News

Khanifat Gichueva, a resident of Chernyaevka village, Kizlyar District of Dagestan, has reported that on November 17 her husband - Sheikhulislam Abusupyanov - did not come home. The woman believes that he was kidnapped by power agents.

All the entrances to the mines of Tirniauz, Kabardino-Balkaria, will be bricked up to avoid their further use by gunmen and criminal persons, Prime-Minister Alexander Merkulov reported today at the session of the republican Government.

The three men killed in the settlement of Barsuki today have been in contact with Yusup Dzangiyev, resident of Ingushetia detained on November, 17, National Anti-terror Committee reports. Law enforcement bodies call Dzangiyev the leader of Karabulak group on gunmen.

Public Prosecutor's office of the Polish capital has referred to the Circuit the case of extradition of Ahmed Zakaev, former head of the Government of self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI), announced for international search by Russia. This news was reported by Monika Levandovskaya, Press Secretary of the office.

The leadership of Dagestan has addressed to the militants who decided to stop their terrorist and extremist activities in the territory of the republic with particular proposals on their return to peaceful life. A special memorandum lists the conditions under which former rebels may be exempt from criminal responsibility for earlier committed crimes.

Fire burns down forests and pastures of Georgia and southern regions of Russia; lists of observers over observance of human rights in prisons and colonies of the SFD and NCFD have been updated; local criminal gang is accused of massacre in Kuschevskaya village, Krasnodar Territory, - look these and other events in the review of the week of November 8-14, 2010, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Six children-pupils, aged 8-14, of the foster home of Malik and Khadizhat Gataev, who currently live in a social village (the so-called "SOS-village") in Vilnius, Lithuania, will remain in the institution for an indefinite period.

According to the preliminary data of the 2010 census, about three million people live in Dagestan. About a quarter of the total population was registered in the capital - Makhachkala, where about 700,000 people live.

Alexei Navalny, a well-known blogger and a shareholder of the Open Joint-Stock Company "Transneft", has posted on the Internet scanned copies of documents confirming numerous violations committed by the Company, its subsidiaries and contractors in building the "Pipeline System Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean (PS ESPO)". According to the documents, companies from the Southern Federal District (SFD) of Russia took part in corruption schemes.

On December 12, a new Operation "Arms" with the aim to persuade the population to voluntarily surrender weapons and ammunition will start in the republic. This is the third such operation, but this time no monetary compensation will be paid out for the surrendered armaments.

According to the studies made by the international NGO named "Transparency International", the index of Georgia's budget transparency made 55 points, while in 2006 this same index was still lower - only 34 points. Georgia, along with Russia, which gained 60 points, got into the second category of countries, which "provide some information".

Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper "Aikakan Zhamanak", convicted in connection with the post-election events of 2008, is judicially challenging his sentence, arguing that it should be revised. The first hearing of the case was held on November 16 at the penitentiary establishment "Kosh", which was chaired by Judge Suren Mnoyan.

Sergey Tsapok, suspected of organizing the murder of 12 people in the village of Kuschevskaya, Krasnodar Territory, was put behind bars by decision of the Essentuki City Court.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised safety to journalist Manana Aslamazyan, Director of the "Internews-Armenia", who had left Russia. This was stated today by Eduard Sagalaev, President of the National Association of Broadcasters, at the awarding Ms Aslamazyan with the "TAFI-2010" Award.

Georgia has favourably perceived the resolution of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA), adopted on November 16 in Warsaw, which supports the Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Some experts and politicians expect that the document will be followed by real actions aimed to change the situation in the region, others are doubtful.

As reported today by the press service of the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the resident who committed arson of a store in the city of Chegem was detained.

On November 15 in Helsinki, Finland, Kokoteatteri Theatre hosted a press conference on the occasion of publication of the book "The Colour of War" in the Finnish language. The book was written by Arkady Babchenko, a journalist of the "Novaya Gazeta" and a veteran of the warfare in Chechnya.

In North Ossetia, members of the organization named "Beslan Mothers" assert that the repairs made in the Beslan School No. 1 will completely hide the traces of the terror act committed there in September 2004.

The GUVD (Chief Interior Department) for the Stavropol Territory reports about suppression of a mass brawl in Stavropol that was near to burst out between groups of recruited builders from Turkmenistan and Armenia.

The militia of St Petersburg is searching the unidentified assailants who attacked on November 11 the local historian and publicist Igor Pykhalov, who wrote about deportation of Caucasian nations.