News

Today at night in the west of Moscow, five natives of Armenia suspected of kidnapping were detained. They extorted 50,000 roubles for release of their hostage. This was reported by Victor Biryukov, head of the department of information and public relations of Moscow GUVD (Chief Interior Department).

Today, repairs of the damaged fibre-optical cable are over, and Armenia's access to the Internet is restored; however, experts do not exclude that new failures are possible within the next few days because of adverse weather conditions.

Representatives of the Balkar nation are on hunger strike in central Moscow for the fourth day already - since July 7. They protest against actions of the authorities of Kabardino-Balkaria, who, in their opinion, discriminate their nation in the republic.

In Chistye Prudy in Moscow, a rally in defence of Andrei Yerofeev and Yuri Samodurov, organizers of the exhibition "Taboo Art" took place. Artists and human rights defenders came to the action organized by the movement "Solidarity".

The Human rights organization "The Amnesty International" (AI) calls to dismiss all the charges from Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeev, organizers of the exhibition "Taboo Art-2006", suspected of "insulting the feelings of believers and kindling of religious hostility." This is stated in the AI's special statement on the occasion.

In the course of the first stage of implementing the development strategy of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), which is already underway, the earlier drafted and approved federal target programmes will be realized. As reported on July 8 in the city of Essentuki by Alexander Khloponin, Plenipotentiary of President of Russia in the NCFD, the government had allocated 75 billion roubles for this purpose.

Yesterday in the evening, on July 8, the most part of Yerevan lost its access to the Internet. Armenian providers blame Georgian specialists.

Following the request of the republic's residents and clergy, the Muftiyat of Ingushetia has increased the buy-out sum of blood feud by 10 times, and the bride-price - by more than 3 times. This was reported by the Mufti of the Republic Isa-Hadji Khamkhoev.

On July 9, 2010, a picket against raider's capture in the Krasnodar Territory of the agricultural enterprise - Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Zaporozhskoe" - was held opposite the central entrance to the building of the Investigatory Committee at the State Office of Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation (ICPO). None of its officials went out to meet the protesters.

Blogger Alaudin Dudko, known under the nick of ingushetiya_ru, was transferred from the isolation facility of the Butyrka prison to the Lefortovo similar facility. The judicial session, where decision on his freedom restriction measure was made, ruled to leave him behind bars for three more months, while the investigation on his case continues.

Lawyer Keti Bekauri, who is defending the interests of Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, son of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, has treated the new charge presented to her client as "provocation".

Two residents of Ingushetia - Rakhman Imazhev from the city of Nazran and Anzor Mamilov from the city of Nazran - sent their complaints against the actions of power agents, which they believe to be illegal, to Ingush President Yunus-Bek Evkurov and human rights organizations.

Karalbi Karamizov, a resident of Chegem-2 village, Chegem District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), has addressed the local human rights centre with a complaint against the actions of the militia. He asserts that militiamen forced him to defame himself and other innocent people.

The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" may close up its branch in the Chechen Republic. This was stated by Chairman of the Board Oleg Orlov in the context of recent statements made by President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov on the work of human rights defenders.

A huge road accident with casualties happened on July 7 in the Lenin District of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. An employee of the MIA (Ministry of Internal Affairs) is among the casualties. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the MIA that in several recent road accidents in the republic's highways killed two more persons, including a two-month-old baby, and wounded at least seven more.

In the Stavropol Territory, the prosecutor's office has dismissed, for the period of service investigation, director of the camp "Kolosok" and the head of the daytime camp "Ulybka"; on July 7 a child from the latter camp got drowned in a water basin in the territory of "Kolosok".

The Investigatory Department for the Astrakhan Region of the ICPO (Investigatory Committee at the Russian Prosecutor's Office) has initiated a criminal case on the fact of a mass poisoning of children, who took their rest in the camp "Young Railwayman", located in the Privolzhskiy District of the Region, the press service of the Department reports.

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has called the members of the armed underground to surrender and promised to amnesty them. Kadyrov made this unexpected statement on July 7 during his meeting with the leaders of the Republic's power agencies.

The participants of the conference, where a decision was passed to establish a new human rights organization in Dagestan, adopted an open letter to President of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov, listing the measures, which, in the opinion of the authors of the document, should promote cardinal changes of the situation in the republic in the sphere of human rights and return people's trust in the authorities.

The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" regards the words pronounced on July 3 by President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov in his interview to the "Grozny" TV Channel as a direct and obvious threat addressed to the Centre. Mr Kadyrov named the people involved in the "Memorial" as enemies of the people, enemies of the law and enemies of the state.