News

The government of Armenia will provide compensations to the families of the victims of the catastrophe of the Iranian aircraft. This was stated by Gevork Pogosyan, Minister of Labour and Social Matters of Armenia. According to his version, every family will receive 1.5 million drams, or over 4000 US dollars, allotted from the state budget.

Natalia Estemirova's death is of no benefit to authorities of Chechnya. Probably, the human rights defender was assassinated by the people, who wanted to frame up the leaders of Chechnya and Ingushetia. This was stated in a telephone conversation with Oleg Orlov, Board Chair of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", of a person, who presented himself as President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov.

As stated in Rostov-on-Don by Arkadiy Edelev, Russian Deputy Interior Minister, the investigation has four versions of Natalia Estemirova's murder.

Today, a farewell ceremony with human rights defender Natalia Estemirova took place in the centre of Grozny, which brought together about 100 persons - journalists, human rights activists and people whom she helped.

Russian human rights advocates are confident that the series of murders of the people who defend rights of other people can be stopped by removing Ramzan Kadyrov from the post of the President of Chechnya. This viewpoint was expressed by Liudmila Alekseeva, Chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group. In the opinion of Oleg Orlov, Board Chairman of the HRC "Memorial", murders will stop as soon as the authorities cease calling human rights defenders as bandits.

One day before kidnapping and murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the HRC "Memorial", committed on July 15, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent had two telephone conversations with her about the situation with human rights in Chechnya.

The statement of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" that has arrived to the "Caucasian Knot" runs that Ramzan Kadyrov has made the work of human rights activists in Chechnya impossible. Russia is under state terror; those who try to tell the truth and criticize the regime are assassinated; and Natalia Estemirova's murder is also a result of such policy.

A number of Armenian mass media have adopted a joint appeal to Armenian authorities asking to change the freedom restriction measure applied to Nichol Pashinyan, an activist of the opposition and editor-in-chief of the newspaper named "Aikakan Zhamanak" (Armenian Time).

The General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Russia has inspected the situation with legality in Investigatory Detention Facilities Nos. 1 and 2, Corrective Colony No. 6 and Department of the Federal Correction Service (known as FSIN) for the Astrakhan Region. The result was a presentation submitted to FSIN Director on the necessity to eliminate the revealed drawbacks.

Two residents of the mountainous Shatoy District of Chechnya were detained by power agents on July 13 as suspects of complicity to militants. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it at the Republic's MIA.

In the near future, the oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC) will start a special registry for gathering all the information about violations of citizens' constitutional rights and freedoms by Armenian authorities, as announced by Gagik Dzhangiryan, work coordinator of the ANC's Legal Defence Centre and former deputy general public prosecutor and former political prisoner.

Isa Yamadaev has lodged an application to Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian ICPO, asking him to protect him from hired gunmen. He asserts that an attempt on him is being prepared, and the order to kill has already arrived to "very serious killers."

In her last video interview to the "Caucasian Knot", Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the HRC "Memorial", who was shot dead on Wednesday, July 15, expressed her "complete confidence" that the murders of her friends - journalist Anna Politkovskaya and advocate Stanislav Markelov - were committed "upon blessing of those in power." She gave the interview on January 23, at the Ostankino cemetery, the day Markelov was buried there.

According to residents of the Staropromyslovskiy District of Chechen capital, the young man, whom power agents announced as liquidated militant, was earlier kidnapped by them from his apartment in Grozny.

Michael Ezhiev, leader of the NGO named "Human Rights Centre of the Chechen Republic", is shocked by the murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Chechnya. According to Mr Ezhiev, now members of Chechen NGOs are discussing, who could Estemirova intervene with.

In Armenia, Judge Gayane Karakhanyan has satisfied the petition lodged by the National Security Service (NSS) on arresting Vladik Serobyan and Gurgen Kilikyan, who had attempted to kill Argishti Kiviryan, coordinator of the Internet based edition "Armenia Today".

As reported today by Shakhman Akbulatov, head of the Grozny-based office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, Natalia Estemirova, a well-known human rights defender and employee of the "Memorial" office, was found murdered near the village of Gazi-Yurt in Ingushetia.

The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has documented two new cases two new cases in Chechnya in which the homes of families related to suspected insurgents were torched by local law-enforcement officials as well as a public extrajudicial killing of a man suspected of providing food to insurgents.

The Supreme Court of Ingushetia has acquitted Isa Ozdoev, former minister of physical culture, sports and tourism, who was earlier sentenced to three years of minimum security colony for non-targeted spending of more than 14 million roubles of budget money.

The today's five-sided meeting on prevention and investigation of incidents, held in the Gali office of the UN Mission with participation of representatives from Abkhazia, Georgia, Russia, United Nations and European Union was positively assessed by Johan Verbeke, special envoy of UN Secretary General for Georgia, and Hans-Jorg Haber, head of the EU's observation mission in Georgia.