News

The European Court for Human Rights (ECtHR) is literally swamped with complaints from residents of South Ossetia, which deal with the lawlessness of Georgian authorities towards them, said Jean-Paul Costa, Chairman of the ECtHR.

A group of opposition parties of Georgia has passed a joint memorandum on work of mass media. Among other things, the opposition demands holding debates live on air.

The Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus believes that Gazprom, while trying to whitewash "the honest name of the company", is confusing the public. In the opinion of ecologists, "Gazprom is illegally building Olympic object 'Refuge No. 1' in the Psekhako Site" in the territory of the Sochi National Park.

Today, the Sabail District Court of the capital of Azerbaijan has considered the claim of the "Abu-Bekr" religious community lodged against the State Committee for Work with Religious Formations with a demand to cancel the decision to close the Mosque. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by community's advocate Dzhavanshir Suleimanov.

The Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria has rejected the petition of the prosecution asking to change the territorial jurisdiction of the criminal case on the events on October 13, 2005. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by advocate Elizabeth Shak.

In the city of Nazran, Ingushetia, unidentified persons have shelled the car with Anzor Zyazikov, legal adviser of the factory of antenna-mast structures, and his passenger. Mr Zyazikov did not suffer, but the passenger was shot dead.

Petros Garibyan, leading inspector in the case, senior inspector for especially important cases of the Investigatory Committee at the Russian Prosecutor's Office, has stated that from two to four persons are suspected as customers of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

The Moscow Human Rights Bureau has disseminated a report according to which this year xenophobia has killed 108 persons, natives from the Caucasus among them.

The Chief Administration of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Public Prosecutor's Office for the Southern Federal District has come to conclusion that the reason of the death of Magomed Evloev, owner of the oppositional website "Ingushetia.Ru" (now "Ingushetia.Org") was an unintentional shot from a pistol made by one of the militiamen who escorted Evloev.

One of the main candidates for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize is Russian human rights activist Lydia Yusupova who worked in Chechnya and till 2006 headed the branch of the Human Rights Society "Memorial" in Grozny.

From the beginning of 2008, in South Ossetia, seven terror acts were committed, for which automobiles brought in from territory of Georgia were used. Irina Gagloeva, head of the Committee for Information and Press of South Ossetia, told about it.

The rally will be directed mainly against construction of a cargo port in the Imereti Valley. In the opinion of the organizers, the construction is illegal.

The Karabakh politicians are afraid that Armenia, in exchange for unblocking the border by Turkey, will be ready to concede the territories around the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous District, nowadays under the jurisdiction of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR); but they are not going to give up the idea of independence of NKR.

On October 3, the Nariman Court of Baku accepted to proceedings the claim of Gammet Suleimanov, Imam of "Abu-Bekr" Mosque, lodged against the Police Department of the Nariman District of the capital of Azerbaijan.

The events dedicated to the 420th anniversary of neighbourhood relations between the peoples of Russia and Chechnya will continue in the Chechen Republic till the end of the year.

Today in the morning, a counterterrorist operation was announced in Ingushetia, in the Gamursiev Municipal District of the city of Nazran. The militia has stated that they looked for militants.

On October 3, as a result of a powerful explosion in Tskhinvali, Colonel Ivan Petrik, chief of the united staff of peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone, was lost. He was killed by splinters in his study; the car exploded right under his window.

In the centre of the capital of Chechnya, employees of power agencies have completely blocked the streets leading to the Victory Avenue, the solemn opening of which after reconstruction was appointed for October 5. Reinforced militia units have blocked all the access routes to the central street of Grozny.

Over forty cases against corruption have been initiated in Kabardino-Balkaria within the recent six months. However, the war on corruption is still much smaller than the spread of the phenomenon; the struggle needs essential activation.

After presidential election in Azerbaijan, it will be much easier to settle such complicated issues like the Karabakh problem, believes Mary Jovanovich, new US ambassador to Armenia. Meanwhile, experts in Nagorno-Karabakh think that the election could not be democratic.