News

In Abkhazia, there is understanding that attitude to national minorities is among basic parameters of a country's development level as a democratic state. This was stated by President of Abkhazia Sergey Bagapsh on February 3 in Sukhumi, in the course of his meeting with Knuth Vollebek, OSCE Supreme Commissioner on National Minorities.

Today, at the court session, where the attack on law enforcement bodies of Nalchik on October 13, 2005, evidences of Mohammed Mirzoev, a lawyer of the Bar of Kabardino-Balkaria, were heard. At the moment of the events, he worked as an operative agent of criminal investigation at the 1st OVD of Nalchik and was engaged in delivering defendants from the investigatory insulator to the UBOP (division for fighting organized crime) for interrogations.

The territorial Fund of Mandatory Medical Insurance (FMMI) of the Chechen Republic has summed up a sociology poll, conducted in 2009 in treatment-and-prophylactic establishments (T&PEs). According to these data, over 60 percent of respondents-hospital patients expressed their satisfaction with the quality of services.

On January 23, Ali Aslanly (Aslanov), a 1st year student of the Russian State Medical University (RSMU), was hospitalized to the in neurosurgery ward of Pirogov Hospital No. 33 in Moscow after he was beaten by his classmates. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has found out that the conflict burst out because of the debate in the Internet of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Militia Major from Novorossisk Alexei Dymovskiy, who placed his video appeal in the Internet with criticism of the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was subsequently accused of a swindle, can now face another criminal case, this time - on charges of drug dealing.

The European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) has demanded from Russia to present the inquiry materials of the criminal case on Islam Umarpashaev, kidnapped in Chechnya, and inform about the course of investigation of other similar cases in the republic.

According to the joint statement of the Baku City Prosecutor's Office and the Central Police Administration of Baku, the inquiry of the criminal case against Einullah Fatullaev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Real Azerbaijan", accused of storing drugs, is near its end.

Today in Nazran, agents of the DFSB for Ingushetia and the STSI (State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of Russia, also known as "GIBDD") are inspecting motor vehicles because a terror threat. In the opinion of Magomed Mutsolgov, a well-known Ingush human rights activist and expert of the office of Russian Ombudsman, who was exposed to such procedure, power agents are exceeding their powers and break the Russian legislation.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia demands immediate release of Malkhaz Akhvlediani, a resident of the Georgian city of Chiatura, who was detained on January 31. According to South-Ossetian power agents, Akhvlediani illegally crossed the border.

The international human rights organization "Norwegian Helsinki Committee" (NHC) has prepared a special report for the Council of Europe (CoE) on violations of human rights in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR) of Azerbaijan. Last week, the report entitled "Azerbaijani 'Black Island': Violations of Human Rights in Nakhichevan" was widespread in Strasbourg at the PACE winter session by the special delegation organized by the "Rafto" Norwegian Foundation.

In his comments on the recent terror acts committed in his republic, President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov has treated the work of power agents and local administrations as very poor.

Instead of the ruined Memorial of Glory, a monument to Georgian soldiers who perished during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (World War II) will be erected on the Poklonnaya Mount in Moscow. This was announced by Mikhail Khubutiya, a member of the Board of Guardians of the future monument, President of the Union of Georgians in Russia, who explained that the decision was made on February 2 at the first sitting of the working group on creation of the monument.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) plans to carry out a project "Minor Hothouse Farms" aimed to help people in Eastern Abkhazia who suffered in 1992-1993 Georgian-Abkhazian war, and to go on building and repairing apartment houses for refugees. Ana Povrzenic, regional manager of the NRC, told about it on February 1 when she met Sergey Shamba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia, in Sukhumi.

Today, a trial of Peter Vince, founder of Andrei Sakharov Prize "For Journalism as a Deed", was held. Among others, editions from the Caucasus and journalists covering Caucasian topics were laureates, finalists and nominees of the Prize. The Moscow City Court has upheld the decision of the district court, which had sanctioned Mr Vince's arrest.

In Moscow, unidentified persons desecrated the improvised memorial installed by anti-fascists in the place, where lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova were assassinated - in the arch of White Chambers in Prechistenka.

Citizen of Egypt Mohmad Mohammad Shakhban, also known as "Safe Islam", who was liquidated in Dagestan, was the founder of the al-Qaeda network in Northern Caucasus and main organizer of the explosion on January 6 in Makhachkala. This was reported by the Department of the FSB (DFSB) for Dagestan.

Today in Sukhumi, Knuth Vollebek, Supreme Commissioner of the OSCE on National Minorities, and Indira Vardaniya, Minister of Education of Abkhazia, discussed the issues of teaching the Georgian language in schools of the Gali District and situation with Armenian schoolchildren.

On February 2, President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity held a working meeting with representatives of subcontracting organizations. This time as well, the agenda comprised the issues of restoration rates and timely financing of construction projects. Mr Kokoity promised to take work-in-progress away from dishonest contractors. City dwellers, in their turn, continue complaining of the quality of erected houses, as well as schools, hospitals and kindergartens; residents of Tskhinvali need the infrastructure same as roofs over their heads.

The results of the blood and urine analyses of Einullah Fatullaev, imprisoned editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Real Azerbaijan", became known in Azerbaijan. In the end of 2009, a new charge of illegal drug storage was presented to him. Isakhan Ashurov, his advocate, treats the analyses results as ambiguous and demands an independent expert's appraisal.

Today, the City Court of Gali released five persons detained on Sunday, January 31, in Saberio village, Gali District of Abkhazia, for illegal crossing the Georgian-Abkhazian border.