News

Novruzali Mamedov, 67, head of Talysh cultural center and chief editor of "Tolyshi Siado" (Voice of Talysh) newspaper convicted to 10 years of prison on the charge of treason, has been recognized political prisoner by the Institute of Peace and Democracy and the Azeri Federation of Human Rights Organizations.

The South Ossetia authorities claim that Georgia shelled the villages of Sarabuk and Tliakana, Tskhinvali district, on the night of July 29.

The Investigation Committee under the Prosecutor's office (ICP) has laid down charges on the case of murder of Gadzhi Abashilov, head of "Dagestan" state TV and radio company, who was killed on March 21 in Makhachkala when his car was fired at from a machine-gun.

Radiy Burulov, mayor of Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, may be summoned to court by force. The court is going to pass a decision on his arrest in connection with his abuse of power. An appropriate instruction has been given to the Kalmykia Ministry of Interior.

Lluis Maria de Puig, PACE chair, who after his three-day visit to Armenia which took place last week, requested that the Armenian president and the authorities should undertake clear and specific steps to abide by the organization's resolutions.

An attempt on the life of Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechen president, was made in the village of Khosi-Yurt in Chechnya. There was no damage.

Khatuna Skirtladze, 18, from Tbilisi won the "Miss Georgia-2008" contest which was held on Sunday, July 27, in Batumi.

In 2008, the American Agency for International Development (USAID) is going to allocate $18 million for the implementation of programs in Azerbaijan, including $7 million for the projects to support democracy.

The Krasnodar krai authorities have reached an agreement with the residents of Imeretin valley who protested against their resettlement due to the construction of facilities for Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi.

Sergei Shamba, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Abkhazia, calls the statement of Temur Mzhaviya, head of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, on the necessity to declare the Galski district of Abkhazia which borders Georgia a zone under international monitoring as a "hollow and populist slogan".

The Armenian Defense Ministry, with reference to NATO, announces that, from September 20 to 21, the manoeuvres "Joint Spearman-08" are going to held in Armenia within the "Partnership for Peace" (PP) program.

The military panel of the Russian Supreme Court has postponed the hearing of the complaint of Sergei Arakcheyev and Yevgheni Khudiakov, officers of the Russian MoI internal troops, until August 28.

According to the Georgian Labour party information, officers of the Constitutional Security Department detained Archil Benidze, Labour party representative, on the night of July 25.

Last night, unidentified persons fired at the house of Ruslan Albogachiyev, Ingushetia Public Assembly deputy. There no casualties. The incident was reported to journalists by the republic's law enforcement agencies.

Military observers of the Joint Peace-making Forces (JPMF) representing three parties point out new violations of the current agreements within the Georgia and South Ossetia conflict zone, the situation there remains aggravated, reports captain Vladimir Ivanov, assistant commander of the Joint Peace-making Forces (JPMF) for mass-media relations, to journalists.

The monitoring conducted by peace-makers has revealed that two remote control devices exploded within the South Ossetia border zone.

On July 25, seven unidentified persons wearing masks and camouflaged uniforms and armed with machine guns kidnapped two residents of Kantyshevo village, Ingushetia, only 200 meters away from the North Ossetia administrative border with Ingushetia.

Lluis Maria de Puig, Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), believes that the temporary parliamentary commission created for investigation of the events on March 1-2 in the capital of Armenia "does not inspire much trust."

Today, the Supreme Court of Karelia has prolonged by 3 months, till October 29, 2008, the custody term for the persons accused on the case of Kondopoga disorders.

Today, the office of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) hosted the presentation of the Electronic database comprising the journalists, who were subjected to pressure in Azerbaijan since 1990. It is placed in the website of the IRFS. The project was implemented at financial support of the Soros Foundation.