News

On November 9, the Supreme Court of Adygea cancelled the decision of the Maikop City Court made (on October 22) in favour of ecologist Valery Brinikh against the illegal, in his opinion, zoning of the Sochi National Park.

After about a 36-hour suspension, several hours ago Russian TV channels were restored in the cable television network of Tbilisi. Along with that, some of the Georgian channels are still off. This is the case with the "Imedi" (both TV and radio) and "Kavkasia".

The General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has initiated a criminal case on the fact of mass clashes during the opposition meeting in Tbilisi on November 7.

The fate of Louisa Teboeva, a resident of Ekazhevo village (Ingushetia) who disappeared on October 19, is still unknown.

Vitaly Kaloev, a native of North Ossetia, convicted in Switzerland for murdering a "SkyGuide" Company's air traffic controller and released from prison before his term, will return to Russia in the nearest seven or eight days.

Today, the European Court for Human Rights has recognized the investigation of the application on tortures in Chechnya filed by Suleiman Medov, former resident of Grozny, to be inefficient. The Russian state should pay out 5,000 euros of compensation to him.

The majority of residents of Chechnya are convinced that Russian officers Arakcheev and Khudyakov accused of murdering three Chechens in January 2003 will incur no punishment.

President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili who has announced that early election of the president of Georgia will be held on January 5, 2008, also suggests holding a parallel plebiscite about the date of parliamentary elections.

The international organization Human Rights Watch thinks that the police of Georgia used excessive force at dispersing the meetings in Tbilisi.

Today, broadcasting of Russian TV channels ORT, RTR and NTV, and of the Euronews channel, has been stopped in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

Alambek Yasaev, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Chechnya, has been dismissed. According to some sources, he is now in Moscow.

Ten parties, including the "Republic", "Democratic Homeland", Armenian All-National Movement, Liberal-Progressive and Conservative Parties, People's Party of Armenia and others, demand to stop unjustified criminal prosecution of the participants of the peaceful march on October 23.

The court has not allowed Mikhail Trepashkin, ex-FSB officer, convicted for disclosure of state secrets, to be present at consideration of his cassation complaint against the decision to toughen his punishment serving conditions.

Nazim Guliev, editor of the newspaper "Ideal", has been sentenced today by the Nasiminskiy Court of the capital of Azerbaijan to 2.5 years of imprisonment for slander and insult.

Broadcasting of the oppositional TV Channel "Imedi" that had earlier belonged to businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili was stopped in Georgia. The operation could be watched live on air: special police fighters rushed into the studio - and the broadcasting stopped.

On Wednesday, as a result of the clashes in Rustaveli Avenue and Riket Square in Tbilisi between special police units and the opposition 360 persons were injured.

At the press conference in the capital of Azerbaijan on November 5, Daniel Fried, US Deputy State Secretary, speaking on the situation in the sphere of journalism, has repeated the thesis on inadmissibility of arresting journalists for their published articles.

Operative officers of the Tax Service of Armenia have beaten journalists and broken TV cameras in the studio of the "Gala" TV Channel in the city of Gyumri.

The Observatory, an international human rights organization, has expressed its protest against illegal detention and expulsion from Russia of Anna-Mari Gelen, an activist of the human rights NGO Pax Christi International, who is known for her work on the problems of Chechnya.

Residents of Chechnya believe that the statement of the leader of separatists Doku Umarov about creation of the "Caucasian Emirate" has no real grounds and is beneficial for the authorities of Russia.