News

On December 8, the North-Caucasian Military Regional Court upheld the decision of the Grozny Military Court passed in October on illegality of inspector's refusal to present case materials to advocate Yuri Kastanov who represented the interests of Katyr-Yurt villagers from Chechnya.

The investigation of the case dealing with kidnapping and subsequent murder of Zarema Sadulayeva, head of the public organization "Let's Save the Generation", and her husband Alik Dzhabrailov is run at a poor level. This is the opinion of the victims' colleagues and friends. Besides, they assert that Victor Ledenyov, head of the Investigatory Committee of Russia for Chechnya, just repeats the earlier expressed version of Chechen President.

In the context of the World Day of Human Rights, marked today, the US State Department has rewarded Maksharip Aushev from Ingushetia, assassinated in October 2009, among the two, in their opinion, outstanding activists of the human rights movement.

The International Organization Against Torture (IOAT) plans to hold protest actions demanding to release from imprisonment in Azerbaijan Mushvig Guseinov, a journalist of the employee of the newspaper "Bizim Yol" (Our Way), who suffers from tuberculosis. This is stated in the letter sent to the Azerbaijani Institute of Peace and Democracy (IPD).

Surgeons from the medical centre "Erebuni" from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, are in Sochi for their charitable actions. On December 7, at the local children's hospital they made an operation to correct a congenital lip defect to Mikhail Avdzhan, a six-year old Sochi resident. Within the next few days they plan to make three similar surgeries more.

A criminal case against two natives of Chechnya detained in the context of blowing up the "Neva-Express" train was opened because two dozes of hashish were found in the pockets of both of them.

Today at night, at about 2 a.m., a fire happened in the office of the Board of Elders of the Balkar People (BEBP). It was extinguished by the fire-fighting service of the Ministry for Emergencies of Kabardino-Balkaria. According to BEBP's the office equipment and furniture burnt down.

According to Georgiy Kabisov, chairman of the State Committee of Informatization and Communications of South Ossetia, the broadcasting of Radio Liberty in the territory of South Ossetia is illegal. In his opinion, there are all grounds to bring an action against the radio station.

On December 8, under the order received from Moscow President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov was interrogated in Grozny under the slander criminal case initiated against Oleg Orlov, head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

On December 10, the Day of Human Rights Defender, 30 human rights organizations from the countries of South Caucasus prepare to hold a campaign entitled "Lobbing the European Union's Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders".

In the near future, Ibragim Mankiev, a resident of Ingushetia, can be extradited to Russia, where he can face torture and other forms of inhuman treatment. As reported by the Amnesty International (AI), he is now in custody in Egypt without the right of communication.

In the opinion of Ilgar Ibragimoglu, head of the DEVAMM (Centre in Defence of Freedom of Conscience and Religion), in 2009, Azerbaijan suffers from a real "crusade" on the freedom of conscience and worship. Today, he has presented the 2009 annual report of his human rights organization.

The Public Movement named "White Tape" is going to place in its website documents and applications of the citizens who have suffered from arbitrariness of law enforcement bodies. This was announced today by Militia Major Alexei Dymovskiy, initiator of the Movement.

Head of the FSB Alexander Bortnikov has stated today at the sitting of the National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) that in 2009 almost 800 militants and their helpers were detained in Northern Caucasus, but the threat of terror acts in the Russian Federation survives.

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov asks the prosecutor's office to cancel the decision to refuse about refusal to initiate a slander case against Dmitri Muratov, editor-in-chief of the "Novaya Gazeta".

Inspectors look for "Caucasian component" in "Neva-Express" train accident; strained interethnic relations in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachai-Circassia; results scandalous election of Mayor in the Dagestan city of Derbent cancelled, - look up these and other events in the review of the week of November 30-December 6 in Caucasian regions prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Today, by the decision of the chief sanitary physician for the Republic of Dagestan, all higher and secondary schools, and kindergartens of Makhachkala are closed for quarantine because of flu epidemic.

The Azerbaijani Committee in Defence of Journalists named "Ruh" has held a poll aiming to reveal the attitude to responsibility for defamation among ministries, state bodies, establishments, enterprises and organizations.

All the chief physicians of medical establishments in the capital of Chechnya will have to pass re-attestation in the near future; and on the outcomes thereof decisions will be made on their service match. This decision was made by the authorities after on December 7 the city Mayor Muslim Khuchiev checked the first aid station.

Representatives of the public of Abkhazia express their concern of the recent situation in Kabardino-Balkaria and demand to stop attacks on the leaders of Adyg organizations.