News

In early February Merab Merkviladze, director and owner of the television company TV-25, had a meeting with Ombudsman of Georgia Georgiy Tugushi and discussed the issue of asking the local Ministry Finance to write-off part of the company's debts, since otherwise the channel might be stopped.

On February 18, in the centre of Cherkessk, the capital of Karachai-Circassia, at the stela of the "Green Island" Park, a mass fight of young people burst out. On the following day it was continued at the building of the Karachai-Circassian State Academy. Eyewitnesses assert that two crowds were fighting - Karachais against Circassians and Abazins. The militia does not deny the fact of fights, which failed to get into incidents report.

The criminal case under the complaint of blackmail submitted by Tedo Dzhobenadze, a journalist of the Batumi-based newspaper "Batumelebi", was initiated by Prosecutor's Office Adzharia on February 18, and is now run by inspector Gela Makharadze. According to Eteri Turadze, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, so far only her and the owner of newspaper Mziya Amaglobeli were interrogated as witnesses.

Nikita Tikhonov, a figurant in the murder case of lawyer Stanislav Markelov, is now incriminated "murder on motives of political and ideological enmity."

More than a month ago, President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov announced another broad-scale special operation against members of the armed underground. The operation zone covers all the mountainous and a number of foothill areas of the republic; however, no serious results in the war on militants have been reported yet.

Kaloy Akhilgov, press secretary of President of the Republic of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov, asserts that he personally knows three out of five attackers. He told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he "knows exactly who and why attacked him."

Today, the sitting of the presidium of the National Assembly of Dagestan made a decision to put approval of Magomed Abdullaev, nominated by President of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov to the post of the chairman of the government, on the agenda of the forthcoming session.

The latest innovations in the legislation of Azerbaijan concerning the work of mass media and NGOs were criticized on February 23 at the roundtable held in the Norwegian House of Human Rights in Baku. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that debates were run by activists of the civil society of Azerbaijan, members of international organizations and foreign human rights defenders.

Visit of delegation of the Human Rights Group of UK Parliament to Chechnya; recall by Ramzan Kadyrov of his claim against journalists and human rights defenders; conflict of ecologists with the agency in charge of preparing Sochi to Olympiad-2014; new strategic agreements of Russia with Abkhazia; explosions in Ingushetia; and inauguration of President of Dagestan, - look up these and other events in the review of the week of February 15-21, 2010, in Caucasian regions prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Grigol Vashadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, has submitted to the embassy of Switzerland, which is representing Russia's interests in Tbilisi, documents confirming his refusal from Russian citizenship.

A criminal case has been opened in Karachai-Circassia on the fact of desecration by unidentified persons of the national sight - Karachai Boulder.

On February 22, Mayor of Vladikavkaz Sergey Dzantiev and officials of the Russian Power Agency discussed a programme draft for saving energy and improving the power efficiency in the capital of North Ossetia. Implementation of its first-order measures will demand about 270 million roubles from the local budget.

A source in law enforcement bodies has reported that Kaloy Akhilgov, press secretary of President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov, was beaten by unknown persons in the territory of a fuelling station in Nazran. Meanwhile, Mr Akhilgov himself denies the fact.

On February 23, the OSCE Mission held a scheduled monitoring in the contact line of armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the Askeran direction.

Today, the government of Georgia calculates the damage caused to the country by the hurricane wind that fell on Eastern Georgia on February 22. The exact estimates of the damage will be known by the evening.

Today, Alexander Khloponin, Plenipotentiary of the newly-formed North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) came to North Ossetia with a working visit. He plans to discuss social and economic issues with the leaders of North Ossetia and visit cultural and educational entities in Vladikavkaz.

The reason has been found why so many residents of the city of Semikarakorsk, Rostov Region, had to go to the central district hospital: pollution of the potable water delivered by the local water line. Now, five persons are still in hospital, 72 more are at home under doctors' supervision.

The Arbitration Court of Paris has appointed on March 22 the next stage of consideration of the case dealing with disconnection by the French TV operator Eutelsat of the Georgian Russian-language TV channel "Caucasian One", where the parties will present their final arguments.

The humanitarian organization International Medical Corpse (IMC) expands the domain of minor business projects in Chechnya. Marking the high level of TB morbidity and other diseases, the activists of the IMC believe that employment of the population will help to combat diseases. This was told by Semyon Rasin, director of the Russian branch of the IMC.

The humanitarian organization International Medical Corps (IMC) has summed up its work in Northern Caucasus in 2009. Doctors note that the region sees growth in tuberculosis (TB) and HIV morbidity, while the treatment-and-prophylactic establishments are in deficit.