News

The British weekly The Economist writes in its special report on Russia that the main reason of instability in the Caucasus is in Russia's colonial methods, which have altered little since the time of General Yermolov.

The process on the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, journalist of the "Novaya Gazeta", has announced a break till 11:00 a.m. on December 2. Apart from two defendants' friends, none of the witnesses has appeared in the courtroom.

Sedredin Kanberov, a new suspect in the murder case of Farid Babaev, Dagestan human rights activist and member of "Yabloko" Party, is in hiding, but his brother Ruzmedin Kanberov, who is an employee of the central machinery of the MIA, exerts pressure on the witnesses, said the casualty's brother Arthur Babaev.

The European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg has accepted for proceedings the complaint lodged by former Minister of Defence of Georgia Irakliy Okruashvili, in which he protests against his arrest and subsequent court verdict.

Under the pretext that Nicaraguan authorities have recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia has broken diplomatic relations with this country.

The Supreme Spiritual Assembly of the Armenian Apostolic Church has expressed concern of recent facts of encroachment on the Armenian churches located in Georgia.

Yesterday, on November 28, President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov visited the refugees from North Ossetia and Chechnya who live in the Republic. The leader was not happy with the conditions, in which they live.

In Chechnya, inspectors have established the person of the young woman murdered today near the village of Enginoy.

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has stated that no traditions can exculpate the murderers of six women in Chechnya.

Irina Meboniya, born in 1926, a resident of Nabakevi village, Gali District of Abkhazia, was kidnapped on the night of November 26 from her own house. The information about kidnapping arrived from her neighbours only today.

Today, the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria continued preliminary hearing on the case about the events on October 13, 2005. In the course of the sitting, the court was presented with motivated challenges of jury candidates lodged by accusation and defence. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent learnt about it from Liza Shak, a defendants' advocate.

Today, a group of employees from the Western diplomatic missions in Baku made a visit to Penitentiary Establishment No. 12, located in Gyuzdek village, to meet Einullah Fatullaev, founder and editor-in-chief of the newspapers "Real Azerbaijan" and "Gyundelik Azerbaijan".

President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili has confirmed his decision to launch the warfare aimed at establishment of control over Tskhinvali. He told this today to the ad hoc parliamentary commission in charge of investigating into the August events.

The General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) suggests to transfer the consideration of the murder case of Magomed Evloev, former owner of the oppositional website "Ingushetia.Ru", who was killed after detention by law enforcers, to some other region, since the future local trial cannot be fair. The respective petition has already been lodged.

The six young women, whose bodies were found in the morning on November 26 in Grozny and Grozny District of Chechnya could be killed as punishment for their immoral behaviour, the investigation assumes.

On November 27, certain Karen Arutyunyan appeared at law enforcement bodies of Armenia and pled guilty of taking part in the attack on the well-known journalist Edik Bagdasaryan. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Sona Truzyan, press secretary of the General Public Prosecutor.

Agvan Ovsepyan, General Public Prosecutor (GPP) of Armenia, has expressed severe criticism of the statements made by Thomas Hammarberg, Supreme Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, about the course of investigation and court decisions made in relation to the events of March 1.

The population of the Akhalgori (Leningori) District of South Ossetia, frightened by Ossetian civil guardsmen, continues leaving for Georgia, while the enclave Georgian villages are completely burnt down. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Tatiana Lokshina, representative of the Human Rights Watch (HRW).

On November 25, in the city of Magas, President of the Republic of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov held a meeting with representatives of a number of NGOs, namely, the "Mashr" Human Rights Organization, Regional Public Movement "Chechen Committee of National Salvation", regional representative office of the HRC "Memorial" and the Associations of Ingushetian Students.

The law enforcement bodies of Chechnya have established the persons of five young women, whose bodies were found on November 26 in Grozny and Grozny District of the Republic. One killed woman is not identified yet. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has learnt about it from a source in the Republic's law enforcement bodies.