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.
The Southern District Military Court of Rostov-on-Don held another hearing on the case of Magomed Alkhanov, a native of Chechnya. He is accused of attacking a company of Pskov paratroopers in February 2000 near the village of Ulus-Kert in the Vedensky District during the second Russian-Chechen war. The Memorial Center reported that the criminal case was fabricated.
In early July, several prisoners, including Magomed Alkhanov, were suddenly transferred from Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 in Rostov-on-Don, where an escape attempt and hostage-taking took place on June 16. Relatives and lawyers were told that they had been sent to Pretrial Detention Center No. 2 in Taganrog, but neither the lawyers nor the relatives were able to meet with the prisoners. Relatives fear that the missing may be tortured to make them confess to complicity in the escape attempt.
It turned out that Alkhanov is also accused of participating in and organizing the escape from SIZO-1. His lawyer is not allowed to see him.