News

Arthur Babaev, brother of Farid Babaev, leader of the Republic's branch of the Russian "Yabloko" Party, who was killed in Dagestan, does not exclude that the murder criminal case can be closed. Dokka Itslaev, advocate for the Babaevs, said that the direct gunman can escape punishment.

At the session on June 3 of the court considering a group of suspected participants in the attack on Ingushetia in summer of 2004, the prosecution moved a petition to consider the case without jurymen. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by one of the participants in the litigation.

A special commission in charge of investigating the fates of missing residents of the Prigorodny District of North Ossetia has started its work with collecting all relevant information; then, it will move to localities.

Today, the Moscow City Court has cancelled the decision to arrest militiamen from the OVD (Interior Department) "Mitino", accused by four natives of Chechnya of beating them in a Moscow cafe. The Court has sent the arrest petition submitted by the investigation to the Tushino District Court for re-consideration.

Ismail Khamkhoev, 39, kidnapped on April 28 by unidentified persons in Ordzhonikidzevskaya village of Ingushetia, was found dead in Chechnya. He was buried on June 1.

Mustafa Iliev, an employee of the MIA on the Republic of Ingushetia, will face justice for kidnapping and murdering a human. This was reported by the Investigatory Department (ID) for Ingushetia of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation.

The Ingush refugees' camp in Karabulak named "Sozidanie" (Creation) housing over 150 forced migrants from Chechnya was left without electricity supply. The refugees view it as an attempt to evict them.

In Grozny, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) are searching a boy of five who disappeared on May 30 under unclear circumstances. It is supposed that the boy could get drowned in Sunzha River.

Soldier Anton Kuznetsov, who was considered missing for five years, has returned from Dagestan to the Lipetsk Region. According to his story, he has spent all this time in slavery, where he had been sold by commanders of his unit.

The Amnesty International (AI) has awarded its prestigious prize "For journalism under threat" to Einullah Fatullaev, founder and editor-in-chief of newspapers "Real Azerbaijan" and "Gyundelik Azerbaijan" (Azerbaijan Daily), now serving his term in prison.

Starting from April 10, plenty of Gypsies have been detained in the city of Volzhsk, Volgograd Region. Elena Konstantinova, leader of the Volgograd Regional NGO in defence of Gipsy women's rights named "Congress of Romany Women - Juvlicano Romano Congresso", has made this statement in her conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Representatives of the family of Magomed Evloev, deceased former owner of the website "Ingushetia.Ru", report that the judge of the Nazran Court of Ingushetia, who earlier considered Evloev's death case, has accepted his self-disqualification, on which relatives had insisted.

Officers of the Investigating Department of Russian SKP in Kabardino-Balkaria claim they have identified the second militant killed in the course of the May 28 special operation in Nalchik.

The persons detained in Sochi on May 14 while holding individual pickets are not satisfied with the response of the city Central District prosecutor who failed to register violations in the militia actions at detaining them.

Today, the police forces have prevented activists of the "Musavat" party from holding a picket in front of the Iranian embassy in Baku in protest against violations in that country of the rights of ethnic Azerbaijanis.

On June 1, Norair Eghiazarian, member of a polling district at constituency No 8, and Armen Oganian, elector of the same district, were arrested in Armenia under the criminal proceedings initiated upon facts of violations in the course of May 31 election to the Elders' Quorum.

The South Ossetia CEC has falsified the number of 56,000 electors who took part in the parliamentary election on May 31, there are less than 20,000 people in the entire republic, states Albert Dzhussoyev, one of the opposition leaders, to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On June 3, the independent newspaper "Batumelebi" issued in Adzharia (Georgia) is to receive the Gerd Bucerius Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe" founded by the Norwegian foundation "Freedom of Speech" and the German foundation "ZEIT-Stiftung". The chief editor of the newspaper is already in Oslo where the award ceremony is to be held.

During the June 2 meeting, Armenian president Serge Sargsian issued an instruction to the law enforcement officers to submit their proposals on the conditions of and legal grounds for the amnesty of political prisoners before June 15.

Towards the end of the court hearing today, 40 defendants on the criminal case of an attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005 in Kabardino-Balkaria announced that they were going on hunger strike to protest against denial of medical treatment to defendant Sergei Kaziyev whose state of health needed it.