News

The international Human Rights Watch called the authorities of Armenia, in the HRW report, published on February 25 and covering the elections and post-electoral processes in Armenia in 2008, to make the police responsible for disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrators on March 1, 2008, when at least 10 persons perished in clashes with policemen.

In North Ossetia, employees of law enforcement bodies have detained a resident of Vladikavkaz, who employed for working in his flower hothouses six regular soldiers, sent to him by their commander.

Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russian ICPO (Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office), has stated that the investigation has no doubts that the defendants who were acquitted last week had been involved in Anna Politkovskaya's murder.

The action of Georgian radio stations, which have refused to broadcast Russian-language songs during the whole day today, can seriously aggravate already tense relation between Tbilisi and Moscow, asserts Emil Adelkhanov, a human rights activist and a member of the Board of the "Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development".

Sergey Khadzhikurbanov, recently acquitted in Anna Politkovskaya's murder case, a former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Russian Federation, was summoned to inquiry bodies on another criminal case - on extortion 350,000 dollars from Mr Pavlyuchenkov, a witness in Politkovskaya's case.

The Institute of Reporters' Freedom and Safety of (IRFS) of Azerbaijan has launched a charitable action - "Marathon" event for raising funds for the families of six convicted journalists. The action started on February 25 and will last till March 20 - Novruz holiday especially respected in Azerbaijan.

Today, a Georgian diversive group of four persons tried to kidnap Irakliy Bigvava, a resident of Otobaya village, Gali District of Abkhazia. This was stated by Laurens Kogoniya, head of the Gali District Interior Department (ROVD).

Yesterday, on February 23, in Moscow, near Andrei Sakharov's Centre, at the monument to Berlin wall collapse, a picket was held in memory of the victims of Stalin's deportation of Vainakhs and other nations and in protest of current violations of human rights in Northern Caucasus.

The Investigation of the criminal case of Anna Politkovskaya's murder will continue until all the accomplices of the crime are identified, as Vladimir Markin, official spokesman of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) has promised.

Elmira Suleimanova, Ombudswoman in Azerbaijan, has expressed her concern about the facts of hazing ("dedovschina") and other facts of non-manual relations still encountered in the Azerbaijani armed forces.

Nadira Isaeva, editor-in-chief of the Dagestan weekly named "Chernovik" (Blueprint), was charged under Article 282 of the Criminal Code ("Kindling of ethnic, racial or religious hostility").

The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) of Azerbaijan expresses its deep concern of the state of health of Idrak Abbasov, its employee and journalist-researcher, who told about physical and moral pressure on him by power agencies of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR).

Today, the Pravoberezhny Court of North Ossetia has considered the cassation complaint of the All-Russian Public Organization "Voice of Beslan" and again rejected the right of those who had suffered from the actions of Interior Ministries of North Ossetia and Russia to claim moral compensation.

On February 24, the City Court of St-Petersburg satisfied the cassation presentation of the Prosecutor's Office against the decision of the Dzerzhinskiy District Court of January 20, which had concluded that the search conducted on December 4, 2008, in the office of St-Petersburg-based Scientific and Information Centre (SIC) "Memorial" was illegal, and prescribed the Prosecutor's Office to return the confiscated materials back to the SIC "Memorial".

The teenagers who were wounded by a shell explosion in Tskhinvali are in a grave condition. They were sent to North Ossetia to get their treatment.

On February 23, 2009, Chechens and Ingushes, as well as Russian and international community, were grieving over the 65th anniversary of deportation of Chechen and Ingush people to Middle Asia and Kazakhstan.

Polish special services have detained a Chechen who is suspected of murdering, earlier in Vienna, Umar Israilov, a former security of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

Chechen law enforcers are actively searching an unknown man who opened fire last Saturday, on February 21, in the afternoon, three fighters of the Buryat OMON (Special Militia Unit), after which two of them died. This incident took place in Urus-Martan.

On February 20, the Sabirabad District Court put a full stop in the trial of two activists of the local branch of the Party of the People's Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA) Movsum Askerov and Rovshan Sadykhov.

Maria Mameeva, a resident of Khasanya village, Kabardino-Balkaria, has addressed the Chegem District Court with a complaint against the decision of the inspector of the Baksan Inter-District Investigatory Division of the Investigatory Department of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) on refusal to give out the body of her son Rustam Mameev for burial according to Muslim traditions.