News

The investigation of criminal case concerning inhabitants of Ingushetia Maksharip Khidriev and Salambek Dzakhkiev, accused of blowing up the "Neva-Express" passenger train, is over. The indictment has been approved, and in the near future the criminal case will be sent to the Novgorod Regional Court for consideration on the merits.

A Chechen woman, mother of four children, committed a self-immolation act in Spain in protest against eviction from a free-of-charge apartment of the Red Cross.

On May 29 in Tbilisi, the shops of the Benetton trading network reopened after they were closed on May 25 in protest against the plans of the Turkish representative office of the company to open a shop in Sukhumi.

Elena Maglevannaya, a journalist and human rights defender from Volgograd has applied for political asylum in Finland.

The criminal case dealing with explosion in "Abu-Bekr" Mosque on August 17, 2008, has arrived for consideration to the Court on Grave Crimes of Azerbaijan. Then, a grenade thrown into the Mosque during the evening prayer killed 2 and wounded 13 believers.

Leaders of the Georgian opposition, which keeps holding actions in Tbilisi demanding resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili, have announced their plans to "reconstruct" the "city of cells".

On May 29 in Nazran, near the building of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development of Ingushetia, an unidentified person burnt down a "Lada-Kalina" model car belonging to Olga Kasevich, assistant of the Minister.

On May 29, special agencies of Egypt conducted a special operation, during which 198 Russian citizens were arrested; most of them are students from Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. Russia's Embassy in Cairo has confirmed arrest of 35 students. The detainees complain of poor custody conditions in local pre-trial prison (SIZO).

On May 29 in Yerevan, supporters of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) held their rally as a summing-up event of the election campaign of this oppositional movement headed by the first President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

Mikael Danielyan, a well-known legal expert and chairman of the Helsinki Association, believes that Real amnesty of political prisoners in Armenia is unlikely, while talks about it are just a demonstration for the world community.

The Governor of Sverdlovsk Region has suggested inhabiting the deserted villages of his Region by resettlers from Ingushetia. According to Eduard Rossel, Ingushetia is in a disastrous financial situation, and is ready to send families to his Region.

In the southeast of Chechnya, in the foothill Shali District, a militia officer perished attempting to detain unknown persons. Another militiaman was wounded. Two suspected militants, already identified, were liquidated.

The Volgograd Region experiences a growth in crimes accomplished against children and facts of cruel treatment of children by parents and other legitimate custodians. According to the Office of Public Prosecutor of the Volgograd Region, in 2008, 1146 criminal cases were opened on crimes accomplished against minors.

The campaigning for early election of Kislovodsk Mayor, appointed for May 31, is going on according to the schedule and without essential violations. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it today at the City Electoral Commission (CEC) of Kislovodsk.

Sappers of the "Leader" Special-Purpose Centre (SPC) of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) of Russia, who arrived to Chechnya in mid-April to clear the territory of one of state farms from mines, shells and other explosive matter, have finished their work in Chechnya and take a break till autumn.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan has upheld the ban for parishioners to attend the "Abu-Bekr" Mosque in Baku until the end of the investigation into the fact of explosion in the temple on August 17, 2008. Then, a grenade thrown into the Mosque during the evening prayer killed 2 and wounded 13 persons.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) asserts that Vladimir Shamanov, the newly appointed Commander of Russia's Airborne Troops, should be sued under the case on massacres of peaceful residents of Chechnya.

As reported by Nana Kakabadze, leader of the NGO "Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights", late at night on May 28 seven supporters of the opposition were detained on suspicion of rendering resistance to law enforcers during a clash with the police near the building of the parliament.

On May 28, the Amnesty International (AI) will present a report in several countries of the world, where Northern Caucasus which named the most problematic region in Russia in the area of human rights violations, as reported by Frederica Behr, one of AI researchers.

Should the fact-finding group that was setup to investigate the events on March 1, 2008, be disbanded, the oppositional party named "Heritage" will publish the group's materials at its disposal. This was declared on May 27 at a press conference by Armen Martirosyan, a board member of the "Heritage".