News

Residents of the village of Komsomolskoe of the Kizilyurt District of Dagestan twice a week cut off the pipe, through which Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Akom", the distillery plant, discharged waste products into the channel named after the October Revolution.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urged its member states to enhance attention to the protection of human rights defenders. Among the countries where human rights defenders are under pressure, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia were mentioned. The section, devoted to Russia, pays special attention to the situation in Northern Caucasus.

Criminal proceedings in Azerbaijan against Ghilal Mamedov, the editor-in-chief editor of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado", should be stopped. This was declared by participants of today's press conference, held in Moscow and entitled: "Persecution of Talysh people in Azerbaijan. Human rights defenders: criminal case against Ghilal Mamedov has political background."

The defence of Vladimir Zhamborov, an official from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), accused of unlawful privatization of the Philharmonic Hall in Nalchik, seeks to change his pre-trial restriction measure in connection with the state of his health. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Ruslan Koblev, the defendant's lawyer.

Panel of judges for criminal cases of the Rostov Regional Court has considered the appeal to change the pre-trial restriction to Dmitry Novikov, the retired Judge of the Khosta District of Sochi, cancelled the decision of the lower court and sent the case materials for a new consideration.

The Chief Investigatory Department of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has completed the investigation into the criminal case against four persons, involved, according to investigators, in committing the terror act in the Moscow "Domodedovo" Airport. The defendants and their lawyers began to read the materials of the criminal case file, the ICRF reports.

The court sentenced Djambulat Doskaziev, the former district police inspector of the "Lagansky" Inter-District Division of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Republic of Kalmykia, to 10 years of imprisonment for murder of a resident of the village of Prikumsky.

On June 28, the Independent Press Centre in Moscow is to host the press conference of the Committee "Civil Assistance", dedicated to the prosecution of the Talysh people in Azerbaijan and the arrest of Ghilal Mamedov, the editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani newspaper "Tolyshy Sado" (Voice of Talysh). Russian and Azerbaijani human rights defenders believe that the criminal case against Ghilal Mamedov was fabricated.

At least two residents of the Urus-Martan District of Chechnya have suffered in an attack of police officers from the local ROVD (District Interior Division), who forcibly shaved off beards and hairs on the heads of young men. This was reported by a friend of the victims. The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Chechen Republic does not comment on that information.

Construction of a mosque in Batumi and relations between Georgia and Turkey these issues are to be raised by the opposition movement "Kartuli Dasi" during the action to be held in the city on June 30. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Georgian MP Djondi Bagaturiya, the leader of the movement. He has also refuted the information that on June 25, the movement held a rally against the construction of the mosque in Batumi.

On June 26, in Grozny, human rights defenders and relatives of kidnapped people took part in the picket in defence of victims of violence, which was held in Journalists' Square at the Press House.

Igor Yurgens, Vice-President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (known as RSPP), filed a petition of withdrawal from the Council for Development of Civil Society and Human Rights under President of Russia.

The case against Vakhid Bersanov, ex-head of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSUE) "Chechengazprom", accused of fraud in the amount of 35 million roubles, was brought to the court. This was reported by the press service of the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia.

Officers from the Department of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Combat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of North Ossetia detained a cadastral engineer of one of the commercial organizations on suspicion of taking a bribe, amounting to 500,000 roubles.

The Cherkessk City Court sentenced Police Ensign Vitaly Vitkovsky to 5 years and 2 months of imprisonment in a penal colony of high security for theft of service weapon and extortion. This was reported by the press service of the Supreme Court of Karachay-Cherkessia.

In the Volgograd Region, Communists announced that on June 27, they would initiate collecting signatures on an appeal to the President and State Duma deputies to postpone ratification of the protocols on Russia's accession to the WTO.

Ruslan Ismailov, who was detained on June 23 in Makhachkala on suspicion of possession of fire arms, was subjected to severe torture. This was stated by Gadjimurad Izmailov, a lawyer from the "Kavkaz", representing the interests of Ruslan Ismailov. The lawyer has also stated that he was told at the IVS (temporary detention facility) at the GUVD (City Interior Department) of Makhachkala that Ruslan Ismailov waived his services of a lawyer. The lawyer himself had not seen his client since June 23.

Lawyer and human rights defender Rustem Valiullin, known for resonant cases, involving Muslims, disappeared in the Altai Territory. This was reported by a source at the Investigatory Committee of the Republic of Altai. The Republic's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) does not exclude the possibility that the disappeared man drowned in the mountain river.

The PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights adopted two reports of political prisoners, compiled by Christopher Strasser, a German MP. One of the reports concerns the situation in Azerbaijan.

The position of Ombudsperson to protect rights of investors and entrepreneurs will be introduced in Ingushetia during the next week. This was announced by Yunus-Bek Evkurov, the leader of the republic.