrorist inclinations, and he was also placed in solitary confinement three times in six months.
Gugurik was previously convicted of participating in the Noman Chelebidzhikhan Crimean Tatar battalion, which was recognized as “terrorist” in Russia. Since January 2015, criminal cases have been opened en masse in Crimea, which has come under the de facto control of Russia, for participation in this battalion and in the Hizb ut-Tahrir party. The party’s activities are not banned in Ukraine. According to human rights activists, Crimean Tatars are being persecuted not for preparing a coup d'etat or terrorism, but for criticizing the Russian authorities and the repressions in Crimea.