News

The highway in the Akhty District of Dagestan, which was blocked by the picketers for more than a day, last night was opened to vehicle traffic. The picketers, who organized the protest action demanding to detain the offender who had killed a man and wounded five other people in a mass brawl, agreed to open the highway for a promise that the head of Dagestan would meet with them.

Yesterday, on July 29, a new record in baking a giant Adzharian khachapuri was set in Batumi.

The resort dwelling settlement of Anaklia has been chosen to be the place for the memorial sacred to the victims of genocide against the Circassian people. This was reported by Papuna Davitaya, Georgian State Minister for Diaspora Affairs. The opening of the memorial is scheduled for 2012.

At a meeting with representatives of the LLC "Sofrakht-Invest" on the investment project "Establishment and Development of the Agricultural Industrial Park "AgroDagItaly", which was held on July 29, the Dagestan leader Magomedsalam Magomedov called the project "one of the most interesting, attractive, and socially significant" and promised his support for the project.

The court in the Krasnodar Territory will consider the case against 17 teenagers accused of organizing riots in a juvenile correctional facility in the city of Belorechensk.

South Ossetia sees itself as an independent international entity; however, it will strive to create a union state with Russia, said its president Eduard Kokoity.

In Ingushetia, Zurab Albogachiev, a resident of the village of Gamurzievo, who had been firstly kidnapped and then released by the unidentified persons, gave testimony to testified investigator Evloev from the Investigatory Committee, who leads the criminal case of kidnapping. According to the human rights activists, the unidentified persons tortured Albogachiev to confess his involvement in the armed underground.

Today, a protest action "I am also a refugee" was held in front of the residence of the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in Tbilisi. The protesters demanded to fulfil a pre-election campaign promise of the President that all internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in the Georgian capital, would become residents of Tbilisi.

The number of the frescoes painted by Minas Avetisyan (Minas), the great Armenian painter, will remain in the second largest city of Armenia – Gyumri. In accordance with the decision of the Armenian government, the restoration of two artist's frescoes will begin in the nearest future, stated Tigran Sarkisyan, Prime Minister of Armenia.

A group of former members of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan held a press conference in the Baku Media Centre and demanded the release from custody of Arif Gadjily, their former colleague, the current head of the central office of the "Musavat" Party, whose case was sent to the court today.

On July 27 Armenia gave a warm welcome to its men national chess team, which with not a single defeat became the world chess champion at the 8th World Team Championship held on July 15-26 in the Chinese city of Ningbo.

For more than 24 hours already more than 300 people continue to block the highway in the Akhty District of Dagestan. The protesters demand to detain the local, who killed one and gave wounds to five persons in a mass brawl.

On July 28 the Nasimi District Court of Baku, chaired by Judge Shakhin Abdullaev, started the court hearings on the lawsuit against four activists who had been arrested in connection with a rally held on April 2 at the centre of the Azerbaijani capital. The court hearings on the merits are appointed for August 9.

On July 27 a woman-resident of Azerbaijan was severely wounded on the state border with Armenia. Azerbaijani party blamed the Armenian opponents of the incident. The Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has categorically denied these allegations.

As stated on July 28 by the Investigatory Department of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) for the Vologda Region, a criminal case on the fact of posting a video showing a murder of a Caucasian on the Internet is under investigation.

On July, 28, the First International Symposium of Sculptors finished its work in the town of Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh. According to sculptor from Italy Vigen Avetis, author of the project and organizer of the symposium, it has been successful and he is pleased that his idea to undertake this action came true.

During preliminary investigation measures of physical pressure were used against the defendants on the case of “Urvan jama'at” which they are going to declare in court, attorney of one of the defendants Tatiana Psomiadi told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

A trial on the case of Badri Bitsadze, ex- Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, ex-Head of frontier police, Nino Burjanadze’s husband, will start in the city court of Tbilisi today. Bitsadze is in search and, according to his wife, is going to ask for a political asylum in one of the EU countries.

The Sabail District Court in Baku listened to the defendants' speeches at the hearings on the case of six opposition's activists accused of violating public order at an unsanctioned rally which was held on April 2 at the centre of the Azerbaijani capital.

Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan claim having no information about the "shahid belts", that, according to their colleagues' story, were hidden at a house during the special operation in the city of Dagestanskie Ogni on July 24. However, according to the MIA's information, guns were found at the house.