News

Residents of the capital of North Ossetia continue holding pickets with a demand to close the "Electrozink" factory. Another protest action held on June 9 had only nine participants, as the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

During 22 years of presence in Northern Caucasus, the Internal Troops (IT) of the MIA (MIA) lost 2984 persons as casualties and 9000 more as wounded soldiers. This was stated by Army General Nikolai Rogozhkin, IT Commander-in-Chief, when he spoke to the Operative-Purpose Independent Division.

In Stavropol, lawyer Evsei Osinovskiy, who is defending Aslan Patiev, a native of Ingushetia and a suspect of committing an explosion in central city on May 26, said that his client is at large: the inquiry has no claims against him.

Today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has passed a decision in favour of the religious organization of Jehova's Witnesses in Russia on the case about liquidation of its community in Moscow in March 2004, and obliged the authorities of the Russian Federation to pay 70,000 euros to the applicants.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg has fined Russia by 430,000 euros for kidnapping eight residents of Chechnya in 2001, 2002 and 2005.

The Moscow City Court (MCC) has refused to regard the data published in the book by Vladimir Zhirinovsky "LDPR. Last March to the South" as doubtful or discrediting the Azerbaijanis.

Timbora Kutogov, a resident of the city of Chegem, Kabardino-Balkaria, is trying for two years to punish the doctor, for whose guilt, in father's opinion, his son of 13 had died. Today, by the decision of the public prosecutor, exhumation of the child's body was appointed.

In Malgobek, physicians have confirmed that in the evening on June 8 an ambulance was called to the GUVD (Chief Interior Department) to render emergency aid to detainee Beslan Tsechoev. This was reported by Magomed Khazbiev, head of the organization "Fair Ingushetia" who yesterday visited the GUVD of Malgobek.

On June 8, Vardan Avetisyan, head of the department for supervising application of punishments and other compulsion measures of the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Armenia, addressed his written petition to the head of the corrective establishment (CE) "Nubarashen" asking to recalculate the remaining term of imprisonment of Nikol Pashinyan, editor of the oppositional newspaper "Aikakan Zhamanak".

The refusal of the head of the department of the "Rospotrebnadzor" (Federal Consumer Supervision Service) for Dagestan Eleonora Omarieva to provide journalists with the data on the quality of potable water is a violation of citizens' rights to receive information. This was stated by Natalia Krainova, chief editor of the local weekly "Novoe Delo" (New Business), who addressed her letter to Andrei Nazarov, Public Prosecutor of Dagestan.

In Ingushetia, relatives of Adam and Beslan Tsechoev, who were detained in Sagopshi village on June 8 on suspicion of organizing the explosion in Malgobek, assert that the brothers are tortured by the militia.

A number of youth organizations, which held their protest action on June 8 in Tbilisi under the motto "I'm also Orthodox - arrest me", demanded to release the detained members of the "National Orthodox Movement".

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, today in the Kizlyar District of this republic, where an action was held with a demand to accelerate clearing-out of the fate of local resident Ahmednabi Nazhmutdinov, who disappeared on May 30, a militiaman was wounded and several protesters were detained.

On June 5, the capital of Chechnya saw several incidents, when unidentified persons in camouflage and masks were shooting paintballs from passing cars at the girls who were in the streets without headscarves. Eyewitnesses say that one of the attacked girls was even hospitalized with a heavy trauma.

Eleven teachers of the Astrakhan regional state educational establishment of additional education "Centre of Children's Scientific and Technical Creativity" have gone to a hunger strike. They protest against possible closure of free-of-charge circles for Astrakhan teenagers.

Journalist Einullah Fatullaev, imprisoned in Azerbaijan, has stopped his hunger strike announced on June 2 after he learnt that the President of the country knows about the decision of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) about his release.

The trial goes on at the Pyatigorsk SIZO (pre-trial prison) on the attack committed on the Republic of Ingushetia at night of June 22, 2004. Two out of twelve defendants have lodged complaints to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) claiming violation of their rights and application of torture. New complaints are pending.

Today, in the administration of the Kizlyar District of Dagestan, local bosses met the relatives of Ahmednabi Nazhmudinov, a native of the village of Cherniayevka village, Kizlyar District, who is considered missing since last week. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Zagir Musaev, who was at the meeting.

In North Ossetia, powerful mudslides forced the Mairamadag River to overflow the banks. Traditionally, on weekends plenty of people come to have their rest there; and as reported today by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, two girls and a man were drowned in the river.

Aslan Patiev, a native of Ingushetia and a student of a Stavropol higher school, who was detained in Magas more than a fortnight ago, has not been presented any indictment yet. Now, Patiev is kept in the local SIZO (pre-trial prison). Several days ago the state defender, appointed to him by the investigation, was replaced by advocate Evsei Osinovskiy, who was hired by Patiev's parents.