News

The hearing of the criminal case against Alexander Tolmachov, a Rostov journalist and publisher, has been postponed till October 16, as Maria Polyanichko, a civil activist and the organizer of actions in support of the journalist, has announced today.

Sochi has liquidated the main consequences of the hurricane that hit the city on September 25; however, some streets are still being cleaned, said Anatoly Pakhomov, the Mayor, and added that three persons suffered during the calamity.

In Volgograd, parents of many children who are holding a protest hunger strike have met state officials in the public reception room of Dmitry Medvedev and discussed the problems of education and social protection. The Minister of Education has promised them to solve the problems of payment for kindergartens.

They claim that the new settlers who moved to the district since 2009 receive building materials free of charge, while old-timers have to repair their damaged houses at their own expense.

The Russian delegation left the UN General Assembly hall during the speech of President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili in disagreement with his anti-Russian rhetoric, said Alexander Lukashevich, the spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Even before his speech, Saakashvili accused Russia of capturing new territories in the vicinity of the Georgian-South-Ossetian border.

On September 28 in Baku, the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) of Azerbaijan will hold an election rally in support of Jamil Gasanli, its presidential candidate and History Professor at the Baku State University.

Mukhtar Shapiev, a judge of the Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan and his son have died from their wounds, as Rasul Temirbekov, the spokesman of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) in Dagestan, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Georgia will continue its European integration; therefore, accession to the Eurasian Union is unacceptable for the country, said Teya Tsulukiani, the Minister of Justice of Georgia. In his turn, Avigdor Janderi, an economist from the "New Economic School" is sure that Georgia's accession to the Eurasian Union means higher prices and increased corruption and taxes.

Today, at the session of the Baku Court of Grave Crimes, advocates of Hilal Mamedov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado", have asked to pronounce the verdict of not guilty. The advocates have also claimed the charges had been fabricated and the prosecution had been politically motivated.

During the second session of the People's Great Khural (Parliament) of Kalmykia, members of the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party the party of Speaker Anatoly Kozachko were elected deputy chairmen of the Legislative Assembly of Kalmykia. Members of the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party were also elected to lead all standing committees of the Parliament. These facts caused discontent among the opposition.

The Moscow City Court has postponed till October 1 the trial in the case of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta", since one of the defendants was not brought to the trial.

"Initially, 14 victims of the explosion turned to us for help. After a while, four others came. All of them have fragmental wounds. Two of the victims are civilians," Mirzamagomed Magomedov, the chief physician of the Khuchni District Hospital, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In Azerbaijan, advocate Elchin Sadygov complains that he is not allowed to visit Parviz Gashimli, a journalist and human rights defender, who is kept at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the Ministry of National Security (MNS). Elchin Sadygov has reported that he filed a complaint against the arrest of Parviz Gashimli and expressed his concern that investigators tortured his client to obtain the required evidence.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of North Ossetia refuses to approve the results of the election of the head of the Iraf District. The CEC claims that violations took place during the voting. MPs from the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party intend to apply to the court to recognize invalid the election held on September 23 by meeting of representatives of the district.

In the territory of Sochi, rains will not stop till the end of September 25. This was reported by the Southern Regional Centre of the Russian Ministry for Emergencies (MfE). Residents of Sochi believe that the emergency situation in the city was caused by the lack of control over the construction sites.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has pronounced the decision to accept the complaint about the case of kidnapping of Zarema Gaisanova during the special operation. This was reported by the interregional public organization "Committee against Torture".

The lawsuit lodged by journalist Yevgeny Mikhailov on protection of his honour and dignity against Nurdi Nukhazhiev, the Ombudsman in the Chechen Republic, was dismissed by the Lenin District Court of Rostov-on-Don.

The Nasimi District Court of Baku has extended by two months the custody of Rashadat Akhundov, a member of the board of the civil movement "Nida" (Shout), accused of illegal arms possession and organizing mass riots. Today, Rashid Gadjily, Akhundov's advocate, has filed an appeal against the court decision.

On September 23, Ravil Tugushev, the head of the board of the NGO "Centre for Legal Support of Population", filed an appeal complaint against the decision of the Oktiabrskiy District Court of Novorossiysk to treat the book by Elmir Kuliev "Conceptual Translation of Holy Koran into Russian" as extremist.

Today, within the investigation into the theft of 162 million roubles, Umar Akaev, the head of the agricultural department of the administration of the Kumtorkalin District of Dagestan, was detained, said the press service of the Russian FSB Department for Dagestan.