News

In the submontane Achkhoy-Martan District of Chechnya, a special operation is underway to search a group of militants who attacked on June 11 a militia motor column and wounded four militiamen.

Today the Parliament of Georgia has restarted its work after a forced two-month break caused by protest actions of the opposition demanding resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili.

The counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime has been announced in three villages of the Sunzha District of Ingushetia - Alkhasty, Arshty and Dattykh - after information was received that militants' groupings could hide there.

A Moslem should not marry a Christian or Hebrew woman, runs the comment of alims (scientists) of the Canonical Division of the Spiritual Department of Moslems (SDM) of Dagestan.

Out of six hundred victims of dispersal of the protest action on November 7, 2007, in the capital of Georgia, only five persons have addressed human rights activists, and complaints of three of them were sent to the European Court on Human Rights. This was stated by advocate Liya Mukhashavriya, chair of the NGO named "Priority of Human Rights".

Starting spring this year, girls-students with painted fingernails, sleeves shorter than arm wrists and wearing jogging shoes are not let to the Chechen State University (ChSU) located in Grozny. One of employees of this educational establishment who asked not to name him told the "Caucasian Knot" about it.

A collective complaint has been filed to the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) on behalf of 15 Azerbaijani journalists.

The meeting of President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili with Levan Gachechiladze, one of leaders of the opposition, was differently assessed by the authorities and the opposition.

In the last four days in Chechnya, two young women were assassinated by unknown persons. Inspectors now try to establish the motives and find the killers.

The information about possible liquidation of Doku Umarov, leader of Caucasian militants, who declared, in autumn 2007, creation of Imarate Kavkaz in the territory of Northern Caucasus and proclaimed himself to be Amir of Caucasian mujahads, was not officially confirmed yet. Moreover, assumptions now appear that he was only wounded.

Brothers Isa and Musa of Sulim Yamadaev, former commander of the "Vostok" special battalion, will be brought by force, under respective court statements, to the city of Gudermes for interrogation under the case about disappearance in 2004 of soldier Alikhan Khaladov.

The railway traffic in direction of Zugdidi interrupted today at night by a series of explosions is restored. During the whole night repair and sapper works went on at Zugdidi railway station.

It seemed in 2007 that the count of violent disappearances in Chechnya went down, but, nevertheless, neither in 2008 nor in 2009 they did not stop, but, according to some unofficial sources, these figures continue to grow. This is the topic of the memorandum addressed by the independent human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.

Azerbaijan has drafted a bill of amendments to the Law "On Nongovernmental Associations (Foundations)", which caused serious criticism by representatives of the civil society. In the opinion of the public, adoption of the amendments will be a serious blow on democracy in the country.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of North Ossetia reports that today a man who threatened to blow up a grenade was detained.

The Prosecutor's Office of the Astrakhan Region has established that the Mosque located in the Pobedy Street in Astrakhan is making use, when appealing Moslems to prayer at 4 a.m. and 11 p.m., of sound-amplifying equipment, which breaks the right of people to comfortable night rest.

Judge of the Tersk District Court of Kabardino-Balkaria has announced a rebuke to advocate Mukharbi Kardanov for his presenting information to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about a criminal case considered by this court. The figurant in the case is Askerbiy Khambazarov, a senior operative officer of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, accused under three articles of the Russian Criminal Code.

The Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation has stated that involvement of former Russian Army colonel Yuri Budanov in disappearances of residents of Chechnya in 2000 was not confirmed. Budanov has evidenced that he could not physically be present at the block-post, where a group of local residents had disappeared without any traces.

President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev has stated, at the sitting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation held on June 9 in Makhachkala, that the low efficiency of the authorities in some republics of Northern Caucasus is accompanied by the loss of trust in the authorities and loss of their respect by the population.

Akop Sanasaryan, chairman of the Greens, stated on June 8 that among Armenian most topical environmental problems are the continued build-up of the coast of Lake Sevan and catastrophic reduction of fish stocks in the Lake.