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On February 3, substantial hearing into the criminal case against famous Azerbaijan human rights defender Intigam Aliyev started with an unexpected decision of the court collegium at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes. Straight after the trial started, the judge ordered to release the human rights defender from the cage without any solicitations from the parties. A rusty lock clanged and Intigam Aliyev was allowed to sit next to his lawyers in the courtroom. The audience greeted the political prisoner with applauses.

On January 27, a preparatory hearing was held in Baku Grave Crimes Court, on the case of human rights defender, founder and chairman of Human Rights Club Rasul Jafarov.

We are concerned about the oppression on civil society organizations. Crack-down on the part of CSOs, who aim to defend democratic values, promote freedom and equality as well as creation of European systems of the governance, has become particularly active lately.

Former Prime Minister statement not in line with the practice of democratic governance.

Internally displaced people from the occupied territories residing in the former buildings of the sanatoriums Friendship and Metallurgist in Tskaltubo district request new accommodations – the buildings of the former sanatoriums are in poor conditions. The Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees offered the IDPs to resettle in other regions of Georgia. Some of the IDPs do not want to leave Tskaltubo, saying they have buried their relatives there and have lived in the district for a long time.

Most of the people with mental disorders are isolated from the society. For complete recovery they need psycho-social rehabilitation and integration in the society; nevertheless the state does not do anything in this direction. According to official information, only 1% of the funds allocated for mental health care are spent on the rehabilitation programs. Beneficiaries of the Center believe the allocated funds are not enough for their social integration.

The population in Zestaponi protest over the polluted environment and calls on the government to react on this issue. The ecological problems in Zestaponi were caused by throwing remains of natural deposit in the territory of an old agricultural market. According to the local healthcare agency the number of cancer diseases have increased because of this pollution. On June 15, 2013 local authorities decided to demolish the old market in Zestaponi and move it to another place. More than 200 private owners lost their source for everyday income with this unexpected decision of the local government. After the deconstruction, huge amount of remains of natural deposit, buried in the territory during soviet time, was removed from the ground. The remains were recycled and only radiation garbage was left. Locals protest both the demolished infrastructure and the pollution of the environment. According to the local healthcare agency, the number of cancer diseases is drastically increasing every year.

There is a conflict between Muslim and Orthodox Georgians in the village Mokhe in Adigeni district. The reason for the conflict is a half-ruined building, where the local administration planned to open a library. Muslims claimed it was a mosque in the past, and that if a library starts functioning there it will insult their religious feelings. The building was being reconstructed at the same time as a protest rally of the local population was finding place, which finally resulted in the police arresting several protesters. The monitoring group of the Public Defender’s Office reported that the patrol police officers exceeded their power when detaining the participants of this peaceful demonstration.

According to official data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia [MIA], 77 incidents of physical and 122 incidents of psychological violence in families were observed from January to June 2014 in Georgia. About 30 women were killed as a result of domestic violence the last year.