Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev missed the informal CIS summit in St. Petersburg due to a busy work schedule. Aliyev's administration also noted that his absence from the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on December 21 was due to Azerbaijan not being a member of the organization.
Political prisoner, Crimean Tatar Teymur Abdullaev was again sent to a punishment cell in colony No. 2 in Salavat (Bashkortostan). He has spent a total of 950 days in the punishment cell.
The colony staff did not give any reasons for sending him to the punishment cell. Abdullaev was also prohibited from receiving parcels from his relatives. He had previously complained of a severe headache and eye pain.
In June 2019, the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced brothers Teymur and Uzeir Abdullayev to 16.5 and 13 years in prison, respectively. Crimean Tatars were detained for involvement in the activities of the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia. On the territory of Ukraine and many countries of the world it operates without restrictions at the level of national legislation.