News

The convicted resident of Dagestan Sultan Umashev is tortured in a colony of the Kirov Region and forced to confess of committing terror acts under orders of Zakaev and Berezovskiy; this was reported by a former prisoner, who served his term in this colony up to the end of 2008.

The congress of forced migrants from Chechnya living in Ingushetia to be held in Nazran on June 1 was cancelled. On May 7, this decision was announced by Aslambek Apaev, one of the organizers, expert of the Moscow Helsinki Group for Northern Caucasus and Chairman of the Committee in Defence of Forced Migrants' Rights.

The indictment against three operative agents of the Leninskiy RUVD (District Interior Department) of the city of Saratov, accused of murdering Armen Gasparyan, a citizen of Armenia, in October 2008, has been approved.

President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov has taken the investigation into the fire-fight that resulted in loss of his security and a civilian under his personal control. On April 29, Mr Evkurov was present at the casualties' funerals.

As a result of clashes in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in the evening on May 6, main traumas in the victims were caused by shots of special pistols and guns using traumatic bullets. This was stated by Soso Panuashvili, representative of the organization named "Human Rights" in Tbilisi.

The fact-finding group about the events on March 1, 2008, in Yerevan believes that the materials of the criminal case dealing with death of police officer Hamlet Tadevosyan have obvious contradictions and violations of the law. In particular, repeated complex technical and medical examinations are required with participation of international experts.

North Ossetia is developing a programme named "Wastes". The document will suggest a complex of measures to solve the problem of solid domestic wastes (SDW), starting from collection, transportation, sorting, and up to complete liquidation of wastes. This was reported on May 6 by Taimuraz Mildzikhov, Minister for Environment and Natural Resources.

The criminal case on the attempt on Argishti Kiviryan, coordinator of the Internet edition "Armenia Today", committed at night on May 1, was transferred from the police to the National Security Service (NSS). So far, the official bodies gave no comments on the fact.

In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, Nver Mnatsakyan, master of the information-analytical programme "Erankar" (Perspective) at the "Shant" TV Company, was beaten. The journalist addressed the "Armenia" medical centre, and after receiving medical aid went home.

At night on May 2, one of the villages of the mountainous Vedeno District of the Chechen Republic was shelled by the artillery of the federal forces. As a result of shell explosions, a man was wounded and some households were damaged.

Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, is quiet after yesterday's clash with the police; the opposition has announced a time-out till the evening, as Emil Adelkhanov, deputy chair of the board of the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Today, the session of the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria has made a decision to delay the next session of the trial on the criminal case about the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005, till June 1, 2009. The break is caused by the state of health of three defendants, who need hospitalization, and also with the need for the defendants to get additionally acquainted with the materials of the criminal case.

Russian Constitutional Court refused to consider the complaint lodged by the All-Russian Public Organization "Voice of Beslan", asking to recognize point 2 of Article 14 of the Federal Law contradicting to the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The international organization "Reporters without Borders" (RwB) engaged in defending the freedom of press has allocated material help to satirist Mirza Sakit (Sakit Zakhidov), employee of the newspaper "Azadlyg" (Freedom), who was released from custody on April 9.

Three members of the fact-finding group that was set up to collect information about the events on March 1, 2008, who represented the power and the Ombudsman, have made a decision on temporary suspension of their authorities in the group. This was reported to journalists by Levon Zurabyan and Stepan Safaryan, representatives of oppositional organizations - the Armenian National Congress and the "Heritage" Party.

So far, the Department of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation for Ingushetia has decided not to open a criminal case on illegal detention of Magomed Evloev, former owner of an oppositional website "Ingushetia.Ru" (nowadays - the "Ingushetia.Org"). This was reported by Magomed Gandarov, advocate of Evloev's family.

Last night in Tbilisi, employees of Georgia's MIA detained Giorgiy Oniani, an activist of the radical youth oppositional movement "November 7". He was detained after an incident that took place yesterday in the morning near the building of the Public Television, where a picket of the opposition was held.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Military Commandant's office of the Chechen Republic that by September 1 this year, the Staff of the United Army (Forces) Grouping (UA(F)G) in Northern Caucasus, which acted in the territory of Chechnya, will be disbanded. Instead, a news command structure of the federal forces in Chechnya will be set up.

Ecologists failed to achieve cancellation of construction of two cargo ports in the Imereti Valley of Sochi. Today, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has rejected the claims lodged by the international public organization "Social and Ecological Union" and one Russian citizen, who demanded to stop the construction of the ports, since, in applicants' opinion, it caused damage to nature.

The today's session on the criminal case dealing with attack on Nalchik in October 2005 was cancelled because of defendant Sergey Kaziev's illness.