News

Every year on October 30, Abkhazia marks the memory of Stalin's victims. According to historians, in 1930-1940s a thousand persons were repressed in Abkhazia, first of all, intellectuals and the political elite.

Ketevan Bekauri, advocate of Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, son of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, has appealed against the two-month pre-trial custody of her trial.

On October 30, the Day of Political Prisoners, Moscow held a rally in defence of victims of political prosecutions in Russia. Despite cold weather, over two hundred persons came to take part in the event. The protesters demanded to immediately release the "prisoners of conscience" and reconsider the cases of all political prisoners.

After the press conference of the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Liudmila Alekseeva, assistant of the President of Ingushetia Musa Pliev and the leader of the Ingush opposition Magomed Khazbiev on the current situation in Ingushetia in the context of the recent murder of Maksharip Aushev, its participants found that they were shadowed.

Georgiy Tugushi, Ombudsman of Georgia, has characterized the situation in the sphere of human rights in the country as grave. This is stated in his first report, for the first half of 2009, placed in the web site of the Ombudsman.

The situation with human rights and persecutions of journalists in Russia has deserved a special report, prepared by the respective profile committee of the United Nations. The results of the work of the experts of the UN Human Rights Committee were reported today in Geneva. Russian law enforcement bodies operating in the Chechen Republic and other subjects of Northern Caucasus were subjected to the sharpest criticism.

Today in Yerevan, on the Day of Political Prisoners, which for the first time was marked in the former USSR 35 years ago, a protest action was held at the building of the State Public Prosecutor's Office with a demand to release the remaining 17 political prisoners.

Today, the Institute on Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) has made a statement, which regards the sudden inspection of the Institute initiated by the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan to be a "start of a new campaign of frank pressure."

Rizvan Abusufyanov, a resident of Shamkhal-Station, Kirov District of Makhachkala, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that his daughter Patimat Abusufyanova, a pupil of the sixth form, was sent away from school today because she is wearing an Islamic headscarf (hijab). Abusufyanov said that school director Patimat Magomedova was behind the incident.

Georgia: court refuses to release Tsotne Gamsakhurdia for the period of investigation

On October 29, a source from law enforcement bodies reported that employees of the Moscow GUVD were searching a teenager of 14, kidnapped from the reception ward of the Morozov Children's Hospital.

Russia has lost three more cases at the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg on the claims lodged by residents of the Chechen Republic and will have to pay 130,000 euros for disappearances in 2000.

Andrei Krasnenkov, advocate of the Chechen leader, has stated that the articles of the "Novaya Gazeta" on the murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov contain slanderous information against President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov.

Today, Moscow will host a press conference on the situation in Ingushetia after the recent Maksharip Aushev's murder with participation of Liudmila Alekseeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Musa Pliev, assistant to the President of Ingushetia, and Magomed Khazbiev, leader of the Ingush opposition.

Zagra Kazimagomedova, a resident of Makhachkala, is afraid that her husband, Murad Salikhov, 24, who disappeared on October 29, can be killed. She told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that she was waiting for the on duty inspector at the Investigatory Department at the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Sovietskiy District of the capital of Dagestan till late at night aiming to serve her petition to him, but he never appeared at his workplace.

Zagra Kazimagomedova, a resident of Makhachkala, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that today her husband Murad Salikhov, 24, who lived in the capital of Dagestan at 55 Akushinskogo Street, disappeared in early evening.

Makhsud Makhloev, who was kidnapped today in the morning in Sleptsovskaya village, Sunzha District of Ingushetia, earlier was detained by militia on suspicion of participating in the attempt on the head of Sunzha ROVD (District Interior Unit); however, 4 months later he was released, and later had no claims from law enforcement bodies. This was reported by Vakha Chapanov, head of the Ingush Information Agency "Maximum".

Journalists of the Georgian TV Company "Imedi" are going to address the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR). According to advocate Liya Mukhashavriya, who is representing journalists' interests, first they will address the State Office of Public Prosecutor of Georgia.

The Tbilisi City Court has accused Tsotne, the son of the first President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, of a murder attempt, illegal purchase, storage and bearing of arms. Ketevan Bekauri, Zviad's advocate, told journalists about it.

In Ingushetia, unidentified persons have kidnapped Mussa Matsievа, head of the centre of specialized communications of the local MIA.