News

The Territorial Fund of Mandatory Medical Insurance in the Chechen Republic has held a sociology poll and announced by its outcomes that the overwhelming majority (76 percent) of Chechen residents are satisfied with the medical aid available.

It is expected that the new Business Centre will promote Italian-Russian business cooperation, growth of trade and expansion of contacts between the two countries.

On April 2, the National Assembly of Azerbaijan listened to the report of Elmira Suleimanova - the national Ombudsperson - for 2009.

Vyacheslav Kovalenko, Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Russia to Armenia, has called not to put trust in rumours about deportation of Caucasus natives from Russia after the terror acts in Moscow metro stations Park Kultury and Lubyanka. President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev called not to offend people, when waging war on terror, by their nationalities or geographical origin.

On April 1 in the evening, in the Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, unidentified opened fire on the service car of the head Aksai settlement police station at the local ROVD (District Militia Division). And on the day of terror acts - on March 31 - a powerful bomb was neutralized in the Kizlyar District. In both cases there were no casualties and victims.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Russian Federation does not plan to send its recruits to Chechnya. This was stated by Colonel Alexei Kuznetsov, head of the department of the press service and information of the Ministry, in his comments on the rumours that newly-drafted soldiers would be sent to the units deployed in Chechnya.

Today in Baku, at about midday, a group of activists of the World Congress of Azerbaijanis (WCA) has held a non-authorized protest action in front of the embassy of Iran in Azerbaijan. As reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, the participants of the action came there to express their discontent with the actions of the authorities of Iran, who are damaging the ecology in the north of the country, where Azerbaijanis live. The point is in economic activities around Lake Urmia.

Doctor of Economy Mikhail Delyagin, chairman of the organizing committee of the Party "Homeland: Common Sense", also shared, at the press conference at the Independent Press Centre, his vision of the versions of the terror acts committed on March 29 in Moscow metro and on March 31 in Dagestan.

After the explosions in Moscow metro, mass media have repeatedly named the activities of terrorists as the actions of "Chechen separatists", which is wrong, as since 2004, after the terror act in Beslan, no "Chechen separatists" exist. This was stated by political scientist Sergey Markedonov, head of the division of interethnic relations of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, at the discussion held in Moscow on March 29: "Who has blown up Moscow and Kizlyar: Islamites, Separatists or Just Bandits?"

In Ingushetia, three brothers of oppositionist Magomed Khazbiev were announced into federal search as suspects of attacking Kaloy Akhilgov, press secretary of local President.

A source in law enforcement bodies of Ingushetia has reported that the unidentified persons are being searched, who shelled on April 1 in Nazran an Ural truck with frontier guards from grenade launchers.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has imposed a fine on Russia in the sum of 70,000 euros for disappearance on December 18, 2003, of Bashir Mutsolgov. This is stated in the Court's decision.

Azerbaijan lacks independent judiciary; and to put it in place, constitutional and institutional reforms are required. This was the keynote idea of most of the presentations at the roundtable on April 2 at the Baku Media Centre, where proposals were discussed on changes in the judicial sphere of Azerbaijan.

Six defendants figuring in the criminal case about the mass fight in the city of Kondopoga are sentenced to imprisonment for the terms from 3 years and 10 months to 22 years in colony.

On March 31, the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation presented charges of terrorism to 11 natives of Ingushetia-figurants in the "Neva-Express" train explosion in autumn of 2009. The defendants fail to plead guilty and refuse to evidence at interrogations.

At night on March 27, access was stopped to two Sochi websites, where critical publications were placed about the problems of Olympic construction in the Krasnodar Territory. Experts emphasize that such attacks are undertaken on a regular basis.

As of the end of February, the number of Georgian detainees at the attempt to cross the border of South Ossetia made 12 persons. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent learnt about this fact, as well as about the procedure of returning the detainees and negotiations with Georgia about exchange of "all for all", from David Sanakoev, Ombudsman of South Ossetia.

Ella Pamfilova, head of Board at the President of the Russian Federation on promotion to development of civil society institutes and human rights, visited Ingushetia with the aim to study the situation in situ and meet and talk to activists of local public organizations.

Today in Makhachkala, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who arrived in Dagestan, held a meeting with the heads of the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), territorial subdivisions of the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) and law-enforcement bodies. The President emphasized the need to reform the system of law enforcement bodies and formulated five primary goals to be attained by the country's leadership.

The office of the Ombudsman of Georgia has presented its 328-pages report on the situation with human rights, which covers the second half of 2009. The report notes that Georgian prisons have heavy custody conditions, while court verdicts are often partial.