News

Valentina Melnikova, the secretary of the Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, has stated that there were violations in the work of human rights activist Lyudmila Bogatenkova, who has been sentenced today. On the other hand, Sergey Krivenko, a member of the Russian Presidential Council on Human Rights, asserts that not a single fact confirming Bogatenkova's guilt was proved at the trial.

Apart from the sit-in strike in Bagramyan Avenue in Yerevan, Armenia has stopped other protest actions against the increase of electricity tariff.

The beaten and kidnapped blogger Vyacheslav Starodubets has held a solo picket in Makhachkala trying to attract authorities' attention to the investigation of his case.

Today, at the trial of Ali Taziev, accused of taking part in the attack on Nazran in June 2004, the pleadings began. Prosecutors ask the court to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment.

The legality of policemen's actions on June 23 in Yerevan will be checked by the Special Investigating Service, said Gevorg Kostanyan, the General Public Prosecutor of Armenia.

The court acquitted Lyudmila Bogatenkova on one of the episodes of her fraud case; and re-qualified the charge on the other episode; and applied the amnesty act.

The conflict of Magomed Suleimanov, the acting head of the administration of Makhachkala, with Khizri Shikhsaidov, the speaker of the Dagestani parliament, around lists of candidates for deputies of district assemblies of Makhachkala was preceded by Abdulatipov's statement of distrust to Suleimanov.

The situation in Bagramyan Avenue in Yerevan, where protesters against rise of electricity tariff are still rallying, is quiet; and the police decided to suspend patrolling the area. The night passed without incidents.

The main mourning events announced in Chechnya in connection with the death of Dukuvakha Abdurakhmanov, the Chairman of the Parliament of the Chechen Republic, are held in the house of his family in the village of Djalka, Gudermes District. The issue of a new parliament speaker remains open.

The celebrations dedicated to awarding the title of the "City of Military Glory" to the Chechen capital have essentially impeded the motor traffic in Grozny, locals report.

Arutyun Arutyunyan, 29, a cook, and Ike Parikyan, 28, an entrepreneur, have gone on hunger strike against the increase of electricity tariff in Yerevan.

Roman Shikarev, the leader of the public movement "Law and Order", gives testimony to investigators as a witness in a criminal case. His office and home were searched.

The movement against the rise of electricity tariff in Armenia is not a social, but a political phenomenon, believe the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". They are sure that any attempts to disperse the protesters will be used against the authorities themselves.

Today, the consideration of the case of disobeying policemen of journalist Anna Gritsevich and ecologist Vladimir Kimaev did not take place at the Adler District Court. It was postponed indefinitely.

A group of 262 residents of Sochi, victims of the severe flooding, have received compensation payments through the banks of the city, said Irina Romanets, a Deputy Mayor. The city is still under the emergency regime.

The Russian government should ensure the accountability of Chechen authorities to local residents, as well as take control over Chechen power agents and spending of budget funds in the republic. This is stated in the report of the International Crisis Group (ICG) "Chechnya: Internal Abroad".

Ecologist Vladimir Kimaev and journalist Anna Gritsevich, detained in Sochi, committed no illegal actions, says advocate Alexander Popkov. In the actions of the police, he saw obstruction of Gritsevich's journalistic activities.

The court in Rostov-on-Don, which considers the case of ex-mayor of Makhachkala Said Amirov, has begun reading out documents with further filing them into case files. The first the health certificate of defendant Murad Aliev was announced.

The persons killed in Nalchik have been identified – both were members of the international terrorist organization "Imarat Kavkaz", said the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC).

Starting 3:00 a.m. Moscow time, the micro-district of Iskozh in the city of Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), is under a counterterrorist operation (CTO), conducted by the republic's department of the Russian FSB (Federal Security Bureau).