News

On December 8, in Moscow, the conference hall of the office of "Memorial" at No. 5 Karetny Lane made a show of the film by the well-known documentary filmmaker Marina Goldovskaya "A Bitter Taste of Freedom", dedicated to Anna Politkovskaya, the observer of the "Novaya Gazeta". The film contains unique documentary footage shot during several years of the journalist's life.

The Basmanny Court of Moscow has decided to extend the arrest of Rustam Makhmudov, the accused in the murder case of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist of "Novaya Gazeta", till March 7, 2012, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed today at the court.

During the week of December 5-11, the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus took away at least five human lives; and at least 10 persons were injured. These are the results of calculations of the "Caucasian Knot", based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

On December 13, in Armenia, at the trial dealing with the death of Lieutenant Artak Nazaryan, the main witness Private Arman Mnatsakanyan changed his evidence against what he had said at the preliminary investigation, stating now that the officer died not on July 27, as documented in the case files, but early in the morning on July 26.

The Tver Regional Court, where the trial on blowing up the "Neva-Express" train in 2009 continues, has finished questioning all the ten defendants - natives of the village of Ekazhevo in the Republic of Ingushetia. None of them pled guilty.

The Vidnoe District Court of the Moscow Region has sentenced the figurants in the case of kidnapping of Armenians to 9-17 years in prison.

All the constructors who worked in a Turkish company "Penta" will be sent back home on December, 15. This was reported by Federal Migration Service of Chechnya. According to a representative of the office, all the constructors' problems are settled, however local observers state that unpaid wages still remained.

An action "Social Internet is a space for everyone" is starting in Volgograd. A social cybercafe will be opened within the framework of the action on December, 13.

During a trial in the district court of Tver on December, 12, witnesses on the case were interrogated. Besides, attorney Musa Pliev reported that defendant Tatarkhan Kartoev needed urgent hospitalization.

The case of Margar Oganyan, ex-Chief of Traffic Police of Armenia, accused of abuse of authority and fund embezzlement on an especially large scale was referred to court. This information came from Prosecutor General's of Armenia.

Human rights activist Sergey Basmanov, Director of organization "Protection of the citizen's rights and legal interests" detained in Sochi on December, 10, was arrested and is now in a temporary isolation ward.

Representatives of the oppositional parties have expressed their disappointment at the reaction of President Dmitry Medvedev to protest actions of December 10 against falsifications at the elections.

In the evening of December 11, a torchlight procession of nationalists was held in Volgograd. The action was dedicated to the anniversary of the events in Manege Square in Moscow after the murder of Yegor Sviridov, a football fan. Young people formed the main part of the procession participants.

Mass protests against rigged elections to Russian Duma held in Moscow, St Petersburg and cities of Southern Russia; resignation of South-Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity on agreement with the opposition; mass poisoning of Nalchik residents; start of trial in Krasnodar Territory of figurants in massacre of 12 persons in the village of Kuschevskaya; promulgation of amendments to the Electoral Code of Georgia, - look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of December 5-11, 2011, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Rashid Shuaibov, whose disappearance was reported on December 7 by his relatives, was detained on suspicion of involvement in the Caspian group of militants led by Murad Abdurakhmanov. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan.

The Union of Slavs of Adygea (AUS) decided to form a group for the campaign "I didn't vote!". Its essence is to collect complaints from citizens, who did not go to the elections to the electoral precincts, information of which reports on ballot boxes stuffing.

The Shpakov District Court of the Stavropol Territory has granted the lawsuit of the Prosecutor's Office for additional places in municipal pre-school educational institutions. This was reported by the Prosecutor's Office of the Stavropol Territory. Out of total number of required additional places, 2357 places should be opened the city of Mikhailovsk, the district centre, and 1514 places - in the municipal units of the district. In the Stavropol Territory, a line for a place in a kindergarten includes more than 46,000 persons.

In 2011, political repressions intensified in Azerbaijan, and the sharpest jump in the number of political prisoners over the last decade has been marked. This was reported by Leila Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), at the press conference dedicated to the International Human Rights Day celebrated on December 10. At the same time, the Azerbaijani authorities deny existence of political prisoners in the country.

In Ingushetia, in the morning of December 2, in the course of the inspection of passport regime in the dormitory of the Islamic Institute conducted by officers of unidentified power agency, student Magomed Alikhanovich Mutsolgov, a resident of the village of Surkhakhi, was subjected to beatings and threats. This was reported by human rights defenders.

In the course of today's court session on the case of Chechen natives Apti and Aishat Magmadov, the Moscow Regional Court listened to testimony of Egle Kusaite. Earlier, the defence has filed a motion about announcement of that testimony.