News

The defence and relatives of Gitinmagomed Gadjimagomedov, a Dagestani journalist, kept in the SIZO (pre-trial prison) as a murder suspect, state that he is tortured and pressed towards pleading guilty; they also fear for his life.

On March 22, the political parties named "People's Forum", "Union of Traditionalists" and "Women's Party" decided to unite in Georgia and named their bloc as the "National Forum". According to Girguli Maghradze, leader of the "Women's Party", this name has already become a sort of a political brand.

The criminal investigation into the execution by militiamen in 2006 of pregnant Sapiyat Magomedova is deliberately protracted by the Investigatory Department of Dagestan. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Mamatkhan Baisultanov, father-in-law of the casualty and a resident of Khasavyurt.

Local residents state that blocks of flats built in 2008 in the 20-th section of Oktyabrsky district of Grozny have become outworn and are literally tumbling down in front of their very eyes.

Taiwanese company Yulon and "Derways" factory located in Cherkessk (Karachaevo-Cherkessia) are negotiating on assemblage of Luxgen cars on the base of "Derways" factory.

This morning the settlement of Gubden, Karabudakhkent district, was totally blocked by law enforcement officers, entry and departure from the settlement are under complete ban. A reporter of “Caucasian Knot” received this news from Gaji Khalilibragimov, resident of Stavropol, who is in the blocked settlement at the moment.

Ombudsman of the Russian Federation Vladimir Lukin submitted his annual report on the state of affairs in the sphere of human rights and freedoms to State Duma in which he subjected the methods of struggle against participants of paramilitary groups in Northern Caucasus to criticism.

Activists of the Azerbaijani oppositional forces support the actions of the international armed force aimed to enforce the Resolution of the UN Security Council on protection of the civilian population of Libya against attacks of the troops loyal to the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

88 percent of children in Chechnya have no opportunity to attend kindergartens and nurseries due to acute shortage of such institutions.

Pyatimat Khashagulgova, the wife of Issa Khashagulgov, a suspect of committing a terror act in Vladikavkaz, kept in the Lefortovo SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Moscow and charged of illegal arms possession and participation in illegal armed formations (IAFs), complaints that she is not allowed to see her husband for six months already.

Raffi Ovannisyan, leader of the oppositional "Heritage" Party, who went on hunger strike a week ago in Armenia, is going to continue his protest action, aimed at promoting the freedom principles as long as his health permits. He has stated it today at a press conference organized under the open sky in Freedom Square in Yerevan.

In Kabardino-Balkaria, after introduction of the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime in the Elbrus District region of the republic, tourism facilities in the Elbrus area are idling, namely, more than 30 private hotels and ministerial recreation bases and ski resorts. The losses of entrepreneurs are already in hundreds of millions roubles.

The Muftiat of Chechnya will try to clarify the fates of the federal soldiers, who had been recruited from the Urals and then disappeared during the warfare in the territory of the republic. This was reported by the spokesman of the local Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM). According to an activist of a local NGO, these attempts are doomed to failure.

The Ministry of Interior Affairs of Ingushetia is searching for Malika Turazova, native of Chechnya, resident of the stanitsa of Nesterovskaya, born in 1987, who left home on March, 11, and it is unknown where she went. According to the information available, Turazova may be used as a suicide bomber.

On March, 21, several hundred residents of Armavir, Armenia, blocked Yerevan – Armavir highway as a sign of protest against the results of election of Mayor of the town.

The youth organization of the “Georgian Party” started an action of protest demanding to pull down the firing ground near the monastery complex “David Garegi”. Officials of the Georgian Ministry of Defense declared that the firing ground constituted no danger for the historical memorial.

As a result of a storm of a house in the settlement of Kani, Kuli district of Dagestan, where there were three supposed gunmen suspected of involvement in an assault at a bailiff committed on March, 21, two of them were killed.

At the tournament in Makhachkala, the Russian national team defeated their Iranian counterparts in the final and won the World Cup in Freestyle Wrestling. The score of the final was 5:2 for Russian; the bronze medal went to Azerbaijan, which beat Uzbekistan 6:1.

Georgia is ready to continue its constructive dialogue with Russia on its membership in the WTO, said Nino Kalandadze, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, at a briefing. According to her story, the next round of talks will take place over the next six weeks.

The party of the prosecution has no official information that the witness Ilya Goryachev, who had given evidences against the persons accused of murdering lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, refused from his words, as reported by Vladimir Zherebenkov, who is representing the parents of the deceased journalist.