News

Today, the Mission of the Office of Democratic Institutes and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE has published its progress report on situation in Azerbaijan on the eve of the presidential election appointed on October 15.

Rosa Malsagova, editor-in-chief of the oppositional website "Ingushetia.Ru", has declared that she will not delete from her website the list of thirteen names, who had been, in the opinion of Magomed Evloev's relatives, the customers and direct performers of murdering the former owner of the web resource.

On September 23, speaking from the rostrum of the United Nations, President of France Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the Russia's decision to unilaterally recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

In the centre of Moscow, Ruslan Yamadaev, ex-deputy of Russian State Duma, was assassinated, not his brother Sulim Yamadaev, former commander of the "Vostok" battalion deployed in Chechnya, as reported earlier. The news was announced by Valery Gribakin, head of the PR Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Russia.

In Chechnya, on September 23, the Grozny Garrison Military Court started considering the civil suits lodged by former militaries of the special-purpose battalion "Vostok" (East) of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation against their early dismissal from military service.

A threat of religious extremism will always endanger Azerbaijan, unless the country establishes genuine democracy, asserts Arif Yunus, head of the Department of Conflictology and Migration of the Institute of Peace and Democracy.

In Abkhazia, yesterday, on September 22, Nika Dzhalagoniya, 15, a resident of village Bargyab, Gali District, returned home. He was thought to be kidnapped.

Liudmila Alekseeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, believes that Ingush authorities are terrorizing their population in the manner of Stalin's repressions of 1937. She said it in the press conference on September 22 in the Independent Press Centre in Moscow on the results of her visit to this North Caucasian republic.

Democratic candidate to the position of US President Barack Obama has recognized, in his message on the occasion of the Day of Independence of Armenia on September 21, the fact of genocide of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during World War I.

The Georgian party is still keeping six Ossetians captured during the August 7-13 war in South Ossetia. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by David Sanakoev, Ombudsman under President of the Republic of South Ossetia.

The Centre in Defence of Refugees' and Forced Migrants' Rights of Azerbaijan wants to organize independent public tribunal on Khodzhaly tragedy.

Russia experiences growth of racist spirits, believes Michael Had, member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). While presenting the ECRI's report for the Russian Federation, Mr Had has noted that as a whole, the public opinion in relation to national minorities in Russia has worsened.

Human Rights Watch asserts that the situation of anarchy in the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict zone promotes attacks and the atmosphere of fear, therefore, the mandate of the European Union's mission should assume defence of civilians.

The Prosecutor's Office of Dagestan has sent a supervisory presentation to the Presidium of the Republic's Supreme Court concerning cancellation of judgements passed on the criminal case against Rizvan Rizvanov, Director General of the enterprise-founder of the weekly named "Nastoyascheye Vremya" (Present Time).

Safarbey Mikanba, General Public Prosecutor of Abkhazia, has treated the utterances of Nikoloz Gvaramiya, Georgian Minister of Justice, that his Ministry was gathering materials for initiation of criminal cases against leaders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia Sergey Bagapsh and Eduard Kokoity, to be groundless and cheap politics.

The virgin nature of the Caucasian Reserve is not only is built up with objects that are absolutely alien to it, but is also gradually transformed into a closed zone. This is the conclusion of tourist and nature amateur Gennady Klyon, who headed a group of Moscow tourists and was careless enough to approach the Moon Meadow in Adygea.

The annual report of the US Department of State on the situation with religious freedom in the world, published in the end to the last week, says in the section on Azerbaijan that the Constitution and the laws of the country guarantee the freedom of religion, however, there are certain "restrictions" in registration and "selective prosecution".

Today, as a result of bombardment, three civilians were killed in the Altiev Municipal District of the city of Nazran in Ingushetia.

The bill of particulars on the case about murdering Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 has been sent to Deputy General Public Prosecutor for approval. Three persons are accused of murdering the journalist.

Today in the morning, in Zugdidi District of Georgia, two policemen were wounded as a result of a mine explosion on the bridge near Khurcha village.