News

The words of Chechen President that the prominent human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, who was kidnapped and murdered on July 15, "had never had honour, dignity and conscience," pronounced by Ramzan Kadyrov on air of Radio Liberty on August 8, caused resolute criticism among members of local NGOs. Some of them perceive this statement as scoffing at the memory of the victim, others - as a warning to all those who try to oppose the ruling power.

A museum of genocide opened in Tskhenval today. Its exhibits include photographs of victims in August 2008, pictures of the war, fragments of exploded shells.

Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili has announced that he is prepared to sacrifice "the parts of his body for which Vladimir Putin hunts" in order to restore the territorial integrity of his country and return South Ossetia and Abkhazia to Georgia.

The first enlarged session of the Georgian Security Council was held at the presidential palace on August 6. Members of the parliamentary and non-parliamentary opposition took part in the sitting along with the full members of the Council. A meeting of opposition leaders with heads of power authorities is planned on August 12.

Special investigation service in Armenia has completed investigating the case of Nikol Pashinian, chief editor of the "Aikakan Zhamanak" ("Armenian Time") newspaper and opposition activist. He is charged with organizing mass disorders and violence with regard to representatives of the authorities.

Trade pavilions at the local market of the Ingushetia town of Karabulak were bombarded from grenade launchers by unidentified persons on the night of August 8.

Today, August 8, is one-year anniversary of the start of war actions in South Ossetia which turned into a conflict between Georgia and Russia. The anniversary of the 2008 war is marked by Russia and Georgia by mutual accusations of unleashing the last-year armed conflict and of new provocations. An obvious growth of tension is also observed in the relations between Georgia and South Ossetia.

The European Court on Human Rights in Strasburg will soon consider on its merits the complaint on the case of murder of Anna Politkovskaya, observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper, states Karina Moskalenko, lawyer of the deceased journalist's children, at the today's press-conference.

Virtually all people who left South Ossetia during the last August events have returned, however, many of those who lost their houses at the time are living under very hard conditions now, while the construction of new housing is done very slowly and many people are dissatisfied with its quality, tells Inga Kochiyeva, resident of Tskhinval and correspondent of South Ossetia newspaper "Respublica", to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The victims in the case of murder of Magomed Evloyev, owner of the sight "Ingushetia.RU", intend to withdraw from the judicial process, states Musa Pliyev, the Evloyev's family lawyer. The lawyer is sure that the injured party will be right to boycott the trial which, according to Pliyev, more resembles a farce.

On August 7, Yuri Tanayev, South Ossetia Minister of Defense, announced that five citizens of Georgia had been detained for illegal crossing the border in the area of Ossetia village of Disev located in front of the Georgian village of Koshka. In its turn, Georgia claims kidnapping of five shepherds near the village of Koshka.

The information on building up the military potential in Georgia is just propaganda, Georgia has virtually no army, it is demoralized, says Pata Zakareishvili, Georgian political scientist, to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The first court session on the case of attempt on Sulim Yamadayev, Hero of Russia, ex-commander of GRU special-purpose battalion "Vostok", committed on March 28 this year in the United Arab Emirates, is to be held in the criminal court of Dubai on August 31. Makhdi Lorniya, personal groom of Ramzan Kadyrov, citizen of Iran, and resident of Tadzhikistan Maksudzhon Ismatov will be tried.

Today, Moscow's military district court has dismissed the petition of relatives of Anna Politkovskaya to return the case of murder of the journalist to the prosecutor' s office.

The new process of Georgian militarization has acquired a more intensive rate than before its intrusion into South Ossetia in August 2008. This is said in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia disseminated today in connection with the anniversary of the Georgian aggression against South Ossetia.

On August 5, court bailiffs evicted nine families of refugees from a dormitory in Malgobek, Ingushetia, in which they had lived. No reasons for such forced eviction are known.

Representatives of power authorities in Chechnya have used threats to prohibit the editor of Urus-Martan district newspaper "Marsho" the printing of critical articles about the deceased patriarch Alexi II and South Ossetia president Eduard Kokoity. This has been relayed to the Human rights center "Memorial" by Said Khozhaliyev, the newspaper chief editor.

Roza Malsagova, chief editor of the site "Ingishetia. Org", who has been living in Paris from 2008, says that she resigns in connection with threats coming from militants to her address.

One of the most terrible provocations by the Georgian armed forces in the last-year conflict in South Ossetia was the fact when a Georgian fighter Su-25 with painted identification marks of Russian Air Force shot at the column of refugees driving from Tskhinval, and on the following day the same fighter shot at the column of Russian soldiers, stated colonel-general Anatoli Nogovitsin, deputy-chief of General Headquarters of the RF Armed Forces.

Agasif Shakiroglu, head of youth coalition "Khadaf", released from custody by the decision of the court of appeal, was called to the army in the evening of the same day.