News

Erection of a monument in Moscow instead of the Memorial of Glory blown up in Kutaisi may face certain difficulties. As of July 12, 7 million roubles were raised for the purpose, which is, as noted by Valery Vinogradov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow, obviously not enough. It is planned to start construction already in the end of July and to open the memorial on December 19 - one year after the monument was blown up in Kutaisi, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Tsotne, son of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who is serving his term on the charge of a deliberate murder attempt, is ready to admit the charges live on TV. This was stated on July 12 by his advocate Keti Bekauri.

As announced on July 12 by the Investigatory Department (ID) for Dagestan of the Russian ICPO, an investigation is underway in this republic under the earlier opened criminal case on the fact of dissemination on June 16 of a video clip showing alleged militiamen executing alleged militants in Derbent.

Dzamilya Samurkhanova, a resident of Makhachkala, is going to institute criminal proceedings of militiamen of the Derbent GOVD, who on June 16 shot dead her brother Rustam Samurkhanov, 22. The woman asserts that her brother had nothing to do with any criminal matters.

Dzhamilya Tagirova, a lawyer of the Dagestan Specialized Bar, has petitioned about initiating a criminal case against Kerim Mazaev, an inspector of the Sovietskiy ROVD (District Interior Division) of Makhachkala, who beat her right in the ROVD building.

The defence of the convicted organizers of the an exhibition "Taboo Art-2006" Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeev plans to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with a complaint against violations of clients' rights to expression of their opinion. The opponents of the exhibition are going to strive for expulsion of the convicts from Russia.

On July 11, in the Elborus District of Kabardino-Balkaria, attempts were undertaken on employees of the district interior division (ROVD). When the car of the ROVD head was passing by, an explosion was triggered; and a self-made bomb was detected and neutralized under the bottom of the car of the head of the criminal militia of the same ROVD. Nobody suffered in these incidents.

The body of a militiaman, aged 27, with numerous piercing ands cutting wounds was found in the evening on July 11 in Uchkeken village of the Malokarachaevskiy District of Karachai-Circassia.

The health condition of Sirazhuddin Murtazaliev, senior assistant of the district public prosecutor and a son of the Minister of Sports of Dagestan Arslanali Murtazaliev, who was hospitalized with numerous gunshot wounds at night on July 11, remains the gravest, as the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the reception ward of the Khasavyurt city hospital.

In the Staropromyslovskiy District of Grozny, last night unidentified persons shot dead an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Chechnya; now, the inquiry is underway.

The broad-scale subbotnik (day of unpaid work) for cleaning Grozny announced on June 19 by President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov was again prolonged. He said that each of the sectors into which the Chechen capital was divided for the procedure, where a particular official was in charge of the sector, will be inspected, and no "work with drawbacks" will be accepted.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls the authorities of Russia to disclose the results of the investigation into the murder of Paul Khlebnikov, editor of the Russian version of the Forbes, who was shot dead near his Moscow office six years ago.

The Taganka Court of Moscow has found Andrei Yerofeev and Yuri Samodurov, organizers of the exhibition "Taboo Art-2006", guilty of kindling hatred. Now, the announcement of the verdict continues.

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov said that nothing threatens human rights activists in his republic, and nobody had even the slightest idea to hamper the HRC "Memorial". In his turn, the leader of the "Memorial" Oleg Orlov noted that human rights activists are always open for this sort of dialogue.

On July 15, 2010, one year after the murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", a commemoration picket will be held at 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the monument to Griboedov (Chistye Prudy metro station). Then, at 7:00 p.m. a memory party will start at 12 Maly Karetny, in the HRC premises.

In Georgia, the nongovernmental organization (NGO) named "Priority on Human Rights" has addressed local mass media with a request for help to receive information about the results of the work of the state commission, which appraised the damage suffered by Georgia in the course of the warfare in August 2008.

On July 9, Turborn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CЕ), said that representatives of the CE have no access to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, because Georgian leaders fear that Europe may recognizes these republics.

The investigatory division of the regional FSB department has initiated a criminal case on the fact of an especially huge swindle (11 million roubles) at construction of a pontoon bridge across the Akhtuba River in the Volgograd Region.

Members of the Yamadaev clan reported that two bodyguards of Isa Yamadaev had been kidnapped by Chechen power agents; however one of them refuted this information.

Today at night in the west of Moscow, five natives of Armenia suspected of kidnapping were detained. They extorted 50,000 roubles for release of their hostage. This was reported by Victor Biryukov, head of the department of information and public relations of Moscow GUVD (Chief Interior Department).