News

Today in the morning, in the course of the protest action held in Yerevan, Levon Barsegyan, Chairman of the "Asparez" Journalists' Club, located in the city of Gyumri, was taken to the police station in the Yerevan Community "Centre", where he was kept for about three hours and then released.

The Kutaisi Court has sentenced three activists of the trade union movement, who organized the protest action at the steel plant from September 13 to 15, to 10 days of administrative arrest.

Yesterday, on September 19, in Moscow, the House of Journalists hosted a presentation of the book written by Adam Michnik, one of the leaders of the Polish opposition in the socialist era, the editor-in-chief of the Polish newspaper "Wyborcza", who in 2007 led the group monitoring the Georgian TV channels, which was established in Georgia on the recommendation of the European institutions.

The Ombudsman of Georgia has appealed to the General Public Prosecutor with a recommendation to initiate an investigation into the actions taken by the policemen against strikers at the metallurgic plant "Hercules" in the city of Kutaisi.

The Investigatory Department of Dagestan is intentionally slow in investigating the criminal case of the pregnant Sapiyat Magomedova, who was shot dead in 2006 by militiamen. This was stated to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Mamatkhan Baisultanov, the father-in-law of the murdered woman, a resident of the city of Khasavyurt.

Asmat (Shorena) Khangoshvili, a teacher of English, who was released from arrest in Tbilisi, denied the information that she had entered into a procedural agreement with the investigators.

On September 19, the Khasavyurt City Court of the Republic of Dagestan held its first hearing on the criminal case against the employees of the Khasavyurt OVD (Interior Division), accused of beating the lawyer Sapiyat Magomedova. The judge forbade reporters to video, photo the events in the courtroom, and adjourned until September 21, when he will announce his decision on the defence's petition to return the case to the prosecutor.

The parents of the children who were infected with HIV back in 1988 in Kalmykia demand compensation from the state of their moral harm. This was reported by Ochir Shovgurov, a member of the initiative group. According to his story, back in June this year the parents filed a suit to the Elista City Court, which, in its turn, demanded a document from them on recognition them to be the "aggrieved party", since earlier they were witnesses in the case.

North Ossetia is now investigating a criminal case against a 61-year old resident of Vladikavkaz, suspected of a threat to commit a terror act.

The reason of the crash of the Tu-154 aircraft belonging to the "Dagestani Airlines" at the Moscow "Domodedovo" Airport in December 2010 was in erroneous actions of the crew. This is the conclusion the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), which has published today the final report on the accident.

Information about 150 citizens of Tajikistan exploited as slaves in the Semikarakorsk District of the Rostov Region has failed to find its confirmation. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it at the regional prosecutor's Office; however, no procedural decision on the complaint had been made yet.

The special operation in the village of Bylym, Elbrus District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), resulted in liquidation of five suspected militants and loss of two policemen; one law enforcer was wounded, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the Investigatory Department for the KBR of the ICRF (Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation).

Law enforcement agents in Chechnya threaten to parents and close friends of the young man and young woman who were earlier detained in the city of Grozny. This was reported by the human rights activists.

The Day of Chechen Women was celebrated in Chechnya. The cities and towns of the republic hosted festivals and concerts, and in the evening of September 18 and the holiday was marked by a ten-minute fireworks in the city of Grozny.

A resident of the Kurchaloi District of Chechnya came to the police station to confess to the murder of his close female relative for "immoral behaviour".

Strikes of metallurgists in Georgia and dispersal by the police of a protest action against violations of their rights; decision of the Russian Supreme Court to uphold the verdict to the persons accused of killing lawyer Markelov in Moscow; Jubilee Investment Forum in Sochi, which brought together more than 6500 participants; celebration of Unity Day of the Republic Dagestan and new resonant crimes, - look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of September 12-18, 2011, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

In the town of Mozdok, an investigation against two policemen from the police regiment of the private security department of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) is under process. The police officers are suspected of arms trafficking in the territory of North Ossetia. This was reported by the Investigatory Department of the Investigatory Committee (IC) of North Ossetia.

Today, after a three-month break, the hearings were resumed at the trial on the case of the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005. The representative of the public prosecution has demanded to keep the accused under the custody and arrest those defendants who were earlier released on recognizance not to leave.

Today in the centre of the city of Makhachkala more than 100 residents of the village of Gubden of Karabudakhkent District of Dagestan held a rally demanding to solve social problems and to stop the illegal sale of lands of the former Agricultural Production Company (APC).

An officer of the Prosecutor's Office was detained in Ingushetia on suspicion of organizing illegal armed formation (IAF). This was reported today by the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).