News

President of Dagestan Mukhu Aliev asserts that the situation with kidnappings in his Republic becomes better now. According to his data, during the last decade, 80 persons were kidnapped in Dagestan, of them 47 persons were returned, 4 bodies were found and whereabouts of the remaining 29 is unknown.

The European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) has registered 391 applications filed by citizens of Georgia who suffered in the Russian-Georgian conflict in August 2008, as reported by the Georgian human rights organization named "42nd Article of the Constitution".

"Freedom of press is in danger!" - this was the motto of today's action held in Baku at the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety by the "ASI Club" (Club of "Advocates of freedom of speech"), which unites columnists of the leading mass media of Azerbaijan.

President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov has met relatives of the 12 defendants in the case about the attack on Ingushetia in 2004, who are kept in custody for the fifth year already, and, according to the relatives, are exposed to torture. The President plans to take the case under his special supervision.

A delegation of the Russian Public Chamber headed by Nikolai Svanidze and well-known Russian human rights defenders held a meeting with top managers of the law enforcement bodies of Dagestan and Republic's NGOs. The delegation was also received by President of Dagestan Mukhu Aliev.

Armenia has exhibited some progress in the freedom of mass media, however, "in special cases" the authorities can strengthen their pressure on journalists; such pressure is the strongest on media of Yerevan, as Levon Barsegyan, President of the Journalists' Press Club "Asparez", has noted.

Huntsman Sergey Matveev who detained Vassily Farion, head of the Department of the Russian Federal Taxation Service for the Volgograd Region, and his two companions, who were hunting for roes without a license in the Scherbakov Game Husbandry in the Kamyshin District, now complains of threats.

In 2009, the Swiss Administration for Development and Cooperation (SADC) plans to build cottages in Ingushetia for 42 families of forced migrants from the Chechen Republic. This was stated by Peter Mikula, head of the coordination office for cooperation of the Swiss Embassy in Russia, during his meeting with President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov.

The militiaman who was burned by the explosion of the dining-car of the "Vladikavkaz-Moscow" train has died in the first-aid hospital of Rostov-on-Don. Thus, the death-roll of the explosion has reached four persons.

On March 10, at the presentation of his report on the situation with human rights in 2008, Ombudsman Armen Arutyunyan called the country leaders to give up the administrative repressive model that was inherited from Soviet times and pass over to democratic rule with ensuring the balance mechanism and actual division of power branches.

On March 7, another rally was held in the city of Novorossisk, Krasnodar Territory, demanding to cancel the curfew for children. The picketers voiced protest against two articles of the Law of the Krasnodar Territory of 21.07.2008 No. 1539-KZ "On Measures to Prevent Child Neglect and Minors' Offences in Krasnodar Territory".

Today at the picket in the city of Magas, relatives of the 12 inmates kept at the local IVS (pre-trial custody) have reported that they cherish hope for the meeting with President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov. The meeting should take place tomorrow, on March 11, in the President's Administration. The relatives demand to stop protracting the litigation.

The today's session on the "Case of Seven" lasted for a couple of minutes only and was postponed till March 11. The reason was the absence of advocate Stepan Voskanyan, who was busy in some other litigation. At the same time, only one defendant - Grigor Voskerchyan - was present at the session.

In relation to the people, whose houses are within the construction zone of Olympiad-2014 objects, the authorities of Sochi are holding the tactics "by hook or by crook". Valery Brinikh, co-chairman of the board of the international NGO named "Social-Ecological Union", told about it to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The Public Movement "For Karabakh and Republic" has announced a boycott of the referendum appointed on March 18 on amendments to the Constitution. The decision was made today at the meeting of the leaders of the parties and NGOs-members of the Public Movement.

A group of advocates involved in the case about the attack on power bodies of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) in October 2005 have sent a cassation complaint to the Supreme Court of Russia against the decision of the KBR's Supreme Court to cancel the jury. The lawyers ask to cancel the decision because it worsens the status of defendants, which is forbidden by the laws of the Russian Federation (RF).

At the session of the Georgian parliamentary committee for relations with compatriots abroad, the MPs offered to set up a working group for dealing with the problems the Georgian living in Azerbaijan.

Ombudsman Armen Arutyunyan told journalists about his intention to address the Ministry of Justice because health condition of Shant Arutyunyan, one of the defendants in the "Case of Seven", is very grave.

Former ambassador of Georgia Erosi Kitsmarishvili has accused Irakliy Kodua, a high-ranking official of Georgian MIA, and his relatives of beating him, which, as he said, was politically motivated.

Alla Ovanisyan, mother of Tigran Khachatryan, 23, who died as a result of application by the police of gas weapon "Cheryomukha-7" in the course of dispersal of the oppositional action on March 1, 2008, has stated that her son was killed by the authorities.