News

In Yerevan, in the trial in the case against Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party, and other participants of the action of November 5, 2013, the defendants complained about poor custody conditions, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The assassination of Temirkhan Salikhov, the Deputy Chief of Makhachkala GIBDD (road police), can involve the same persons who fired the building of the Centre to Combat Extremism (CCE), the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a source from the Investigating Department (ID) for Dagestan of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

Ukraine treats kidnappings and unlawful detention of Ukrainian officers in the Russian Federation as "politically motivated", and therefore it has all the legal grounds to classify these citizens of Ukraine as political prisoners, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Ukraine declares in its statement posted on the MFA's website on August 8.

On August 8, in Baku, law enforcers came with a search warrant to the office of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) in Rashid Bekhbudov Street. The policemen blocked the entrances to the building; and journalists could not watch what was going on near the office, since it is located in a narrow yard.

In the evening of August 8, in Vladikavkaz, the action "Candle of Memory" dedicated to the sixth anniversary of the war in South Ossetia took place in front of the Saint George Church. People lit about 300 candles to form on the ground a phrase "Remember 08.08.08" in order to commemorate victims of the armed conflict in August 2008.

Five Ukrainian militaries from among those who got into the territory of the Rostov Region in early August, were detained on suspicion of crimes against civilians and placed in custody, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) said today.

Today, the Nasimi District Court of Baku has arrested Intigam Aliev, the head of the Legal Education Society (LES), for three months. His defence intends to appeal against it.

Today, six years after the outbreak of the warfare in South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, the capital, is gradually erasing the scars of war. According to the local Ministry of Construction, over 400 new houses have been built since, and over 800 were repaired. Some of the locals, who lost their homes, received flats in new micro-districts. However, until now, in Tskhinvali, some residents are living in ruined houses; and the problem of refugee is still painful.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), says that she expects the authorities to strain their efforts to investigate the circumstances of Timur Kuashev's death in Kabardino-Balkaria.

This morning, Temirkhan Salikhov, the Deputy Chief of the Makhachkala Road Police (known as GIBDD), was shot dead in the yard of his house. Investigators associate the murder with his official activities and believe that members of illegal armed formations (IAFs) could be involved in the crime, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Investigating Department (ID) for Dagestan of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

On August 7, South Ossetia began commemorative events on the sixth anniversary of the 2008 conflict. In the morning on August 7, they laid wreaths to the Worship Cross, next to the barracks of the Russian peacekeeping battalion, which were burned down in August 2008.

On August 7, Niyarkhan Gasanova, the mother of Ilmudin Gasanov, a resident of the Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, who was kidnapped on June 20, appealed to Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Russian FSB. The woman asked for help in finding her son.

On August 7, in Yerevan, local Yazidis held an action in front of the building of the Armenian Government with a demand to influence the situation faced by the members of this ethnic group in Iraq. Aziz Tamoyan, the leader of the Union of Yazidis of Armenia, demanded that President Serzh Sargsyan drew the attention of international organizations to the situation of Yazidis in Iraq.

On August 7, other 48 soldiers, who had entered the territory of Russia, were sent to Ukraine, said Vasily Malaev, the Spokesperson of the Border Guard Service of the Russian FSB for the Rostov Region.

On August 7, near one of the camps for citizens who had arrived from Ukraine, set up near the border checkpoint "Gukovo" in the Rostov Region, an object resembling an improvised explosive device (IED) was detected, the "Interfax" reports with reference to a source from law enforcement bodies.

Today, the capital of Armenia has hosted a march in support of the arrested Armenian businessman Levon Airapetyan. More than 300 persons demanded change his freedom restriction measure and to release him from custody, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Valery Khatazhukov, the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), has asked today Yuri Kokov, the Acting Head of the KBR, to help in legalizing the status of the Syrian Circassians, who stay in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Advocate Sapiyat Magomedova has claimed the arbitrariness of investigators with regard to Rashid Magomedov detained in Dagestan, and she filed a complaint to the Prosecutor's Office and the Investigating Department of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

As stated by Andrei Lysenko, the spokesman of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, 46 militaries – 18 officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 28 border guard officers – are still kept by force in the territory of Rostov Region of the Russian Federation. According to his story, Russian investigators try "to knock out confessions from Ukrainian officers of the fact that they had deliberately shelled the territory of Russia."

The advocate of Ruslan Nasirli, member of the Youth Committee of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), who was arrested in the administrative order, reports that he is not allowed to meet his client. The advocate finds it illegal and intends to appeal against Nasirli's arrest.