News

Oleg Golubovich, a citizen of Belarus, a witness in the murder case of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the "Novaya Gazeta", has identified the defendant Rustam Makhmudov as the direct perpetrator.

Magomed Maitiev, a resident of Makhachkala, reports that in the Kirov ROVD (District Interior Division) he was forced to give a DNA assay against his will; and now he is forced to sign documents on the criminal case of policeman's murder, to which, according to his story, he has no relation.

Seven participants of the March 3 protest against demolition of houses in the central district of Baku have been sentenced to various terms of administrative arrest, local media report citing information from social networks on the Internet.

The Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Dmitry Bulatov has officially announced the decision to boycott the 11th Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi; however, the country's National Olympic Committee (NOC) has not yet made a final decision.

Employees of Library No. 5 of Volgograd report that on March 3 they could not get to their workplaces. According to their story, the doors were closed; and they were not even allowed to take their personal belongings.

During his visit to Tbilisi, Stefan Fule, the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, signed an agreement between the European Union (EU) and Georgia on allocation of 22.5 million euros to reform of the financial system and democratic institutions of the country.

On March 4, Baku authorities began dismantling the building, which housed the office of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), explaining their actions by the emergency condition of the building.

The Azerbaijani party has returned to the Armenian counterpart Mamikon Khodjoyan, a 77-year-old resident of the border village of Verin Karmirakhbyur of the Tavush Region. He is in grave condition and unable to recognize anyone.

The rally in support of the Russian-speaking population living in the territory of Ukraine, which was held on the Mamaev Kurgan, near the Lake of Tears, gathered about 5000 persons.

On March 4, Cossacks of Sochi decided, at their general assembly, to exclude Grigory Uchkurov from their ranks. In Uchkurov's opinion, the decision was caused by his support of Pussy Riot.

The information of the Russian Frontier Service that 143,000 Ukraine residents have asked asylum in Russia is questionable, says Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the Committee "Civil Assistance".

Aidyn Khalilov, a member of the oppositional Classic Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (CPFPA), was killed this afternoon in the village of Garachala, Salyan District of the country.

Today, the Ingush capital Magas welcomed the Paralympic Torch Relay. Since Ingushetia is the only region of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) to welcome the Paralympic Torch Relay, today delegates from all the NCFD subjects came to take part in the torchlight procession.

The White House has cancelled the visit of the presidential delegation to the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi because of "Russia's military intervention in Ukraine," said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council.

Baku authorities are evicting the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) from the building in the Nariman District of the capital, where it has its office, on the grounds that the house is in the state of emergency after the explosion and needs demolition.

Law enforcement sources report that the special operation conducted in the Dagestani city of Izberbash killed at least four people.

State servants of North Ossetia have decided to transfer their one-day salaries to the help fund for residents of the Crimea. The collection of humanitarian aid is organized by the republic's Ministry for Emergencies (MfE).

During the spring months of this year, the "National Revival" Party in Nagorno-Karabakh is going to organize two schools on the topics of international relations, human rights and civil society. Iyk Khanumyan, the party chairman, said that any person, regardless of age or political affiliation, can become a trainee of the schools.

On March 3, in Prague, Sapiyat Magomedova, a lawyer from Dagestan, received the Prize Homo Homini (Man to Man) for 2013, awarded by the Czech human rights organization "People in Need" for special achievements in human rights activities.

In Georgia, in the area of the pre-border settlement of Atotsi public activists held a protest action against building of engineering facilities on the border with South Ossetia.