News

In the nearest months some four thousand citizens of Georgia will be sent away from Poland. Georgian officials admit that their fellow citizens has mostly crossed the Belarusian-Polish border illegally; and then addressed Polish authorities for political asylum.

On January 30, the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the St Sargis Day - the patron of all people in love. All the churches named after this Saint held celebratory liturgies.

President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev hopes that already this year the "extraordinary high" level of corruption in Northern Caucasus will be lowered. He made such statement on January 28 at the enlarged sitting of the board of the FSB (Federal Security Bureau).

Nikolai Ukraintsev, advocate of former militia major from Novorossisk Alexei Dymovskiy, believes that the criminal case initiated against his client is an act of revenge undertaken by his former bosses. His other advocate - Sergey Gubar - notes that the searches now conducted in Dymovskiy's house have the aim "to dig out something serious", as the today's indictment is "very weak". The Novorossisk UVD (Interior Department) refutes these statements.

Today, the Tbilisi City Court has sentenced political scientist Vakhtang Maisaya to 20 years of imprisonment for espionage in favour of Russia.

By the outcomes of 2009, Russia is in the first place by the number of claims submitted against its government and pending consideration at the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR). This was reported by Jean-Paul Costa, the Chairman of the Strasbourg Court.

The Prosecutor's Office of the Stavropol Territory has initiated a criminal case on the fact of chilblain received by schoolchildren in the course of their sport training session.

One employee of the criminal inquiry unit of the Gali District Interior Division was lost and his four colleagues were wounded as a result of a terror act committed today in the village of Chuburkhindzh, Gali District. Besides, two civilians were killed and three wounded.

The statement of President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov about Boris Berezovsky's involvement in the murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" caused bewilderment in Natalia's friends and colleagues.

The Investigatory Department for St Petersburg of the ICPO has initiated a criminal case under the article of "murder of two and more persons" in connection with disappearance in this city of four natives of Ingushetia, relatives of the widow of Maksharip Aushev, a human rights activist, who was shot dead last October.

More than 50,000 residents of the capital of Dagestan remain without heat and water for the fifth day already. Electricity is also cut off all the time. The authorities and municipal services are unable to remedy the situation, and residents have started their protest action.

The reason of the armed incident in one of military units of Azerbaijan, where six servicemen were killed and two more wounded, is in impunity for hazing and non-manual relation in the army. This was stated by retired colonel-lieutenant and former employee of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Uzeir Dzhafarov.

Certain details of murder of Arthur and Yusuf Khazhaliev committed on January 28 in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) have become known. The Investigatory Division for the city of Nalchik of the Investigatory Department for the KBR of the ICPO (Investigatory Committee under the Prosecutor's Office) of the Russian Federation has initiated a criminal case under the articles of "murder" and " illegal circulation of firearms".

On February 12, Ella Kesaeva, head of the All-Russian Public Organization "Voice of Beslan", and Irina Khalai, head of the Volgodonsk public organization of terror victims, will go to Spain to take part in the congress of terror victims. Ms Kesaeva is going to suggest there to make the Movement "For Status of Terror Victims" international.

Activist of the opposition Mkrtich Sapeyan was welcomed by his relatives and colleagues, including former political prisoners, when he was released from the prison hospital after expiry of his term.

Creation of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) in Russia and appointment of Alexander Khloponin as President's plenipotentiary in the District; reaction of regional authorities and the public to this news; political storms in Derbent, Dagestan; verdict to Armenian oppositionist Nikol Pashinyan, - look up these and other events in the review of the week of January 18-24, 2010, in Caucasian regions prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

The public organization "Adyge Khasse" has sent a letter to President of Adygea Aslan Tkhakushinov in connection with the incident, when militia stopped the national dance Adyge Dzhegu in the central square of Maikop on the New Year night. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Arambi Khapai, leader of the organization.

Today the Supreme Court of Dagestan rejected the petition lodged by candidates for Mayor of Derbent Elkhan Kazimov, Salikh Ramazanov and voter Shakhban Gapizov to appoint the election on March 14, 2010.

Southern Caucasus sees a deficit of economic development. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has learnt about it from Wolfgang Ion, head of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Germany) for Southern Caucasus, which was one of the organizers of the seminar "New Economic Thinking", held in Armenia.

Today, at the session of the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria on the criminal case about the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005, defendant Ahmed Khupsergenov felt bad.