News

The trial that starts on December 19 on the criminal case of participants of mass disorders on March 1-2 in Yerevan, also known as the "Case of Seven", will be open, said Alina Engoyan, press secretary of the Cassation Court of Armenia.

Despite all appeals of the members of the Committee in Defence of Political Prisoners, Sarkis Atspanyan continues his termless hunger strike. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has learnt about it from human rights activist Vardan Arutyunyan, who characterized Atspanyan's health condition as very grave.

In the city of Zverevo, Rostov Region, 11 retired miners are on hunger strike. The protesters, some of them have been hospitalized, stand for the privilege they deserve by the law - the right to use free-of-charge coal or heating facility.

In Utrish, Krasnodar Territory, the builders have started to cut down century-old junipers in the area of the second lagoon - in the very centre of the "Bolshoi Utrish" Natural Reserve. On December 15, the site was visited by the investigatory group from the Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Anapa, accompanied by the "Green" activists.

Today, Elchin Bekhbudov, Chair of the Azerbaijani Committee against Torture, has visited ex-Minister of Public Health Ali Insanov, who is treated at the medical establishment of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice located in Beyuk Shor village, and Ruslan Bashirli, leader of the "Eni Fikir" (New Thought) Youth Association, kept in Colony No. 1.

The rights of forced migrants in Georgia are violated since the country's leadership lacks clear programme and coordinated actions, as well as due legislation on how to tackle their problems. This was stated by lawyer Simon Papuashvili, coordinator of the project on rendering legal aid to refugees at the Human Rights Centre, in his interview to the Caucasian Knot correspondent.

On Tuesday, December 16, the Nariman District Court of Baku, presided by Judge Turgay Guseinova resumed consideration of the claim lodged by the religious community "Believers of Nariman District" versus Nariman District Police Department. The believers want to restart attending the "Abu-Bekr" Mosque, which was subjected to armed attack on August 17 this year, when a grenade exploded inside killing two persons and wounding 13 more.

The delegation of South Ossetia has arrived to Geneva to take part in consultations on Transcaucasia to be held on December 17-18. South Ossetia plans to demand from the western powers not to equip Georgia with offensive arms and observe their obligations not to use of force in the conflict zone.

For a long time the authorities of Kabardino-Balkaria fail to pay "combat" bonuses and overtime money to servicemen and equated persons, which are due to them under the federal legislation for performing their duties in reinforcement periods and extra work. In many cases the indebtedness term reaches up to 10 years. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by Timur Bogatyryov, Director General of the "Hermes" legal firm.

The verdict of guilty in the "Case of Seven" lacks evidences, which could justify sending the case to the court, runs the letter of a group of advocates to Thomas Hammarberg, Supreme Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, about the violations and drawbacks found in the verdict of guilty.

At the closed hearing of the ad hoc commission of the National Assembly of Armenia for studying events on March 1, General-Lieutenant Grigor Grigoryan, ex-commander of internal troops, has confessed that on March 1 in the evening he gave an order to the sniper "to neutralize" the armed participants of the rally.

The hospitalized pupils of the Slaschev boarding school located in Kumylzhen District of Volgograd Region are receiving in full all the necessary medical aid. Now, the doctors assess their health condition as satisfactory. A special operative staff is engaged in investigating the incident.

The life of Sarkis Atspanyan who started as of December 1 his termless hunger strike is in danger. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by human rights activist Vardan Arutyunyan, a member of the Committee in Defence of Political Prisoners.

The judicial process on the murder of observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" Anna Politkovskaya has announced a break till December 17. Today, at the Moscow Regional Military Court, the defence has started presenting evidences of the defendants' innocence.

As a result of an explosion today morning in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, in a five-floor apartment house, three persons were lost. The press-service of the Azerbaijani MIA reports that several persons with wounds and burns, including a child, were hospitalized from the place of the incident.

Russia has re-opened its block-post and scales up its military contingent in the village of Perevi located in the border with South Ossetia, the MIA of Georgia reports.

Within the last 24 hours, in different areas of Ingushetia, there were three incidents with fire opened at employees of law enforcement bodies. Three militiamen were wounded.

The South-Ossetian Ministry of Defence reports that Georgia has deployed its special troops near the border with South Ossetia, which is a direct violation of the Medvedev-Sarkozy agreement reached after the Russian-Georgian August military conflict.

On December 12, the "Dalga" (Wave) Youth Movement held an action in Baku within the Week of Human Rights on the issue of restrictions imposed on the freedom of assembly in Azerbaijan.

The project "We know our rights. And you?", realized in the Rostov Region by the Union "Women of Don Region", has promoted stronger trust of the population to law enforcement bodies, as Valentina Cherevatenko, leader of the Union, believes.