News

Seven families were evicted from the Temporary Accommodation Centre (TAC) of forced migrants located in the Leninskiy District of Grozny. They have neither housing facilities nor opportunities to rent such.

On October 6, on the eve of the second anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya's murder, the conference hall of the International Society "Memorial" hosted a party in memory of the journalist. The hall was packed. Anna's big portrait was decorated by three roses - two red and a white ones, as if she was still alive. The organizers of the event were the Society "Memorial" and the "Caucasian Knot".

In Makhachkala, former participants of warfare in Afghanistan have gone on hunger strike demanding that the authorities of the Republic pay attention to their housing problems.

Russia has achieved pre-schedule removal of all peacekeeping observation posts from the southern border of South-Ossetian safety zone, said General-Major Marat Kulakhmetov, commander of the peacekeeping forces in the Georgian-South-Ossetian conflict zone.

Today, Ella Kesaeva, co-chair of the All-Russian Public Organization "Voice of Beslan", has returned from Warsaw, where she presented the report named "Methods of Fighting Terrorism" and 2600 signatures in support of international investigation of the Beslan terror act, which were gathered during the mourning actions on the 4th anniversary of the tragedy in School No. 1.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Ingushetia has no information about any accusations presented to Ibragim Evloev, head of the guard of the Minister of Internal Affairs, in connection with the death of Magomed Evloev, owner of an oppositional website "Ingushetia.Ru" (now "Ingushetia.Org"), as reported by a spokesman of the MIA's press service.

The newly elected Parliament of Belarus can consider the request to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia should they send official references to this end, said Vasily Khrol, Deputy State Secretary and a member of standing committee of the Union State, today in the press conference.

Russia and a number of foreign countries held actions in memory of Anna Politkovskaya. Thousands of people have paid tribute to the assassinated journalist of "Novaya Gazeta".

Today, with the help of the Department for Emergencies (DfE), seven citizens of Georgia, Russian nationals, who had been forced to quit their homes because of oppressions from law enforcement bodies and local residents, were transited to Russia via Abkhazia.

On October 8, the Administrative Court partially satisfied the claim of the Armenian National Congress (ANC), which had challenged the decision of the Yerevan City Mayoralty to ban the rally of the opposition in Northern Avenue of Yerevan on October 17. The opposition was offered to hold their rally in the square that adjoins the building of the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenadaran).

To guarantee the observance of their economic interests, Turkey and Azerbaijan want to demand to return real autonomy to Adzharia, grant special status to Azeri minority of Kvemo-Kartli region and repatriate Meskhetian Turks to Georgia.

Today, at a session of Sabail District Court of the capital of Azerbaijan, Emil Mamedov, son of Novruzali Mamedov, head of the Talysh Culture Centre, convicted for espionage in favour of Iran, was released.

On October 8, Russia will start withdrawing its peacekeeping posts from the southern border of South-Ossetian safety zone. The process will take about 24 hours, as General-Major Marat Kulakhmetov, commander of peacekeeping forces, said today.

On the night of October 6, five explosions took place in Pakhulani village, Tsalendzhikh District of Georgia. The authorities of Abkhazia have rejected the messages of Georgian media about their involvement in these incidents.

A picket in memory of Anna Politkovskaya will take place today in St-Petersburg, despite the prohibition of city authorities, assert the organizers of the action - members of the Petersburg branch of the "Yabloko" Party.

The European Court for Human Rights (ECtHR) is literally swamped with complaints from residents of South Ossetia, which deal with the lawlessness of Georgian authorities towards them, said Jean-Paul Costa, Chairman of the ECtHR.

A group of opposition parties of Georgia has passed a joint memorandum on work of mass media. Among other things, the opposition demands holding debates live on air.

The Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus believes that Gazprom, while trying to whitewash "the honest name of the company", is confusing the public. In the opinion of ecologists, "Gazprom is illegally building Olympic object 'Refuge No. 1' in the Psekhako Site" in the territory of the Sochi National Park.

Today, the Sabail District Court of the capital of Azerbaijan has considered the claim of the "Abu-Bekr" religious community lodged against the State Committee for Work with Religious Formations with a demand to cancel the decision to close the Mosque. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by community's advocate Dzhavanshir Suleimanov.

The Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria has rejected the petition of the prosecution asking to change the territorial jurisdiction of the criminal case on the events on October 13, 2005. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by advocate Elizabeth Shak.