News

Explosion at Baksan HPP; severe beating of oppositionist in South Ossetia; loud statements of Balkar hunger-strikers, - look these and other events in the review of the week of July 19-25, 2010, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Different sources give different versions of the night incident in Astrakhan, where a militiaman was killed, and a girl-his colleague was wounded.

The participants of the ethnographic expedition, which started from Moscow to the Caucasus on July 15 and organized by the well-known Russian designer and blogger Artemiy Lebedev, have already visited the south of Russia and are now getting acquainted with Southern Caucasus. After the North-Caucasian republics, the crews have visited Azerbaijan and Georgia.

At night on July 21 Anzor Shadov, a resident of the city of Nartkala, Kabardino-Balkaria, was kidnapped. As reported by a reader of the "Caucasian Knot" with reference to the witnesses of the incident, armed persons in masks forced him into a Gazel van and took away into some unknown location.

Today, in the Malgobek District of Ingushetia, unidentified persons wounded an employee of the local OVD (Interior Division), who stood in the street, and a passer-by.

The Public Prosecutor of Ingushetia has addressed the Magas City Court asking to oblige the provider to stop the website "Ingushetia.Org", Magomed Khazbiev, the owner of the resource, reports.

The "Karvasla" exhibition centre in Tbilisi hosts an exhibition of photo works by the Russian journalist and photographer of Victoria Ivleva "Apotheosis of War". The exposition includes 42 photos made in 1992-2005 and dedicated to victims of armed conflicts in different corners of the planet.

The investigatory bodies of the Tuapse District of the Krasnodar Territory believe that the fight in the children's health-improving camp "Don" between local and Chechen teenagers had domestic grounds. Nine persons addressed for medical aid.

Today, the Garadag District Court of Azerbaijan, presided by Rufan Mursalov, considered a petition lodged by blogger Adnan Gadjizade about early release after serving a half of his term.

Ingushetia and Kalmykia are among five outsiders by the rating of life quality, compiled by the Institute of Regional Information for the first quarter of 2010. Unconditional leaders throughout the last five years are Moscow and St Petersburg, while the gap between the leaders and outsiders continues growing.

At night on July 21, 2010, in the OVD (Interior Division) building of Khebda village, Shamil District of Dagestan, three militiamen were torturing and beating a boy of 14, forcing him to confess of a theft, human rights activists assert.

Rafael Kallagov, ex-employee of the UBOP (Department for Fighting Organized Crime) of the MIA of North Ossetia, was sentenced by the Supreme Court of the republic to 18 years of imprisonment in a high security colony. He was accused of committing a number of resonant murders as a member of a criminal grouping, including the murder of Vitaly Karaev, former mayor of Vladikavkaz.

The Balkar public organization named "Alan" would not accept radical forms of protest - hunger strikes, pickets and rallies. This was stated by one of its leaders - Magomed Apshaev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in his comment on the hunger strike of a group of Balkars, who demand enforcement in the republic of the federal law on local self-government.

It is practically impossible to find people drowned in a mountain river - this was the comment of the spokesman of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) of Chechnya on the statement of the Georgian party that Chechnya had refused to help in searching children supposedly carried away by the river after a road accident in the territory of the Chechen Republic.

On July 25, at about 9 in the evening, near her house in Cherkessk, Bella Ksalova, 26, own correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot", was knocked down by a car. The young woman died; now the details of the incident are investigated.

Umar Garisov, a resident Karanaiaul village, Kayakent District of Dagestan, has addressed the president of the republic Magomedsalam Magomedov with a request to help to release his brother Usman Garisov, who was sentenced in Azerbaijan to four years of prison for drug contraband and use.

Today, at about 1:00 p.m. in Tskhinvali, Timur Tskhovrebov, a civil activist and initiator of creation of the "Republican Party-Iron" in South Ossetia, was beaten. Supposedly, there were about 10 attackers.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) made a decision not to award the international status to the airport in Sukhumi. The ICAO has reiterated the recognition of the united air space of Georgia.

Ruslan Malsagov, pro-rector for management of the Ingush State University was killed today at the gate of his own house in the Altievskiy municipal district of the city of Nazran.

As a result of strong torrential rains, six houses in Kamenomost aul, Karachai District of Karachai-Circassia, were flooded, as reported by Azret-Ali Karaev, head of the administration of the rural settlement.