News

Yesterday, on January 28, in the evening, Finland hosted a rally in memory of advocate Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasiya Baburova assassinated in January in Moscow. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Salla Pyuyukkonen, one of the organizers of the action and coordinator of the Finnish branch of Amnesty International (AI).

The European Court on Human Rights has ordered Georgia to pay out 6000 euros to Shalva Ramishvili, founder of the TV Company named "202", and David Kokhreidze, Director of the Company, each as compensation of the non-pecuniary damage suffered by them as a result of their "inhuman and humiliating" custody conditions in January 2006. Additional 14,694 euros shall be paid to the journalists to reimburse their expenses. Georgia shall make the payments within three months.

The oppositional parties of Azerbaijan complain of the pressure exerted on the activists who are gathering signatures for the constitutional amendments referendum forthcoming on March 18. The signing-in is conducted for registration of agitation groups for holding legal propaganda against the amendments, which will allow one and the same person to be elected the president of the country for unlimited number of times.

After the non-sanctioned protest rally held yesterday, on January 27, in the central square of the capital of Karachaevo-Circassia, Oleg Babenko, First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Karachaevo-Circassia and Head of Criminal Militia, had a meeting with relatives of businessman Boris Bairamkulov, who was killed in Dombai.

Sergeant of Russian Armed Forces Alexander Glukhov, who ran away from his military unit located in the Akhalgori District and went to Georgia, wants to receive Georgian citizenship and return to Russia.

The youth organization named "Reference Point", which is close to the local branch of "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) in the Astrakhan Region, has held a picket in defence of Lake Baskunchak.

War on corruption should be the priority direction in reforming the system of state administration in Azerbaijan. This is the opinion the experts' polling held by the Centre for Economic and Political Studies on the topic "What reforms should be undertaken in Azerbaijan in the system of state administration and how to increase the efficiency of such reforms?"

Elena Skidan, Minister of Labour and Social Development of the Rostov Region, said that according to the regional law on addressable social help the miners-pensioners who are holding their hunger strike in the city of Zverevo can receive social benefits.

The report of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) on events in South Ossetia does not differ from earlier estimates of western experts and is based on groundless theses, runs the comment of the Department of Information and Press of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Russian Federation, published on Monday, January 26, in the website of the Ministry.

Last year, the President's administration and the Government of Dagestan received about 10,000 applications from residents of the Republic; the majority of them were on housing issues and municipal services.

On February 1, at 3:00 p.m., near the monument to Griboedov ("Chistye Prudy" Metro Station) and in Paris in the square at the Bobourg Centre rallies will be held in memory of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasiya Baburova.

The three suspects of preparing an attempt on President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov have failed to admit their guilt.

In 2008, 42 persons were kidnapped in Chechnya, of them 13 disappeared without any traces. These are the updated monitoring results of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", reported today by Dmitri Grushkin, a member of the Centre's Board, to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The Krasnodar Regional Department of "Rosprirodnadzor" (Russian Agency for Nature Supervision) has found the "Glavpromstroy" Company guilty of felling trees in the territory of the State Reserve "Bolshoi Utrish" near the city of Anapa and imposed administrative penalties for the total sum exceeding 2 million roubles. The Company refuses to agree with this decision.

Brothers Ruslan and Murad Uzhakhov, shot dead on January 24 in the centre of Nazran, were not militants and did not open any response fire; this can be evidenced by eyewitnesses. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Magomed Khazbiev, head of the Organizing Committee of the Ingush Nationwide Rally, and Maksharip Aushev, a member of the Committee.

Last weekend, two local residents were detained by employees of law enforcement bodies of the Chechen Republic as suspects of complicity in illegal armed formations.

Valery Dyakonov, a deputy of the municipal duma of the city of Zverevo, Rostov Region, has stated his readiness to join the miners-pensioners who are holding their hunger strike.

The authorities of Azerbaijan hold open repressions against the members of the "Movement for Republic and Karabakh" and other oppositional organizations, who advocate against amending the Constitution. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that this was the leitmotif of today's extraordinary session of the "Movement for Republic and Karabakh".

The Union of Armenian Public Organizations of Samtskhe-Dzhavakhk and Kvemo Kartli has expressed its support of the two Armenian activists - Grigor Minasyan and Sarkis Akopdzhanyan, - arrested in Georgia, and its readiness to provide advocates for defending the interests of the detainees.

Georgia has resumed the natural gas transit from Russia to South Ossetia which was stopped on the day of starting combat actions on August 8, 2008.