News

Yesterday, on September 14, in Khattuni, a village of the mountainous Vedeno District of the Chechen Republic, as local residents assert, a broad-scale "zachistka" (mopping-up) was conducted, during which a local resident was kidnapped. The republic's power structures refuse to make any comments.

After the news appeared that the Prosecutor's Office of Novorossisk had sent a petition to the court on suspension of the activity of the Novorossisk Committee on Human Rights (NCHR), a number of Russian NGO voiced in defence of human rights defenders: AGORA, YURIX, MHG (Moscow Helsinki Group) and Foundation "Public Verdict". The Movement "For Human Rights" has made a statement; and another statement is prepared, which will be soon open for signing-in. This was reported by Vadim Karastelyov, an expert of the NCHR.

On the opinion of advocate and human rights defender Ivan Pavlov, director of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), the war on corruption in Ingushetia should start with ensuring citizens' free access to about the operation of state bodies.

The special European commission set up for investigating into the circumstances of the last year's August conflict in the Caucasus plans to disclose the results of its studies quite soon. However, now, 9 months later, during which the commission has spent 1.6 million euros, there is a probability that the report will be made classified, the "Russian Newsweek" writes with reference to "well-informed sources."

The preliminary investigation on the murder case of human rights defender Natalia Estemirova has been prolonged. According to the official version, there was no enough time to conduct all the pre-planned investigatory-operative actions, since "quite many problems have appeared."

The terrorist-suicide bomber who committed the terror act on September 12 at the school building near the Bilimkhanov Stadium in Grozny has been identified. He was Aslanbek Dzhabrailov, born in 1986, a native of Elistanzhi village, Vedeno District of Chechnya. This was reported by Vladimir Markin, spokesman of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation.

Today, the report of the international Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) "Anatomy of Impunity: Unsolved Murders of Journalists in Russia" was made public in Moscow; mostly, the report is on Northern Caucasus.

An official note of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Venezuela about recognition of independence of the Republic of Abkhazia was served to the Abkhazian delegation, which is on its official visit to Venezuela. This was reported today by the press service of the MFA of Abkhazia.

Yesterday, on September 14, the Tbilisi City Court considered the case on the so-called "Mukhrovani mutiny". 34 defendants have admitted their guilt of disobedience to the order of the commander of Mukhrovani battalion, when they refused to go out for preparing for the Georgia's Independence Day. Disobedience to the commander's order is punished under part 2, Article 316 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.

Last year, the number of registered facts of trafficking in people in Azerbaijan was 394, and in the first six months of this year already 250 such cases were recorded. This was reported by Araz Babaev, senior operative officer of the MIA, at a seminar on the problems of trafficking in humans.

Plenty of refugees from Georgia seek asylum in Poland. According to the Polish Department for Foreigners' Matters, every day about 100 citizens of Georgia apply for granting a refuge; they try to enter the country through the Polish-Belarus border check point in Terespol, a railway junction on the Polish side near Brest.

Kidnappings continue in Ingushetia. On September 5, employees of some unknown power agencies kidnapped Magomed Oziev, 23, a resident of Nesterovskaya village, Sunzha District; and on September 11, Muhammad Syuleimanov, 36, a resident of the city of Malgobek, disappeared. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by relatives of the missing persons.

Lieutenant Colonel Mukhtar Agaev, an officer of the Dagestan Department of the Russian Federal Service for Drug Trafficking Control (RFSDTC) is accused of organizing an illegal armed formation (IAF) and attempt on the life of Shamil Isaev, a Deputy of the National Assembly of Dagestan.

New terror acts committed by suicide bombers; recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Venezuela; visit of the Commissioner of the Council of Europe for Human Rights, - look up these and other events in the review of the week of September 7-13 in the Caucasian regions prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Kidnappings in Dagestan are committed not so much with the aim to liquidate some particular person, but sooner to assess the readiness of the respective Muslim community to resolute actions after disappearance of its member, and to further aggravate the situation in the republic. This is the opinion of Nadira Isaeva, editor-in-chief of the Dagestan newspaper "Chernovik".

The issue of opening the Tbilisi-Sukhumi bus route is not considered by Abkhazia and will hardly be considered in the immediate perspective. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Ruslan Kishmariya, plenipotentiary representative of Abkhazian President in the Gali District, who made his comments on Georgia's intention to offer Abkhazia to start such bus route.

The so-called "execution list", recently disseminated in Dagestan, hardly has anything to do with the recent murders of human rights defenders. This is the opinion of Nadira Isaeva, editor-in-chief of the Dagestan-based newspaper "Chernovik", who is also on the list.

The law enforcement bodies have not managed yet to identify the terrorist-suicide bomber who blew himself up in the morning on September 12 in central Grozny and heavily wounded three local militiamen.

After the earthquake at night on September 8, six 5-storied apartment blocks in the city of Kvaisa, Dzhava District of South Ossetia, are in unsafe condition. Ten private cottages are also unfit for residence. People have to live in tents.

In the opinion of leading Russian political scientists, accession of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Russia is the least probable scenario of developments.