News

The past 2010 was marked by many resonant trials, where natives of Southern Russia and the Caucasus were figurants; a full stop was put in many of them. Some of these trials were held abroad and acquired great public resonance because notable political figures were involved. Most often it concerned one of the regions of Russia - the Chechen Republic, which is still under close scrutiny of human rights defenders. Also, last year was marked by passing final decision on cases of Moscow-based groupings, which had been killing people of non-Slavic nationalities, by trials started in Northern Caucasus on murders of prominent people, as well as by further consideration in Kabardino-Balkaria case of the case dealing with attack on Nalchik in 2005.

As reported by the Police Division of the Gabala District, a Russian office - Major Sergey Grachov, 47, an employee of the Gabala Radar Station, was killed.

The Russia's "Siberia" Airlines were granted a permit from the "Rosaviatsiya" (Federal Air Transportation Agency) to go on with Moscow-Tbilisi direct charter flights till the end of March 2011. This was announced on January 5 by Paata Kamarauli, the Airlines' representative in Georgia.

As reported by Senor Asratyan, press secretary of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Nagorno-Karabakh, the information of their Azerbaijani counterpart that the Karabakh armed forces had broken the ceasefire and wounded an Azerbaijani soldier is not true.

So far, the Azerbaijani authorities have not paid the compensation of 25,000 euros awarded by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to imprisoned journalist Einullah Fatullaev. Despite cancellation of the journalist's two previous 2007 convictions, the demand of the ECtHR to release him from custody is still ignored; the journalist remains in jail on new charges, which he finds fabricated.

Enforcement agencies of Chechnya have no information of Zeinat Suiunova, native of the republic, detained on January, 5, in Volgograd for suspicion of involvement in preparing an act of terror in Moscow.

Vitaly Gordeev, Director of Federal state educational institution of secondary professional education "Agricultural technical secondary school of Anapa", is suspected of abuse of authority and damnification to the school to a sum of over 13 million rubles.

The Investigatory Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia has detained four persons, including Rostom Tsertsvadze, deputy director general of the "Rustavgaz" Company, on suspicion of concealment of a large amount of taxes.

Four out of 14 sporting objects built for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi will be moved to other cities, two will be re-profiled and eight will retain their functionality and, along with new transportation and engineering facilities, are intended to transform Sochi into a world-class resort.

Relatives of Georgian seamen who stay in captivity of Somalia pirates demand a meeting with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

After elimination of the reasons that triggered the electric protection circuit on January 4, today the Power Unit No. 2 of the Rostov Nuclear Power Plant was switched on and added to the energy grid.

In a forest in the upper section of the Kelasur River, a local resident found the remains of archaeologist Gennady Ognev, 61, who disappeared last March.

This year, during the New Year holidays, the region near the Elbrus Mount - the main winter resort of Kabardino-Balkaria - has already been visited by more than seven thousand tourists.

Amir of Khasavyurt Ruslan Makavov was among those militants liquidated today during a special operation in the city of Khasavyurt. This was reported by the spokesman of the Information Centre of the National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) of Russia.

During the elapsed 18 months, the inquiry into the murders of the employees of the humanitarian organization "Let's Save the Generation" Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband Alik Dzhabrailov "has not left its starting point." This was stated by Adlan Mukhamedov, the current head of the NGO "Let's Save the Generation".

A non-governmental organization "Fund of People Willing to Return to Abkhazia" started working in Georgia, its task is to "come to terms and establish communication with the Abkhazians".

In spite of traumas and fractures Adam Hamkhoev, resident of Ingushetia who returned home after he was kidnapped, refuses treatment in hospital. Hamkhoev is at home now because he does not rule out a new kidnapping.

In 2011, the "Dagestani Airlines" Company plans to upgrade the fleet of aircrafts by replacing its obsolete Tu-154 aircrafts for modern models, said Deputy Director General Gadjikhan Keramaliev.

Lithuania, which will chair the OSCE in 2011, plans to revive the solution process of frozen conflicts, including those in Transcaucasia, said Audronius Ažubalis, Foreign Minister of Lithuania.

Amendments have been made in the Georgian Code of Administrative Offences, offered by the Government of Adzharia, which stipulate fines for livestock appearance on the beaches and in other places visited by tourists.