News

In her last video interview to the "Caucasian Knot", Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the HRC "Memorial", who was shot dead on Wednesday, July 15, expressed her "complete confidence" that the murders of her friends - journalist Anna Politkovskaya and advocate Stanislav Markelov - were committed "upon blessing of those in power." She gave the interview on January 23, at the Ostankino cemetery, the day Markelov was buried there.

According to residents of the Staropromyslovskiy District of Chechen capital, the young man, whom power agents announced as liquidated militant, was earlier kidnapped by them from his apartment in Grozny.

Michael Ezhiev, leader of the NGO named "Human Rights Centre of the Chechen Republic", is shocked by the murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Chechnya. According to Mr Ezhiev, now members of Chechen NGOs are discussing, who could Estemirova intervene with.

In Armenia, Judge Gayane Karakhanyan has satisfied the petition lodged by the National Security Service (NSS) on arresting Vladik Serobyan and Gurgen Kilikyan, who had attempted to kill Argishti Kiviryan, coordinator of the Internet based edition "Armenia Today".

As reported today by Shakhman Akbulatov, head of the Grozny-based office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, Natalia Estemirova, a well-known human rights defender and employee of the "Memorial" office, was found murdered near the village of Gazi-Yurt in Ingushetia.

The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has documented two new cases two new cases in Chechnya in which the homes of families related to suspected insurgents were torched by local law-enforcement officials as well as a public extrajudicial killing of a man suspected of providing food to insurgents.

The Supreme Court of Ingushetia has acquitted Isa Ozdoev, former minister of physical culture, sports and tourism, who was earlier sentenced to three years of minimum security colony for non-targeted spending of more than 14 million roubles of budget money.

The today's five-sided meeting on prevention and investigation of incidents, held in the Gali office of the UN Mission with participation of representatives from Abkhazia, Georgia, Russia, United Nations and European Union was positively assessed by Johan Verbeke, special envoy of UN Secretary General for Georgia, and Hans-Jorg Haber, head of the EU's observation mission in Georgia.

Today, about fifty activists of the "Musavat" Party made an attempt to hold a picket in front of the embassy of the People's Republic of China in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The action was planed as a protest against oppressions of Uigurs (Eastern Turkis) in China.

The Armenian opposition believes that the process of Karabakh settlement goes not in favour of Armenians, and demands resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan. This is the topic of the statement disseminated today by the oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC).

In the context of the death of three teenagers on July 13 in a road accident, a mourning day is announced in Georgia. About twenty other children injured in the fall of a bus into abyss at the Nakerala mountain pass-over are still in hospital in Kutaisi.

Today, the session of City Assembly of Sochi has adopted the General Plan of civil development. According to city's Chief Architect Oleg Sheveiko, the overall objective of the Plan is in further development of Sochi and its transformation into the world-level tourist centre.

As reported by Arthur Dzhavadyan, Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, a universal credit organization named "The National Mortgage Company" was founded and started in Armenia with the aim to develop and stimulate the local mortgage market.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan, today at night, in the Karabudakhken District of the republic, the following suspected militants were liquidated: Amir Magomedmurad Osmanov with radio call sign 'Zubair" and a militant Magomed Batyrbekov with call sign "Ibragim". The person of the third casualty is now established.

Experts have computed the damage caused by storm rains on July 10 to the economy of the city of Pyatigorsk, Stavropol Territory. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the information department of the City Duma of Pyatigorsk that under a tentative estimate, the overall damage has made more than 30 million roubles.

On July 7, at the Terek Cossack Circle (Assembly) in Vladikavkaz, Cossack Atamans raised the idea to restore the enlarged North-Caucasian Region in the form of the Terek Region that existed in the tsarist Russia. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Mikhail Inkavtsov, Ataman of the Terek Cossack Army.

Representatives of power agencies have burnt down the house of relatives of Madina Yunusova, 20, the wife of Said-Selim Abdulkadyrov, who was killed in the course of a special operation on July 2, and gave out her body to relatives on July 5, having ordered to bury the girl "without noise". This was reported by Natalia Estemirova, representative of the Grozny branch of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

As stated by Temur Yakobashvili, Vice-Premier and State Minister for Reintegration of Georgia, the today's Dmitri Medvedev's visit to South Ossetia is a provocation.

Today, the first visit of Russian President to South Ossetia, after Russia had recognized its independence, took place. In the course of the visit, which was a surprise not only for residents of the republic, but also for Ossetian officials, Dmitri Medvedev has reiterated that Russia will help South Ossetia in restoring its economy and social sphere.

Heads of the governments of Turkey, Austria and Hungary, and of energy companies from Bulgaria and Romania have initialled the intergovernmental treaty on the Nabucco Project.