News

Jorg Tauss, a deputy of German Bundestag, has arrived for the second time in the last two months in Baku in connection with the fate of young arrested bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Gadjizade, accused of hooliganism. However, same as in late July, he was not allowed to meet them in the Baku SIZO, in spite of the fact that he had sent a prior letter to President Ilham Aliev.

Five years have passed after the tragedy in Beslan; the investigation is still on; but people until now do not know the whole truth why 334 persons perished and who was guilty of the tragedy. This was stated on September 1 by the members of the organization "Beslan Mothers" at a press conference.

The Military Prosecutor's Office of Armenia has initiated a criminal case on the fact of a murder of Aram Mkrtchyan, 18, a regular soldier, who died as a result of beatings, rendered, according to the investigation, by an officer of the Vaiksk military unit.

Malkhaz Gulashvili, owner of the Media Holding "Georgian Times" and a member of the Russian-Georgian Public Commission, has treated the actions of Georgian frontier guards, who tonight at the International Tbilisi Airport stopped Russian journalists Maxim Shevchenko and Vladimir Mamontov from crossing the Georgian border, as a provocation and a great scandal.

In Beslan, the state programmes aimed at helping the victims of the 2004 terror act do not work; people are left alone with their problems, as stated by Susanna Dudieva, leader of the organization "Beslan Mothers". According to her story, children-former hostages cannot get their free of charge and expensive medication; they have to do it for their own money.

In Armenia, the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan communities Tsentr-Nork-Marash has made a decision to extend by two months, that is, till November 5, the custody term of the young activist of the opposition Tigran Arakelyan, who has become half-blind while behind bars. The latter has promised to go on a termless protest hunger strike.

Today, the Independent Press Centre in Moscow has hosted a press conference of human rights activists under the motto "Death Squadrons in Northern Caucasus. Summer of 2009". According to Alexander Cherkasov, a member of the Board of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", a system of violence has formed in Northern Caucasus, where torture, kidnappings, illegal prisons and extrajudicial executions are integral elements.

A couple of hours ago, Khachatur Sukiasyan, an activist of the opposition and deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia, quitted the underground and surrendered to law enforcement bodies.

School No. 1 in Beslan, where hostages were taken, will become a memorial complex; and the school building will be preserved such as it is already for five years.

The today's court session on the case of attack on Nalchik in October 2005 has started with the petition submitted by defendant Sarabi Seyunov on his hospitalization to the Republic's Clinical Hospital, as he suffers from blood spitting. He has also stated that he feels bad and cannot take part in the trial.

In Dagestan, in the evening on August 31, at the sitting dedicated to the problem of kidnappings, President of Dagestan Mukhu Aliev gave an order to find the criminals who killed kidnapped young men in the end of August. The bosses of power agencies stated non-participation of their employees in this crime.

About one hundred Russian and foreign journalists came to North Ossetia to cover the actions held in memory of the victims of the terror act committed on September 1-3, 2004, in Beslan.

The third round of negotiations about simplification of the visa regime with the European Union (EU) was a success. David Dzhalaganiya, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, told about it in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In the Vedeno District of Chechnya, power agents refuse to leave a part of the school building they occupy; and the today's Day of Knowledge was cancelled. Parents of some schoolchildren are afraid to send their kids to this school because of their safety.

First anniversary of Russia's recognition of independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia; commissioning of the Dzuarikau-Tskhinvali gas pipeline; new explosions of suicide bombers in Chechnya; resignations and appointments in governments of Northern and Southern Caucasus - look up these and other events in the review of the week of August 24-30 in the Caucasian regions prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

According to Georgian political scientist and human rights activist Paata Zakareishvili, the passportization process of Georgian population in Abkhazia goes with great difficulties. People are forced to obtain Abkhazian passports, but then they are forbidden to do it. Under his data borrowed from the official sources of the Abkhazian party and informal sources of the Georgian one, in 2009 in Gali District about 5000 persons received Abkhazian passports, and about 500 persons received Russian passports.

Journalist Shalva Ramishvili, convicted of blackmail in Georgia, was released on Wednesday, August 26, after 4 years in custody.

The trial on Mukhrovani revolt will start on September 3. The judge made this decision because of a failure of one of the advocates to appear.

Today, all the day long residents of North Ossetia come to School No. 1 in Beslan to pay tribute to memory of the victims of the terror act of 2004. Five years have passed after the tragedy, but the grief has not expired, as residents of Beslan say.

Vadim Karastelyov, expert of the Novorossisk Committee for Human Rights, one of the organizers of pickets for cancellation of the curfew for children, has received a copy of the claim on defence of honour, dignity, business reputation and compensation lodged against him by Sergey Novikov, director of the Municipal Unitary Enterprise "Information-Analytical Centre", who is known to human rights activists as the author of numerous articles negative treating their activities.