News

Yashar Farazi and Rakhib Gurbanov, activists of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), are arrested for 30 days on the charge of disobeying the police. A PFPA member has associated the arrests of his party colleagues with the authorities' desire to prevent protest actions by intimidating oppositionists.

In the Dagestani city of Izberbash, law enforcers have detained a minor teenager for calling for actions to protest against the lack of water supply, and after a rally of July 3, the Mayor threatened to arrest protestors, residents of Izberbash reported.

On July 3, the participants of a rally in Elista demanded from federal authorities to abandon their plans to increase the retirement age and the law on the voluntary study of native languages at schools, urging residents of Kalmykia to vote against the United Russia Party at republic's parliamentary elections.

19 people turned to doctors after evacuation from the Baku metro; six of them were hospitalized.

Activists in Cuba demanded to release Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the Centre has stated.

Ramazan Aliev, the Deputy Chairman of the Government of Dagestan (Vice-Premier), dismissed today, was detained after questioning, law enforcement sources have stated.

Kemal Kuscheterov, a lawyer, whom his colleagues declared kidnapped by law enforcers on July 3, was released this morning. A law enforcer had accused Kemal of attacking him.

In the capital of Azerbaijan, a pause in the metro operation has caused problems for residents of Baku, since because of the large number of passengers, not all of them could use buses. All metro stations were opened at about 1:00 p.m. local time, the press service of the metro reported.

The Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has studied the conclusion of the Human Rights Council (HRC) concerning the case against Oyub Titiev, the chief of the "Memorial" office in Grozny, and demanded to investigate the circumstances of the rights defender's detention.

The new administration of Grozny demanded the streets of the city to be put in order. Public employees are forced to take part in subbotniks (volunteer community works). The people complained about being sent to work in the streets in the heat.

While being transported from Krasnodar to Rostov-on-Don, Pavel Grib, accused of terrorism, was subjected to beating. At the Rostov SIZO (pre-trial prison), he is being mistreated, and he complains about deterioration of his health state, his advocate reports today.

In a case on the events of March 1, 2008, investigators intend to question former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan as a witness.

Authors of an appeal to Vladimir Putin have demanded to prevent the cancellation of compulsory studies of native languages at schools. Residents of Southern Russia also left their signatures under the petition.

For two decades, in Ingushetia, water supply to small towns and villages ceases when hot weather comes, and people are deprived of water for the whole summer. This summer has not been an exception, and there is no water supply to a number of towns and villages for two weeks already, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by residents of the villages of Plievo, Troitskaya, and Nasyr-Kort, and the towns of Sunzha and Karabulak.

Elmar Veliev, the head of the Azerbaijani city of Ganja, was exposed to an armed attack. He and his bodyguard Gasym Ashbazov were hospitalized with wounds. The attacker was detained, law enforcers have reported.

A power outage in the evening on July 3 in Baku caused the metro stop. Passengers were evacuated from the trains stuck in the tunnels. The evacuation was carried out in extreme heat; and 17 persons complained about their poor health status; five of them were hospitalized.

Kemal Kuscheterov, a lawyer, was beaten up and kidnapped by unidentified people in Cherkessk after his dispute with law enforcers at the scene of investigatory actions, his colleagues have reported.

Zaza Saralidze, father of one of the murdered schoolboys, decided to stop his protest action held near the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Georgia. He has made the decision after the today's meeting with MIA heads.

In the city of Izberbash, Dagestan, townspeople have gathered for a rally at the building of city administration with a demand to resume the supply of drinking water. Calls were heard among the protesters to block the federal highway.

After the residents of the village of Novokorsunskoye blocked the Timashevsk-Korenovsk highway, the territorial authorities have increased the amount of compensations due to them for the houses damaged by hail.