News

Several Derbent townspeople have suffered in a charity event organized by Senator (Member of the Federation Council) Suleiman Kerimov, after which the police stopped the food distribution.

Murtazali Gasanguseinov has stated today during his picket that he does not want to meet the head of Dagestan, Vladimir Vasiliev, since the latter had called the murder of Murtazali's sons a mistake.

Out of the 31.7 billion roubles lost by Gazprom because of the thefts, imputed to Raul Arashukov and four other top bosses of Gazprom structures, at least 27.4 billion were embezzled at gas supplies to Dagestan. Gas thefts were also committed in the Stavropol Territory and Karachay-Cherkessia, investigators assert.

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has dismissed the complaint against the arrest of the activist Rafael Guseinzade after his solo picket in support of political prisoners.

The participants of a prophylactic talk with detainees for drug use and distribution, which was shown on TV, did not come there voluntarily, residents of Chechnya have informed. They also recalled the principle of collective responsibility in force in the republic.

Today, at a protest rally in Makhachkala, Murtazali Gasanguseinov, has stated that he was outraged by the words of the head of Dagestan, Vladimir Vasiliev, and refuses to treat the death of his sons as a "tragic accident." He also reproached Mr Vasiliev for refusing to meet him.

On January 30, Vagarshak Avetisyan, sentenced to life imprisonment on murder charges, declared a hunger strike demanding a reconsideration of his criminal case and a meeting with the head of Armenian Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the "Tert.am" reported on January 31 with reference to inmate's relatives.

It is unlikely that the process of fixing Chechnya's borders with the Stavropol Territory and North Ossetia will pass without disputes, and could create grounds for acute interethnic conflicts, the political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" assert.

The human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) has reacted to the administrative case, initiated against Roman Zaitsev, the coordinator of the "Open Russia", for his participation in the activities of an "undesirable organization". Russian authorities are holding a "vicious campaign" of fight against the opposition, rights defenders assert.

Law enforcers are holding "talks" with opponents to the construction of hydroelectric power plants (HEPPs) in the vicinity of the Pankisi Gorge and convince them not to protest, local residents inform.

Robert Kocharyan, the second president of Armenia, has just taken part in the "Case No. March 1" film by the Russian journalist Roman Babayan, but was not his customer thereof, the advocate Ayk Alumyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The criminal prosecution of Mikhail Benyash, a lawyer from Kuban (Krasnodar Territory), has the aim to prevent him from defending detainees at rallies, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" believes.

The check-post "Chermen" should not only be preserved, but still strengthened, Mikhail Skokov, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of North Ossetia, is convinced. This opinion is against the proposal of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, on the elimination of block-posts in the regions of Northern Caucasus.

Law enforcers held for some time Alexander Karavaev, an advocate from Nizhny Novgorod, who tried to find out the fate of his client Bekkhan Yusupov.

Today, in Volgograd, activists have held seven solo pickets within the all-Russian campaign "Strategy-31". They explained the format of their protest action by the fact that the City Mayoralty refused to sanction a group picket in a notified place.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) awarded citizens of Georgia compensation for the mass deportation from Russia in 2006. Meanwhile, the Strasbourg Court dismissed the request for more than 70 million euros of compensation, reports the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

A 17-year-old daughter of Anastasia Shevchenko died at a resuscitation ward in a hospital. Earlier, the activist filed a motion to cancel her house arrest in Rostov-on-Don and explained her request by the need to take care of her daughter.

During searches at the apartments of Rauf Arashukov, arrested senator from Karachay-Cherkessia, and his relatives, law enforcers found a collection of cold steel arms, gold bars, and large amounts of cash, sources from the law enforcement bodies reported.

In Volgograd, law enforcers check information about mine planting in 16 buildings, including schools and hospitals. In the city of Shakhty in the Rostov Region, reports of bombs turned out to be false, but for the safety of children, classes in all schools have been cancelled today.

Over the past 24 hours, the Armenian armed forces 21 times violated the ceasefire on the front line and shelled four villages in addition to other areas, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Azerbaijan reports today.