Watchdog

KAZAN, Russia -- Russian authorities say they have detained six people over what officials described as an attempted terrorist attack against a police station in the Republic of Tatarstan last week.

The Kukmorsky district court has ordered Marat Zamaliyev, the stepfather of a teenager who was shot dead by police during the incident, remanded in custody for two months, official said on November 2.

A spokesperson for the court said custody for five other suspects was extended by three days.

Reports said the 50-year-old Zamaliyev, a native of the North Caucasus region of Chechnya, has been convicted on terrorism charges in the past and spent many years in prison.

According to the Investigative Committee, a 16-year-old “tried to set fire” to a building of the police department in the town of Kukmor in the early hours of October 30, “using an incendiary mixture.”

When police tried to detain the teenager, he stabbed one officer “at least three times with a knife” before being shot by a fellow policeman, the committee said in a statement.

The stabbed police officer was hospitalized with wounds.

The Investigative Committee said its Main Investigative Directorate had opened an investigation into the "attempted terrorist act." Police in Tatarstan said the teenager chanted "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Great!) during the attack.

Kukmor is a town of some 18,000 residents in Muslim-majority Tatarstan.

With reporting by Interfax and RIA Novosti

PETROPAVL, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan's northern city of Petropavl has found an opposition activist guilty of participating in the activities of "an extremist group" and sentenced him to one year of freedom limitation -- a sentence with parole-like restrictions.

The Petropavl City Court on November 2 also barred Nurbol Onerkhan from taking part in any social or political activity, publishing articles in the media or on the Internet, and attending public gatherings.

Onerkhan, a 26-year-old schoolteacher, was charged last year after posting videos on social media showing unsanctioned rallies organized by the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement and the associated Koshe (Street) Party.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government.

Ablyazov, who currently resides in France, is wanted by authorities in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine on suspicion of embezzling some $5 billion. Ablyazov and his supporters reject the charges as politically motivated.

Onerkhan told RFE/RL last year that he was aware that DVK had been banned and labelled as extremist in Kazakhstan in 2018 but said that he supported the movement's program on political reforms in the country.

Several activists have been sentenced to various prison terms and limitations in Kazakhstan in recent months for involvement in the DVK's activities, including taking part in the DVK-organized unsanctioned rallies.

Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.