News

Committee for clemency with the President of Georgia granted the requests of 73 convicts. After the session of the Committee in the President's Palace in Tbilisi People's Defender Giorgi Tugushi said that 144 requests all in all were considered, five of them were from underage convicts.

Natives of Chechnya Apti and Aishat Magomedova accused of complicity in terrorism and creating paramilitary groups were acknowledged guilty.

The authorities of the country heard the voice of the demonstrators in December in Moscow who came out in opposition against the official results of State Duma election but their reaction was "weak and halved", participants of the protest actions in the Russian capital consider.

Today, in Yerevan, in front of the Russian Embassy to Armenia, a protest action was held against rigged elections to the Russian State Duma, initiated by an initiative group of students.

In Moscow, a rally against rigged elections to the Russian State Duma took place in Sakharov Avenue. Its participants adopted a final resolution.

The rally "For Fair Elections", which was coordinated with the authorities of Rostov-on-Don, attracted more than 500 people, who expressed their disagreement with the outcomes of the elections to the Russian State Duma.

About a thousand persons came in Krasnodar to take part in the rally "For Fair Elections" and express their disagreement with the results of the Russian State Duma elections. The event was coordinated with local authorities.

Law enforcers of Chechnya have detained two persons in Grozny, suspected of assisting the members of illegal armed formation (IAFs).

Activists of oppositional political parties of Astrakhan have reported to the recent rally against rigged elections to the Russian State Duma that they will file lawsuits in the context of numerous violations committed in the course of the election campaign.

In 2011, the situation in Azerbaijan with the freedom of speech was the worst in the past six years. For the first time after 2005, a murder of a journalist was committed – the publicist Rafiq Tagi was assassinated. This is stated in the annual report of the "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB), an international organization in defence of the press.

In the Azerbaijani city of Sheki, a local businessman made an attempt of self-immolation, claiming violation of his rights.

The Sochi Airport is implementing a programme of a barrier-free environment for disabled passengers. The programme was adopted after the Airport was criticized by the commission for preparation and holding the Paralympic Winter Games of 2014.

On December 23, the draft Electoral Code was adopted at an extraordinary sitting of the Parliament of Georgia in the second reading by a majority of votes of the MPs.

Clarification of the relationship between the top management of the Moscow airport "Vnukovo" and the airline "ALK" is irresponsible under conditions of rising passenger traffic during the holidays. This was declared by the Federal Air Transport Agency ("Rosaviatsiya"), which urged the parties to reconcile the conflict.

In Azerbaijan, starting May 1, 2012, the ban on screening foreign TV serials and feature films on national TV channels comes into effect. The appropriate decision was made on December 22 by the National TV and Radio Council (NTRC).

The top management of the OJSC (Open Joint-Stock Company) " Stavropolsky Canning factory" did not paid wages to its 232 employees for 1.5 years; the formed arrears amounted to more than 16 million roubles. Only due to interference of the prosecutor's office, at present, wages have been paid in full.

The Regional Court granted the appeal of the Committee on Education and Science of the Administration of Astrakhan on its earlier decision on compensation for unfair dismissal of Nadezhda Gogoleva, Principal of the school No. 74. The Principal does not agree with the decision and intends to appeal to higher courts.

In the Stavropol Territory, at the mosque of Pyatigorsk, free courses on Russian language for foreign immigrants are to be established. Opening of the courses was initiated by the Spiritual Administration of Muslims in the Stavropol Territory.

In Azerbaijan, the year of 2011 is characterized by further deterioration of freedom of expression. This is the main conclusion of the annual report of the Media Rights Institute (MRI) entitled "Freedom of expression in Azerbaijan: legal cases of defamation, pressure, freedom of information, the Internet, regulation of TV and radio", which was presented on December 23 at "a roundtable" in Baku.

The ex-head of the administration of the Kotovo District of the Volgograd Region and the General Director of the OJSC (Open Joint-Stock Company) "Volgogradneftegazstroy" are suspected of theft of 4 million roubles allocated from the budget for reconstruction of a road. Investigation is underway, the Ministry of Interior Affairs (MIA) in the Volgograd Region reports.