News

The Amnesty International has disseminated a statement where its concern is expressed with the situation in Armenia after this year's March events.

Russia respects the territorial integrity of Georgia with account of Moscow's recognition of South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's independence. This was declared by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev who answered questions during a joint press conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and chairman of the European Commission Zhoze Manuel Barrozu.

Another attempt to start dialogue between the residents of the Imereti Meadow of Sochi and the authorities of Krasnodar Territory about the terms of demolition of dwelling houses with the aim to get the city ready for the Olympiad has failed. The meeting was pre-planned for November 12, but it failed for the absence of power representatives.

Serzh Sarkisyan, President of Armenia, excludes any possibility for the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) to make part of Azerbaijan in any status. As he said, the history had demonstrated that Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan are incompatible.

The Federal Court of the Leninskiy District of Makhachkala has ruled to partially sustain the claim of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan against the Dagestan weekly "Chernovik" (Blueprint) on defence of business reputation. The newspaper is now obliged to place a refutation and bring apologies.

The United States have already expressed their deep concern with the plans to stop broadcasting of foreign radio stations BBC, Voice of America and Radio Liberty in Azerbaijani local frequencies. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that this statement was made today by Ann Dears, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, in her comments on the situation with the issue.

On November 12, Pierre Moreli, Special Representative of the European Union, has officially informed that representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia were invited to the Geneva consultations on Caucasian security problems as participants of the negotiation process; the talks were scheduled on November 18-19.

Magomed Khazbiev, an oppositionist to the former President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov, has addressed the Republic's Prosecutor's Office with a complaint against the actions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Ingushetia.

In the evening on November 11, the six Georgians who stayed in South-Ossetian captivity were released in exchange for the two Ossetians who were freed by Georgia on November 12. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent learnt about it from Varvara Parkhomenko who works for the "Demos" Centre.

The city of Cherkessk, the capital of Karachaevo-Circassia, has hosted an expanded session of the International Circassian Association, which discussed, among other issues, promotion to resettlement of the compatriots living abroad to the territory of their historical homeland.

The Stavropol Territorial Court in Pyatigorsk has sentenced Nikolai Bobryashov, a figurant of the so-called case of "turnskins with shoulder-straps", to 15 years of imprisonment in a strict custody colony. A source in the court has added that he will also pay a fine of 25,000 roubles.

Yesterday, on November 11, citizen of Armenia Ashot Kirakosyan lodged a complaint to the Syktyvkar City Court of the Komi Republic against torturous custody conditions at the special detention facility of Syktyvkar militia. This news was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Ernest Mezak, board member of the Komi human rights commission of the "Memorial".

November 12 is the Azerbaijani Constitution Day. Ali Kerimli, leader of the Party of the People's Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA), believes that the Constitution in itself is more or less ideal document, but it is practically not observed.

The Nazran District Court has found the detention of Magomed Evloev, the owner of the website "Ingushetia.Ru", after which Evloev was wounded from pistol and later died. The news was reported by Musa Pliev, advocate of the Evloev family. In his opinion, this decision indicates that after Murat Zyazikov's resignation from the post of Ingushetian President "the courts can function quite lawfully."

Today, the Federation Council has ratified the treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual help between the Russian Federation and the Republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were signed on September 17 in Moscow. The State Duma ratified these documents on October 29.

Tonight, South Ossetia has released a group of six Georgian citizens detained 11 days ago, the Georgian public television reports.

The Rostov Garrison Military Court is considering a complaint lodged by Valery Markaryan, father of a regular soldier, against the decision of the Military Public Prosecutor of the North-Caucasian Military District, who has cancelled the ruling to initiate a criminal case against Major of Justice Alexei Gvozdkov on charge with extorting a bribe of 3000 US dollars this September.

In Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, students of the Chechen State University (ChSU) held an action in support of the member of University's football team, who killed this February in a mass fight in the city of Novocherkassk, Rostov Region, one of local residents.

Most likely, Zaur Erzhibov, inmate of the Nalchik pre-trial isolation facility and defendant on the criminal case on October 13, 2005, will take part in the next court session appointed for November 19 in the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by defendant's wife Anya Erzhibova.

The temporary inquiry commission of the Ukrainian Parliament set up to investigate facts of illegal weapons deliveries to Georgia has revealed significant financial violations in arms export of the weapon, Valery Konovalyuk, chairman of the commission, said today in the press conference.