News

The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and the Institute of Media's Rights (IMR) have made a joint statement today, where they resolutely condemned the utterances of Azerbaijani officials that broadcasting of foreign companies in FM-frequencies will not be restored.

In the southwest of Chechnya, in its Urus-Martan District, unidentified persons shelled the house of an employee of the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). Besides, a fougasse was planted opposite the house.

Evgeniy Titov, a journalist of the "Novaya Gazeta", complains that the militia makes no checks on his application about the insults sent to him as SMS messages from the telephone number of the director of a Novorossisk school; Mr Titov had a talk with him, when he prepared the material about the opponents of the "children's curfew".

The European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) has accepted to consideration the complaint lodged on behalf of the "Bzhni" Mineral Water Factory, belonging to the oppositional activist Khachatur Sukiasyan, against the Republic of Armenia. The claimant demands compensation of 220 million euros for damage caused to the company.

Today, a process on the case of military expert Vakhtang Maisaya, accused of espionage, started in the capital of Georgia.

Bosses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan want to dismiss Sirazutdin Ragimov, commander of the battalion of the patrol-sentry service (PSS) of Derbent and his deputy for work with personnel Andrei Basinskikh, as reported by the militiamen of the battalion.

The Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation reports that on the murder case of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist of the "Novaya Gazeta", brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, who had been acquitted by the jury, signed recognizance not to leave.

Scandalous post-election events in southern regions of Russia; a new figurant in journalist Anna Politkovskaya's murder case; continuation of Chechen President's litigation against human rights defenders; a mess around statements of Michael McFaul, President Obama's senior adviser for democracy and Russia on development of Russian-American relations, - look up these and other events in the review of the week of October 12-18 in the Caucasian regions prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

As a result of complaints and requests to the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) about application of urgent measures under Rules 39-41 of the ECtHR, Russian human rights activists managed to prevent a number of complete disappearances or murders of the persons kidnapped in Chechnya and Dagestan; three of them are already at large.

The investigation into the murder case of the Chechen human rights defender Natalia Estemirova has seen an essential progress and is "on the brink of solving." This was stated today by Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation, at the celebratory conference, dedicated to the 55th anniversary of criminalistic service in the prosecution bodies.

The Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF) calls the authorities of Georgia to stop the unfair trial and restore all the rights of the Armenian activist Dzhavakhk Vaagn Chakhalyan. The Tbilisi Court will consider the appeal against the verdict to the activist prescribing ten years of imprisonment.

Last night, the DDoS-attacks (Distributed Denial of Service attack), which continued during the last two months on the website of the Ingush opposition "Ingushetia.Org", reached its maximum; therefore the whole day today, as reported by the leader of the Ingush opposition Magomed Khazbiev, the work of the resource was paralysed, despite strong protection and permanent work of the website programmers.

In the voting day in Nazran, on October 11, Magomed Khazbiev, leader of Ingush opposition, detected and registered the facts evidencing that some other person cast votes instead of his family members. According to his story, similar situations could be observed in many settlements of Ingushetia.

Activists of the Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus are writing a letter to Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB, with complaints against the actions of the FSB frontier guards, who had detained ecologists for breaking the frontier regime. This was reported by Suren Gazaryan, member of the Board of the Ecological Watch.

Today, the Committee in Defence of Political Prisoners and Persecuted Persons of Armenia has addressed its open letter to Presidents of Russia, USA and France, where it accuses the leaders of these countries of an immoral deal with the authorities of Armenia.

One of the consequences of the murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Chechen office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", committed on July 15, 2009, which aroused a broad public resonance in Russia and abroad, was the litigation under the claim lodged by President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov against Oleg Orlov, head of the HRC "Memorial", who had stated Kadyrov's guilt in Estemirova's murder. The "Caucasian Knot" follows the course of events and offers its readers the chronicle thereof.

On the International day of the Black Sea to be marked on October 31, a demonstration is planned in Novorossisk under the slogan "Nuclear-free status - to the Black Sea!" As explained by Vadim Karastelyov, expert of the Novorossisk Committee on Human Rights, who has submitted an application on the action to the Mayoralty, such status means a ban not only on nuclear weapon, but also on transportation of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) across the sea waters.

Tamerlan Dzudtsov, Minister of Culture of South Ossetia, said that in 2010 the republic will start making its own feature films.

On October 16, an operation under the conventional title "Automobile" started in the republic. Law enforcers stop cars with excessive glass tinting.

On October 16, Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation, said that the murder case of the observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" will be solved.