News

A Chechen militiaman was wounded by explosion of a fougasse (land mine) planted under the bottom of his car. It happened in the evening on April 7 in the foothill Urus-Martan District of the republic. The victim was hospitalized.

The attempt on Sulim Yamadaev, former commander of a special GRU battalion, and the murder of his senior brother, former State Duma deputy Ruslan Yamadaev, were backed by people from the retinue of President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, the members of the Yamadaev family assert.

The Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation has reported about detention of suspects of committing a number of resonant crimes, including assassination of Ruslan Yamadaev, former deputy of the State Duma of Russia, and an attempt on the former military commandant of Chechnya General-Colonel Sergey Kizyun.

Today, at about 6 p.m. local time, in Yerevan, a clash burst out between policemen of the patrol-sentry unit and participants of the so-called "political walks" in the Northern Avenue of the Armenian capital.

The authorities of Georgia get ready to the opposition's protest action on April 9. Relatives of Georgian soldiers complain that the authorities keep servicemen in information vacuum. The opposition is not set up to initiate any clashes, as the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Khatuna Ivanishvili, press secretary of Nino Burdzhanadze, leader of the Party "Democratic Movement - United Georgia.

Yesterday, on April 7, journalists of the "Chernovik" (Blueprint) newspaper, including its editor-in-chief, accused of kindling hatred or enmity, or humiliation of human dignity, were acquainted with the indictment, which they refused to sign. Meanwhile, back on April 5, Public Prosecutor of Dagestan Yuri Tkachov approved the indictment under Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sent the case to the court.

During his meeting with relatives of Gapur Tankiev, a resident of the city of Malgobek who was kidnapped on April 3, President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov promised to personally supervise the course of investigation. Until now, nothing is known about Gapur's whereabouts.

Stefaniya Kulaeva, a human rights activist of the Anti-Discrimination Centre "Memorial", said that the issue of attitude to Gipsies proved to be interesting to many and rather painful, after the debate had burst out and is still underway after the media reported about the incident in St-Petersburg metro, when a radio announcement was made: "Take care, Gipsies are here!"

On April 6, near the building of the National Assembly of Armenia, a protest action was held by youth public organizations. Several dozens of young people expressed their negative altitude to the bill with amendments to the Laws "On Police" and "On Police Troops" and demanded to cancel the bill.

Ziyavudin Uvaisov, advocate of Dinara Butdaeva, whose indictment was approved by the Prosecutor's Office of Dagestan on the criminal case of involvement in an armed formation, illegal purchase, storage and transportation of firearms, has stated the innocence of his client.

Relatives of Sulim Yamadaev, executed by gunmen in Dubai on March 28, find it full absurdity that President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov had accused Sulim, ex-commander of the "Vostok" special GRU battalion, of involvement in murdering Ramzan's father Ahmat Kadyrov.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by the press service of President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov that the authorities of Ingushetia plan to analyse all the proposals contained in yesterday's report "Violence under Control" drafted by the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization "Mashr" and telling about kidnappings and murders in the republic in 2008.

Svetlana Isaeva, chair of the board of the public organization "Mothers of Dagestan", has stated that "special public activists" had been invited on March 10 to the meeting of the leader of Dagestan Mukhu Aliev with Russian human rights activists and members of the Russian Public Chamber Commission on Interethnic Relations and Freedom of Religion; and the above "activists" provoked the roundtable into a verbal skirmish.

Today, the Yasamal District Court has sentenced Asif Marzili, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Tezadlar" (Contrasts), to one year of imprisonment.

Human rights activist Magomed Mutsolgov asserts that introduction of the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime in six villages of Ingushetia is illegal. He also places in question the information about a fight in late March militants with special agents in Sunzha District.

Ibragim Tochiev, ex-head of the administration of the President of Ingushetia, had forced heads of district administrations to write own-will dismissal applications with an open date. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Kaloy Akhilgov, new press secretary of the President of Ingushetia. Thus, he has refuted the earlier information about possible reasons of Tochiev's resignation.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia has asserted non-involvement of earlier arrested FSB agents in kidnapping on April 3 of Gapur Tankiev, 23, a resident of Malgobek.

The reason of dismissal of Ibragim Tochiev, head of the administration of the President of Ingushetia, after only four months in this position, could be in his disapproval of President Evkurov's initiative, under which all materially accountable servants were forced to write applications on dismissal on their own will with an open date.

In the morning on Sunday, April 5, in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, a local woman-resident was wounded as a result of a grenade explosion in the yard of her own house; she was hospitalized.

For almost two decades already, the problems of forced migrants now living in North Ossetia have been vexed both for the people and for the republic. For almost 20 years refugees live in hostels, barracks, sheds and cellars, which had been provided by the republic's leadership, and the housing issue is still the main one for them.