News

Later this week, on September 30, the Supreme Court of Dagestan plans to pass its verdict on the case of Mukhtar Agaev, officer of the Dagestan Department of the Federal Service of the Russian Federation on Drug Circulation, accused of forming an IAF and an attempt on Shamil Isaev, a deputy of the National Assembly of Dagestan. The defendant will be given his last plea on September 29.

With advent of Ramzan Kadyrov to power in Chechnya, words of human rights activists, even void of criticism, are rejected. This was stated by Svetlana Gannushkina, chair of the Committee for Civil Assistance, speaking as witness on September 25 at the Tver Court of Moscow at the court session on Ramzan Kadyrov's claim against head of the HRC "Memorial" Oleg Orlov.

Progress in investigating the murder of ex-Deputy of Russian State Duma Ruslan Yamadaev; news events in litigation of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov against the head of the HRC "Memorial" Oleg Orlov; information leak from the Commission of the EU for investigating the circumstances of the August 2008 military conflict in the Caucasus and results of Georgia's negotiations with Abkhazian and South-Ossetian parties, - look up these and other events in the review of the week of September 21-27 in the Caucasian regions prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

The Russian authorities have failed to enforce the decisions of the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) on more than 30 cases of Chechnya residents, runs the report of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) published on September 27.

Today, there is a real opportunity to return all the Ingushes from the Prigorodny District back to their houses, as stated by President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov, who explained his attitude to the problem of this district - a part of North Ossetia.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Chechnya have reported that the two young men, suspected of participating in the armed underground, who were killed yesterday, on September 27, in the Shatoy District, were second-year students at two leading higher schools of the republic.

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov offered employees of the HRC "Memorial" not to cover violations of human rights in media, but notify the head of Chechnya in private order. This was stated by Soer Belassen, President of the International Federation on Human Rights (FIDH), in her exclusive interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent; she was present on September 25 at the trial on Kadyrov's claim against head of the HRC Oleg Orlov.

Ramzan Kadyrov's interview to the newspaper "Zavtra" (Tomorrow) of September 24, in which he poured his criticism on upon the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", having accused it of "undermining Russia" and its employees - of absence of patriotism, has seriously worried activists of local NGOs. In the opinion of some of them, such statements just escalate tension and can lead to most negative consequences.

Today in Georgia, the members of the oppositional movement "November 7" have held a protest action against the early relief of four policemen, who in January 2006 beat bank employee Sandro Girgvliani to death.

Since this July, in Chechnya, human rights activists have registered about 30 arsons of houses of relatives of those, who were blamed as militants' helpers. It is more and more difficult to register such arsons as victims are too frightened to complain, as Tatiana Lokshina, deputy head of the Moscow bureau of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in her conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Ali Artamov, head of the village administration of Stary Achkhoy, and his son Anzor, who worked as his father's security, have been murdered in Chechnya.

The refusal of opposition parties of Georgia to take part in elections does not strengthen, but only weakens the political force of the opposition, political scientist Soso Tsintsadze said in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

One of the eyewitnesses of the special operation in Makhachkala on September 24 asserts that an innocent peaceful resident was killed in it and later announced to be a militant. Kurban Magomedov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that his nephew, Alikhan Dinov, 26, occasionally happened to be there and got into the skirmish.

In Tbilisi, the street traders, who worked in the territory adjoining the "Dynamo" stadium, sent a letter to Vano Merabishvili, Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, calling him to stop oppressions.

The city-resort Sochi has long-term experience of receiving guests, but by Olympic Games-2014 it will have to reach the European level of rendering of services, Anatoly Pakhomov, Sochi Mayor, said in the context of the 8th International Investment Forum "Sochi-2009".

Today, the Maikop District of Adygea hosts the traditional Dakhov commemoration of the Cossacks who perished in the years of civil war.

Next week, the parliament of Georgia will consider the issue of boycott of the Sochi Olympiad. Georgian Olympians will be also invited to the session.

After the States' refusal to deploy their ballistic missile defence system in Eastern Europe, the joint Russian-American use of the Gabal Radar Station in Azerbaijan is an alternative scenario, but, generally speaking, neither country in fact needs the station. This is the opinion of Azerbaijani political scientist Vafa Guluzade, former state adviser on foreign policy.

Georgia will simplify the procedure for obtaining dual citizenship for its compatriots from abroad, President Mikhail Saakashvili promised in New York on September 23 while present at a charitable concert, organized to raise money for buying a building for the St Nino Georgian Church.

Merab Chigoev, deputy plenipotentiary representative of President of South Ossetia for post-conflict settlement, finds the last meeting on incident-prevention, held on September 24 in Ergneti village, Gori District, in the Georgian-South-Ossetian border, fruitless.