Armenia Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has classified the Shaki incident as a ‘regular criminal incident’. Pashinyan argued that it could have ended differently if Ani Avetisyan, the woman injured by the Azerbaijani soldier, had waited for police to arrive. He also said the detained soldier will serve at least part of his sentence in Armenia. At the same time, Defence Minister Suren Papikyan acknowledged that there were shortcomings related to the incident that will have consequences. He also added that the soldier did not resist when he was arrested, which showed that he had not crossed the border on purpose as part of a planned mission. The founder of the Adequate party, Artur Danielyan, has been arrested for a Facebook post. The Investigative Committee claimed he defamed the National Security Service by suggesting that the Azerbaijani soldier was not acting alone. Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has concluded his official visit to Iran. Mirzoyan noted that Iran was satisfied with the Trump Route and was willing to discuss all issues and economic opportunities that it would provide. A manager of a popular restaurant in Yerevan, Gustav, has been caught secretly filming customers in the restaurant’s unisex bathroom. The restaurant says he has been fired, while the Interior Ministry says criminal proceedings are underway. A teacher who was filmed beating a student in Gegharkunik has been detained . The paintings confiscated from detained former Finance Minister Gagik Khachatryan will now be available to the public. Khachatryan’s defence team has argued that the exhibit violates Khachatryan’s right to privacy. Azerbaijan A court has sentenced the former advisor to the US-based German Marshall Fund to seven years and six months in prison. Mehriban Rahimli was charged in the NGO case, but the sentence was suspended for a probation period of four years. The government has approved new ‘secular’ dress code requirements for public school. Teachers’ clothing and accessories must ‘comply with the principle of secularism in general education’, while school administrations will be responsible for monitoring compliance with the requirements. Georgia Civil activist Sergei Kancheli has said he left Georgia after police officers allegedly assaulted him at a cemetery. According to Kancheli, on 27 September, the officers scratched his face with a knife and threatened him with a gun, pointing it at his head, chest, and other parts of his body. He also said they ‘forced’ him to have ‘sexual intercourse’. Kancheli added that the abuse lasted for around 50 minutes, after which the officers left the scene. He said he has filed a lawsuit and plans to continue seeking justice against those responsible. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) says that the Special Penitentiary Service has obstructed Giorgi Davitaze’s lawyer from taking notes while meeting his client. Davitadze has accused staff at Rustavi Prison No 6 of raping him, claims the prison service denies. Detained opposition politician Aleko Elisashvili said yesterday that inmates at Rustavi Prison No 6 had staged a protest in solidarity with Davitadze. Elisashvili said several inmates had also self-harmed in protest. According to Elisashvili, the situation at the prison remains tense. Singer Misho Sulukhia has claimed that unidentified men in civilian clothes stopped and assaulted him near Tbilisi’s Lisi Lake and demanded that he confess to a crime. The Interior Ministry told OC Media that Sulukhia was moving suspiciously in a wooded area, failed to obey a police order, dropped his phone, and fled. The ministry said his phone and bank card were sealed as evidence and an administrative case was opened for disobeying a police order. Economy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili has been promoted to Deputy Prime Minister. Yesterday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze thanked Kvrivishvili and the ‘economic team’ for their work in several areas, including strengthening economic cooperation with China, reducing external debt, and ‘maintaining and ensuring sound fiscal indicators’. Abkhazia President Badra Gunba congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his birthday yesterday. ‘In our country, you enjoy unquestioned authority and deep respect. The people of Abkhazia remember well and highly appreciate the support you have provided to our republic over many years’, Gunba said. South Ossetia Oleg Gagiev has been appointed head of the Interior Ministry’s Economic Crimes Department. Gagiev previously worked in economic crime units in North Ossetia. Yesterday, four people suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning in two separate incidents. In both cases, the victims were hospitalised , but are in a stable condition. The North Caucasus Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov has received the Honorary Architect of Russia award. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin presented Kadyrov with the award during the opening of the Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov Boulevard in Grozny’s Putin district, stating it was for ‘significant contributions to the development of architecture and urban development’ in Russia and Chechnya. Kadyrov has at least 78 other awards and titles, Caucasian Knot has recorded. Russia’s Interior Ministry has placed a former employee of Kabarda–Balkaria’s Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya) Directorate on a wanted list. According to Mediazona , Shamil Uchev, 38, has been linked to the Arbitrum financial pyramid scheme, in which at least 50 people have been recognised as victims and the damages estimated at ₽70 million ($820,000). Uchev is now reportedly based in Bali. The brother of the former Daghestani Head Ramazan Abdulatipov has been released from prison early . Rajab Abdulatipov was originally detained in September 2018, and in March 2021, he was sentenced to 12 years in a maximum-security prison after being found guilty of bribery and fraud. The head of the republic’s Public Monitoring Commission, Shamil Khadulaev, did not specify the grounds for Apdulatipov’s early release, though speculation has arisen that he was either released on parole, or that his prison sentence was commuted to forced labour. For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.