News

Over one thousand persons took part in the non-sanctioned meeting that has started today in Stavropol at the building of the Territory's Government. The meeting was provoked by the murder on June 3 in the Territory's capital of two students - Dmitri Blokhin and Pavel Chadin (today at midday they were buried in the cities of Stavropol and Blagodarny).

On May 30 a meeting was held in the city of Gudermes of President Ramzan Kadyrov with representatives of the Republic's NGOs. During the event, the region's leader criticized the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial."

Today a group of Azerbaijani journalists has held an action in front of the building of the Court for Grave Crimes in protest against non-admittance of independent and opposition media to the trial of Farkhad Aliev, ex-Minister for Economic Development.

Ruslan Karabashev, a resident of Kabardino-Balkaria, sent a letter to President of Kabardino-Balkaria asking to defend him against ungrounded prosecution by power agencies.

The kidnapping problem in the territory of Chechnya is still unresolved, although the number of this sort of crimes has essentially decreased in comparison with the first years of the "counterterrorist operation."

Valentin Gefter, Director General of the Institute for Human Rights and a Board Member of the International Society "Memorial," has summed up intermediate outcomes of the work of the Public Commission for investigating the circumstances of explosions of apartment blocks in Moscow and Volgodonsk and exercises in Ryazan in 1999.

The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Leninskiy District of Stavropol has initiated a criminal case on the fact of murdering two students in the city of Stavropol.

On June 1, 2007, the All-Russian Public Movement "For Human Rights" received materials evidencing that Stavropol student Gelani Ruslanovich Ataev had not perished during a mass fight in Stavropol on May 24 in the Yunost Avenue, but he was beaten to death by employees of law enforcement bodies who had first handcuffed him.

The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Karelia has finished the investigation of the criminal case initiated on the facts of the murder of two Kondopoga residents and inflicting various gravity harm to the health of nine other citizens during the incident at night on August 29-30, 2006, near the "Chaika" restaurant.

Mikhail Serkov, Ataman of the Stavropol Cossack District of the Tersk Cossack Army, will not be brought to criminal responsibility for his anti-Estonian utterances.

"Despite my agreement with Merab Antadze, co-chairman of the MCC (Mixed Control Commission) from the Georgian party, that today the necessary repair works to restore water supply will be carried out, the working crews were not admitted to the damaged water line section," Boris Chochiev said.

Tskhinval has to do without water for 9 days already. Today, a joint monitoring of the Edis-Tskhinval water supply system was conducted in South Ossetia.

In Azerbaijan on June 7, a preparatory session will be held by the Court for Grave War Crimes under chairmanship of Judge Mamedbagir Zeinalov on the case of former military Eldeniz Nuriev who is accused of "treason," "violation of combat duty regulations" and "desertion."

Patrol units stop citizens at night without any grounds, impose fines for no reason, and should anybody complain, they can detain a person "for hooliganism," runs an article in the "Alia" Georgian newspaper.

On May 21 and 24 the four Moslems who had earlier sent a letter to President of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) with a request to open a mosque were detained and delivered to the Organized Crime Combating Unit (UBOP) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Kabardino-Balkaria.

The Jury of the Moscow Regional Court has acquitted Roman Polusmyak who was accused of murdering Arthur Sardaryan, 19, a refugee from Azerbaijan, on the motive of national hostility.

Tatiana Karpova, co-chair of the "Nord-Ost" regional public organization for promoting defence of terrorism victims, considers that the investigation into the Dubrovka act of terror will not be stopped, but protracted in all possible ways.

The advocate of Roman Koyushev, a resident of the Predgorny District of Stavropol Territory, convicted for murdering Imam of Kislovodsk, has appealed against the verdict.

Today, Governor Alexander Chernogorov has addressed a statement on the mass scuffle on May 24, 2007, in the city of Stavropol to the heads of municipal formations of Stavropol Territory.

On May 24, 2007, under the order of Georgian leaders drinking water delivery to the city of Tskhinval was stopped.