News

According to Andrei Melamedov, former editor-in-chief of the private Dagestan newspaper "Nastoyascheye Vremya" (Present Time), the surnames of journalists Ilyas Shurpaev and Gaji Abashilov, who were murdered on Friday, were on the list of persons prohibited to mentioning.

The authorities of Armenia agree to admit the participation of international experts in the investigation of disorders on March 1-2 in Yerevan. This was stated today by the General Public Prosecutor of Armenia at his meeting with Peter Semnebi, Special EU's Representative in South Caucasus.

Today, on the 14th day of the hunger strike, the state of health of the leaders of the United Opposition of Georgia has worsened, and quarantine was introduced near the building of Parliament in Tbilisi in the Rustaveli Avenue.

On March 21, a picket was held in Moscow in defence of Boris Stomakhin, the author of the Chechen separatists' website "Kavkaz-Centre", who was sentenced to 5 years of colony for kindling interethnic enmity and extremism. The action was dated to the second anniversary of journalist's arrest.

According to the statement of Ruslan Badalov, Chairman of the Chechen Committee for National Salvation (ChCNS), human rights activists are protesting against a possible decision of the authorities of Spain to deport Murat Gasaev, a refugee from Ingushetia, to Russia.

The European Court for Human Rights has obliged the Russian Federation to pay 85,000 euros to six relatives of the victims of the mudslide in the city of Tyrnyauz in Kabardino-Balkaria on July 18, 2000.

Attacks on natives from Caucasus and Central Asia in the cities of Russia become more violent. It was stated by the participants of the press conference "Xenophobic Moods in Russian Youth Take Form of Epidemic", held today, on the All-European Day against Racism, at the Independent Press Centre in Moscow.

An hour before his own murder, Chairman of the State Television and Radio Company "Dagestan" Gaji Abashilov spoke about the journalist of Channel One Ilyas Shurpaev who was killed in Moscow.

In Yerevan, an action in memory of those who perished in the collision between peaceful demonstrators and power agents of Armenia that took place on March 1. Several thousands took part in protest against the violence that was used on that day.

The body of journalist Ilyas Shurpaev was found today in an apartment located in the Veshie Vody Street in Moscow. The neighbours saw a smoke coming out of the flat and called firemen who found the body inside.

The aim of the power agents of Ingushetia who shot dead Rustam Mutsolgov on March 12 in Troitskaya village was to liquidate and not to capture the young man.

Today, the Pravoberezhny Court of North Ossetia held a hearing on charges against the North-Ossetian NGO "Voice of Beslan" of extremism. The Court has ruled to examine the information materials of the "Voice of Beslan".

On March 19, the Krasnodar Territorial Court ruled to leave four ex-fighters of Sochi OMON (Special Militia) behind bars. The fighters are accused of mass beating of tourists in children's camp "Druzhba" (Friendship).

The KGB (Committee for State Security) of South Ossetia denies the information disseminated by Russian and Georgian mass media that its officials had searched representatives of the OSCE and United Nations when the latter tried to survey the reserved garbage dump located in the southern suburb of Tskhinvali within the project on environment protection and confiscated a photo and video cameras from them together with filmed materials, but then returned everything back.

At the preliminary hearing at the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria on the case about the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005, the officials of the Investigatory Committee have refused to initiate a criminal case on the fact of using tortures against the defendants.

The community of Gyumri, the second-largest city of Armenia, as well as people from other cities and villages of the country, are raising money to pay the penalty awarded to the Gyumri-based GALA TV Company by the Administrative Court.

The European Court for Human Rights has found the guilt of the authorities of Russia of violent disappearance of two brothers Azievs in 2000 in Chechnya.

The hunger strike held by the opposition will continue till the parliamentary elections in Georgia. Georgiy Gachechiladze, leader of the Party "Greens to Georgia" told about it to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On March 19, the Military Prosecutor's Office of North Ossetia continued the hearing of the case of soldier Darkhan Seitmagambetov who knocked a woman down to death in November 2007 when he was driving his ATC-80 (Armoured Troop Carrier).

At the preliminary hearing of the criminal case initiated in relation to the attack on the city of Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, the defendants and their advocates expressed doubts of the objectivity of the jury.