News

North Ossetia held a ceremony of farewell to Ibragim Dudarov, Deputy Mufti of the Republic, the imam of the mosque of Vladikavkaz, who was killed on December 26. According to the calculations of the "Caucasian Knot", during 2012, in Northern Caucasus, at least ten religious leaders were killed eight in Dagestan, one in the Stavropol Territory, and one in North Ossetia.

Suren Gazaryan from Krasnodar, an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", who fears of persecution by the authorities of the Russian Federation, has appealed to Estonia with a request for political asylum.

The opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) decided not to support any candidate involved in running for the presidency. This was reported by the statement of the ANC which was disseminated today.

The protest action against the dismissal of Khazret Blyagoz, Rector of the Maikop State Technological University (MSTU), was attended by 300 teachers and 100 students. The protest action was held today at the building of the MSTU.

Today, Arman Melikyan, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nagorno-Karabakh, made a statement about his intention to run for the position of President of Armenia.

Starting from January 2013, families living in Tbilisi can expect to receive vouchers for payment for utilities. This was reported by the Mayoralty of the Georgian capital.

Yunus-Bek Evkurov, the leader of Ingushetia, does not rule out the possibility that Dokku Umarov is in the mountainous regions of the republic.

As a result of the earthquake, which occurred in the Black Sea near the coasts of Georgia, dozens of buildings were damaged in the city of Kobuleti.

The today's list of pardoned persons in Azerbaijan includes 13 political prisoners, including two earlier recognized by the Amnesty International as "prisoners of conscience" – a human rights activist Vidadi Iskenderov and a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Shakhin Gasanli.

Today, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Armenia has received three applications for participation in the presidential election on February 18, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Today, the order of the Minister of Education and Sciences of the Russian Federation Dmitry Livanov has dismissed Hazrat Blyagoz, the Rector of the Maikop State Technological University (MSTU). Teachers and students of the university are planning to hold a protest action against his dismissal.

The criminal case against 16 Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog (Rostov Region), accused of extremism, was not fully investigated; the inquiry has been extended, says the answer of the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to the appeal of Russian human rights activists, which was received today by the editorial board of the "Caucasian Knot".

The Stavropol Territorial Court in Pyatigorsk has ended the debates of the parties of the prosecution and the defence in the case of the residents of the Neftekumsk District, accused of plotting terror acts. The prosecutors have asked for the punishment for the defendants in the form of 22, 24 and 25 years in prison.

In the village of Liman, Astrakhan Region, five persons were hurt by a collapse of a two-storey residential house; three of them were hospitalized.

The Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has reported about presentation of charges to a member of the armed grouping in Dagestan of committing a number of very grave crimes, including the murder of five hunters in February 2012.

Today, the Lefortovo Court of Moscow has once again found that the refusal of investigators to institute criminal proceedings against the officers who commanded the operation of liberating the hostages from the Dubrovka Theatrical Centre in 2002 was illegal.

Tonight, residents of Abkhazia felt two tremors. According to the State Committee for Ecology and Use of Nature, the maximum amplitude of the first shock was 5.2, and the second one was much weaker. However, people are afraid of a new earthquake.

Today, the Kabardino-Balkarian Agricultural University (KBAU) said farewell to Boris Zherukov, its Rector, who was shot dead by unidentified persons on December 25 in his office.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation "Dashnaktsutyun" (ARFD) Party has decided not to nominate its candidate for the presidential election in Armenia, Agvan Vardanyan, the Secretary of the ARFD Party, said at today's press conference.

The Russia's Ministry of Justice has put the movie "Innocence of Muslims" on the federal list of materials deemed as extremist.