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.
The Basmanny District Court of Moscow sent Nadezhda Kevorkova to a pre-trial detention center until July 6 in the case of justifying terrorism. The 65-year-old journalist was taken to court in handcuffs. She does not consider herself guilty and denies the charges.
A woman suffers from complications after coronavirus. She has metal structures installed in her body, which is why she needs to visit a doctor regularly.
The criminal case is related to publications in Kevorkova’s personal Telegram channel, including a post about the Taliban, a military-political movement recognized in Russia as terrorist. At the meeting to select a preventive measure, the defense asked to include in the case materials quotes from Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who called for improving relations with the Taliban.
In addition, Kevorkova is charged with reposting Orkhan Dzhemal’s article about the terrorist attack in Nalchik.
Member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation Eva Merkacheva, President of the Assembly of Islamic Business Marat Kabaev, and other individuals and organizations signed guarantees for the journalist.
The defense noted that Nadezhda Kevorkova is an active volunteer of the Solidarity Foundation, helping seriously ill children and low-income people. The journalist repeatedly visited the Gaza Strip with the support of the Russian Foreign Ministry and covered the situation in the Middle East, worked in Iraq and Iran. Kevorkova is the author of three books about Palestine and numerous articles on religion.