News

Northern Caucasus is staggered by explosions; Southern Caucasus is shocked by earthquakes; Kalmykia gets used to new leadership; residents of Southern Russia undergo census, - look these and other events in the review of the week of October 18-24, 2010, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Yuri Ivaschenko, a photo journalist from Krasnodar, has turned to the Strasbourg Court (European Court of Human Rights - ECtHR) with a complaint that Russia had broken the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), when Sochi customs officer broke his privacy of correspondence.

On October 26 in Grozny, activists of Chechen youth organizations held a mass rally against terror. Several hundreds of young people marched along the main street of the Chechen capital - Putin Avenue - and on the bank of the Sunzha River burnt down portraits of the leaders of the armed underground: Umarov, Zakaev Vadalov and Gakaev.

Local archaeologists have detected a nicely-preserved burial place of the Copper-Stone Age, or Eneolithic. Excavations in the cave complex "Areni-1" in the Vayots Dzor Region are shared by Armenian archaeologists with their colleagues from the US University of California and the Irish University of Kirk.

A participant of the refugees' protest action, who was an eyewitness of the incident, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that Nana Pipiya, who has committed self-immolation in Tbilisi, had long prepared the step, but finally decided to do it after her conversation with some official from the Ministry of Georgia on Refugees' Matters, who had invited her to go to Western Georgia and "eat grass there."

In the city of Pyatigorsk (Stavropol Territory) students, who organized a noisy dancing party in front of the city administration, have been expelled from the local higher school, the information-analytical division of city mayoralty reports.

On October 26, Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), hosted the action named "North Caucasus without alimonies" and organized by the Service of Court Marshals of the regions of the NCFD (North-Caucasian Federal District).

A serviceman perished yesterday, October, 26, at about 16:45 local time, as a result of firing upon the stationing of Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army in the North-Eastern (Martakert) direction of contact line between armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

A fougasse exploded during engineering reconnaissance of the territory by the servicemen of a sapper unit of federal forces in the South-East of Chechnya. There have been no victims among the personnel.

Participators of an organized group which included the Head of Trade Department of the Administration of Tuapse district have been detained in Krasnodar region. The detained are suspected of bribe-taking of 71 million rubles for illegal extermination of lands out of state property, Alexander Nazarov, Deputy Chief of the Department of economic security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, reported.

A group of journalists, human rights activists and intellectuals - members of the Committee in Defence of Freedom of Expression - believe that the hunger strike announced by Einullah Fatullaev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Real Azerbaijan", kept at the Baku SIZO (pre-trial prison), has already caused quite a broad public resonance.

At the recent British Invention Show, the innovation project of the Dagestani State Agricultural Academy (DSACA) "Water Purification Complex and Technology for Water Purification from Arsenic" received main awards - the Platinum Grand Prix, Gold Medal and Honorary Diploma.

Gadji Kadiev, a resident of Makhachkala, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that none of census takers visited his house at 19 Gamidov Avenue, where he lives with his family.

On October 26 in Moscow, more than 300 persons gathered in the square in front of the Theatrical Centre: victims and relatives of the casualties of the Dubrovka terror act, and victims of other terror acts - exploded houses in Guryanova Street and Kashira Highway in Moscow, in Volgodonsk and at Beslan school capture.

According to Alexei Dymovskiy, leader of the "White Tape" movement, and Yuri Dzaganiya, local CPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) leader, the attack in Sochi on Mikhail Vinyukov, chairman of the Sochi branch of the "White Tape", was an ordered the crime, organized by those dissatisfied with the activities of the rights defender.

On October 25 in Tbilisi refugees broke a tent camp at the Ministry for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Refugees and Accommodation, demanding resignation of Minister Koba Subeliani. Refugees believe that the government fails to address their housing problems; while the Ministry finds their claims to be ungrounded.

The investigatory bodies and operative agents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and FSB have detained two persons who confessed of committing a terror act on July 21 at the Baksan hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in Kabardino-Balkaria, as Vladimir Markin, spokesman of the Investigatory Committee (IC), said today.

Today in Warsaw, the Court of Appeal overturned the first instance's ruling to arrest Ahmed Zakaev, leader of Chechen separatists. The session held behind closed doors also stopped Zakaev's arrest case.

The case of "White Wolves" once again confirms that the jury trial, in case of proper work of the investigation, will not acquit the Nazis, Galina Kozhevnikova, Deputy Director of informational and analytic center "SOVA" said to a reporter of "Caucasian Knot".

The personnel of the Center of Rescue Operations of Special Risk "Leader", MES of Russia, have accomplished their work on mine clearing in the territory of Chechnya. The sappers of "Leader" had been working in Chechnya since the middle of September this year.