News

Preliminary agreement on exchange of detainees between Georgia and South Ossetia; statement of Azerbaijani MFA about recognition by Mexican parliament of Khojaly events as genocide, which was refuted by Armenian press; rallies for fair elections in Russia, including in the south of Russia, - look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of December 19-25, 2011, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Magomed Abdullaev, the deputy of the Botlikh village assembly, received a letter from the Dagestani Prosecutor's Office, stating that in the course of the works in the Botlikh District, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) made a number of mistakes.

In Novorossiysk, the Krasnodar Territory, participants of a picket against violations at the elections to the Russian State Duma decided to publish on the Internet all facts of manipulations at voting and non-compliance with the Law "On elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation".

The organization "Internews-Georgia" has published a report on the study of the tolerance level and use of "hate speech" in the Georgian printed media with regard to ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. According to its summary, Georgian newspapers pay less attention to religious minorities in comparison with attention paid to ethnic and sexual ones.

The Prosecutor's Office of the Timashevsk District of the Krasnodar Territory sent lawsuits to the court to recover arrears to employees of the LLC (Limited Liability Company) "Yug-S" on a hunger strike since December 16.

Today, about 50 activists of the National Independence Party of Azerbaijan held in front of the French Embassy in Baku a protest action against the draft law, criminalizing denial of Armenian genocide.

The Chechen authorities have allocated 73 apartments to children without parental care. During next five years, they plan to provide housing to more than 400 other orphans.

Lawyers of Apti Magmadov and Aishat Magmadova intend to appeal against the verdict against their clients. They will also insist on full court's acquittal of their client and his sister, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

In Azerbaijan, the list of those pardoned has included three persons, earlier recognized by human rights defenders as political prisoners: Jabbar Savalan, a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA); Nizami Shakhmuradov, a former OPON (riot police) commander; and Mekhman Mamedov, the driver and ex-Prosecutor of Baku.

In Sochi, on December 24, the famous ski resort "Roza Khutor" started its work. The holiday held on the occasion was attended by more than a thousand people.

On December 26, in the city of Novocherkassk, Rostov Region, a picket was held against criminal prosecution and arrest of the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "I'm Authorized to State" Alexander Tolmachev, one of the leaders of local communists Vladislav Zhuravlyov and an activist of the entrepreneurs' movement Konstantin Astakhov.

Last night two unidentified masked and camouflaged persons fired upon a shop in Izerbash from self-firers. The shop flared up as a result. There are no victims or injured persons, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Dagestan reports.

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).