News

The participants of the Civil Forum "European Union-Russian Federation" have spoken against liquidation of the NGO "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch).

Today, on the 26th anniversary of the Spitak earthquake, the capital and regional centres of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) held funeral processions and putting down flowers in memory of the victims of the tragedy.

In the Kizilyurt District of Dagestan two men were killed after they opened fire on the policemen who pursued them. One of them was identified as a brother of Makhmudov, an earlier slain Qadi (Sharia judge) of the "Dido" grouping, said a local law enforcement source.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has opened a criminal case against the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov in the context of his recently voiced threats to Ukrainian MPs, said Markiyan Lubkivskiy, an adviser to the head of the SSU. This information was confirmed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Ukraine, which has launched its own check.

Law enforcers have searched the apartment of the arrested journalist Khadija Ismayilova and confiscated the films, computer equipment and business cards belonging to her.

On December 6, Aisha Gulieva, Kamil's wife, filed an application to the Sovietskiy ROVD (District Interior Division) of Makhachkala about her husband's possible kidnapping. Prior to his disappearance Kamil Guliev claimed that policemen tried to take him to the police station in Kizilyurt.

Families of members of the armed underground should be expelled from the Chechen Republic; and their households should be demolished – Ramzan Kadyrov has demanded this from local officials. However, local residents report that such actions are contrary to the Constitution of Russia, norms of Islam and Chechen customs.

An action in support of political prisoners, including the ecologist from the Krasnodar Territory Evgeny Vitishko, was held in London by the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI). On December 5, Vitishko got in touch with his colleague Evgenia Chirikova and reported that he feels good.

Lyudmila Bogatenkova, the chair of the Stavropol Committee of Soldiers' Mothers "Prikumye Mothers", has received threats from unidentified persons.

An inmate of Batumi Prison No. 3 has complained about numerous beatings by prison staff. Ucha Nanuashvili, the Georgian Ombudsman (People's Defender), has addressed the General Prosecutor's Office asking to investigate the actions of the prison staff.

Magomed Kamalov, a resident of the city of Izberbash, disappeared in Dagestan. He left home on December 4, and his whereabouts is still unknown, said his relatives. The police station of Izberbash reported that he was not among the detainees.

After the attack of members of the armed underground on Grozny, policemen are thoroughly examining all the cars on roads of Chechnya, local residents report.

Grozny residents claim that during the militants' attack on the city not one civilian, as the authorities assert, but several civilians were lost. The police refute this information.

The detention of the Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova was condemned by Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Commissioner for the Freedom of Media, the international human rights organization "Index on Censorship", the Norwegian Foundation "Human Rights House", and Nenad Peyich, the editor-in-chief of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

As reported by a member of the investigative team, over 80 people were interrogated; and 9 volumes of case files have been collected on the murder case of journalist and social activist from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) Timur Kuashev.

A resident of Makhachkala has reported a possible kidnapping of her husband Kamil Guliev. According to her version, earlier he repeatedly received threats.

On Friday, the well-known journalist Khadija Ismayilova was detained in Azerbaijan, said her advocate Elton Guliev.

According to the latest data, 36 law enforcers were wounded in the militants' attack on Grozny, said the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, adding that not 10, but 11 members of the armed underground were killed in the fight on December 4.

Vladislav Vorobyov, the Chairman of the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Russia (AYER) in Chechnya, who perished in the attack of militants on Grozny on December 4, was engaged in doing business in Chechnya since 2008.

In Grozny, the counterterrorist operation (CTO) claimed lives of 14 law enforcers, said the press centre of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).