News

The European Court for Human Rights has recognized that Ruslan Alihadjiev, Speaker of Chechen Parliament, was kidnapped by Russian authorities and became "a victim of violent disappearance."

On July 4, the Lefortovo Court of Moscow made a decision to extend till October 8 the arrest term of three Chechnya natives (Umar Batukaev, Ruslan Musaev and Lors Khamiev), accused of preparing a terror act in the Russian capital on the Victory Day.

Ovik Arsenyan, advocate of Alexander Arzumanian, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, has filed a petition to the Appeal Court claiming to appeal against the first instance court's decision on extension by two months the ex-Minister's custody term.

Some 700,000 Azerbaijanis, who have received, after 1994, the status of internally displaced persons in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, are facing serious discrimination and segregation in Azerbaijan.

On July 4, the State Duma approved in the second reading amendments to the Law "On Counteracting Extremist Activities," to the Criminal Code and a number of other legislative acts.

On July 4, hundreds of local residents rallied in Manaskent village (Dagestan) with the demand to hold an objective investigation and punish those guilty of murdering local resident Kamil Chamsudinov.

The 2014 Winter Olympic Games will take place in the city of Sochi. It was announced in Guatemala at the session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Moscow City Prosecutor's Office has found no excess of official powers by militiamen at dispersal of the "Disagreement March" on April 14, and refused to initiate any criminal cases.

The Ministry of National Security (MNS) of Azerbaijan has presented two charges to Einullah Fatullaev, editor of the newspaper "Real Azerbaijan," under Articles 214 (1) and 283 (2.2) of the Criminal Code.

On July 3, an authorized picket against Sochi Olympics was held in the Triumphal Square of Moscow under the slogan "Sochi will win - nature and people will lose!"

Iranian mass media have again published offensive materials against ethnic Azerbaijanis. Currently the Iranian TV is spinning up a social advertising campaign with an obvious attempt to show the backwardness of Azerbaijanis and, on the contrary, the superiority of Persians.

In connection with the annual ascent to Fortress Bazz, located in South Azerbaijan (region in northwest of Iran), the police detained most of the participants of the march.

The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today about the health and well-being of Boris Stomakhin, editor of the small Moscow monthly Radikalnaya Politika (Radical Politics), who has been imprisoned for the past 15 months.

The relatives of the victims of the Beslan terror act have applied for help to the European Court. The applications were signed by 89 victims.

On June 29, 2007, the network of the Civil Society "Refugees and International Law" sent the first package with Azerbaijani refugees' petitions, addressed to the authorities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), to the NKR President.

In the morning on July 3, at its extraordinary session, the National Assembly of Armenia failed to vote on the bill of amendments to the current laws "On Television and Radio" and "On State Duties."

The Swiss Zurich canton court has cut the prison term for Vitaly Kaloev, a Russian citizen and resident of North Ossetia, down to 5 years and three months.

Roman Belan, advocate of Andrei Keilin, a native of Cherkessk, 20, detained on suspicion of murdering two Stavropol students, has addressed the Ombudsman for the Stavropol Territory Alexei Selyukov with a complaint against illegal, in the opinion of the defence, arrest and detention of his client.

In Chechnya, mass burials can keep remains of more than three thousand persons, both peaceful citizens and Russian servicemen.

The Elborus District Court of Kabardino-Balkaria passed a verdict of guilty to three employees of the Elborus District Interior Department (ROVD) for abuse of their official powers.