News

Seven investment projects to the total value of 66.8 billion roubles will be presented by Kabardino-Balkaria at the 8th International Investment Forum "Sochi-2009" to be held on September 17-20. This was reported by official sources in the government of the republic.

Zhanna Shamsudinova, a resident of Makhachkala, has stated disappearance of her husband Magomed Sheikhov under strange circumstances. Magomed's relatives suspect that he was kidnapped by power agents.

In Ingushetia, in the vicinity of the villages of Ekazhevo and Gazi-Yurt of the Nazran District of the republic, today the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime was announced at 10:00 a.m. because of a threat of a terrorist attack.

Today early in the morning, in the Tabasaran District of Dagestan, a combat clash burst out, as a result of which four suspected militants were liquidated.

In the city of Beslan, North Ossetia, militiamen have found a package with ammunition and explosive. This was reported by local law enforcement bodies.

The Nazran Republic's Hospital keeps five persons, wounded by the explosion at the post of the Road-Patrol Service (RPS) at the "Kavkaz" Federal Highway.

President of Dagestan Mukhu Aliev called a provocation the statement of the HRC "Memorial" that the republic has illegal prisons and practices extrajudicial executions.

Return of refugees to Abkhazia can lead to new conflicts and bloodshed, and, as a consequence, to a new war both within the republic and between Sukhumi and Tbilisi. This was stated by Sergey Shamba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia in his comments on the resolution draft on situation of the refugees from Abkhazia and to South Ossetia, offered by Georgia and approved by the United Nations.

The state examination, which has recognized the slogan "Freedom is not given - it is taken" to be an extremist one and "undermining the moral principles of the society", and the conclusions of this examination see complete absence of objectivity and numerous rough violations, accompanied by anti-American formulations of the cold-war times," said Vadim Karastelyov, an expert of the "Novorossisk Committee on Human Rights" (NCHR).

The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) believes that the suit of President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov against Oleg Orlov, head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", distracts attention from real investigation of Natalia Estemirova's murder.

Relatives of Ruslan Kostoev who was sentenced for blowing up a bus in the city of Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Territory, object to the court verdict and are going to appeal against it, as Ruslan's mother - Tamara Kostoeva - said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On September 9, one of the republic's TV Channels showed a report with participation of a former member of an illegal armed formation (IAF). The ex-militant told about the panic reigning among the members of the armed underground and called his former comrades-in-arms to come back home.

Under the claim of Zarui Postandzhyan, an MP from the oppositional faction "Heritage" of the National Assembly of Armenia, the police has initiated a criminal case against the newspaper "Free Thinking" under the article of "insulting and compromising a person". The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by Stepan Safaryan, another deputy from the same faction.

The Krasnodar Territorial Department of the Federal Service of Court Marshals (DFSCM) has decided to fight against dishonest parents by using social advertisements. Banners calling to pay the alimonies appeared in the streets of the territorial capital.

President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov intends, with a complete support of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, to repair Ossetian-Ingush relations; according to his version, this should start with addressing the issue of human rights violations. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that Mr Evkurov spoke about it on September 8 at the roundtable in Ingushetia, where a delegation from North Ossetia also took part.

Young Azerbaijan bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Gadjizade will not be imprisoned, as stated by Miklos Harasti, special representative of the OSCE on freedom of the media, after his meeting with Ali Gasanov, head of the public-political division of the Administration of the President of Azerbaijan. According to Mr Harasti, Azerbaijan should stop its widespread practice of persecuting oppositional journalists on forged charges.

Under the amnesty act, passed this June under the initiative of President Serzh Sargsyan, the authorities of Armenia have released 1208 persons from custody in the country's criminal-corrective establishments. This was reported by Alina Engoyan, press secretary of the Cassation Court of Armenia.

The "execution list" compiled by the grouping of "relatives of lost militiamen", which is disseminating leaflets in Dagestan, contains the lawyers involved in the trials on so-called "Wahhabite cases" and the journalists, who covered the problems connected with kidnappings and torture of people, said advocate Bakanai Guseinova.

Sergey Shamba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia, has named the recognition by Venezuela of independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be a significant decision, since it will push, in his opinion, a lot of other countries to similar decisions, as Venezuela is the leader in the Bolivarian Union, which includes several states.

On September 25, the Tver Court of Moscow will start considering the claim lodged by President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov against Oleg Orlov, head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", on defence of his honour, dignity and business reputation.