News

The public committee "In Defence of Political Prisoner Advocate Mikhail Trepashkin" has addressed the RF General Public Prosecutor with a demand to hold investigation into the fact of slander in relation to ex-FSB officer Mikhail Trepashkin.

Yesterday, on July 17, the Baku OSCE office made a statement welcoming the use for the first time in Azerbaijan by the Yasamal District Court of the European case law in the case related to a mass medium.

The Union "Civil Movement of Multinational Georgia" (CMMG) begins drafting the bill "On Fighting Racism and Racial Discrimination."

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (RF) is drafting a bill that assumes to vest it with the powers to consider the applications of Russian citizens who bring actions against the state.

On July 3, the Republic's Radio informed, with reference to Kaplan Daurov, head of the UBOP of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Adygea, that on June 27, in the apartment of Ibrahim Botashov, located in Takhtamukai District of Adygea, employees of the UBOP of the MIA of Adygea found a self-made explosive device.

On June 22, 2007, a group of parents of the militants, who had fallen victim in Kabardino-Balkaria, addressed Deputy General Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation (RF) for the South Federal District, and to head of the investigatory group, with an application requesting explanations on the fact of cremation of the bodies of their sons.

Presentation of the book "Georgian Diary. Chronicle of Wars and Political Chaos in Post-Soviet Caucasus" (2006) written by American journalist Thomas Holtz was held in the capital of Georgia.

A report was presented in Sukhumi entitled "Research on Access to Information in Abkhazia and Its Effect on Life of People," prepared within the Project "Better Authorities' Work on Ensuring Access to Information in Abkhazia," executed by the "Article 21" in partnership with the Sukhumi Media-Club.

The investigation materials in relation to Boris Kuznetsov, advocate of ex-senator from Kalmykia Levon Chakhmakhchyan, have been declared to be a state secret, Victor Parshutkin, defender of Kuznetsov who escaped from Russia, said.

A roundtable was held in Dagestan on observance of human rights in the Republic with participation of Lev Ponomaryov, head of the Public Movement "For Human Rights," Upumazil Omarova, Ombudswoman at the President of Dagestan, members of the Human Rights Society "Memorial" and others.

The Republic's Public Prosecutor Valery Kuznetsov made the statement that corruption in Chechnya is prospering at all social levels and has reached unbelievable scale.

The electoral headquarters of Masis Mailyan, candidate for President of Nagorno-Karabakh, has lodged another complaint to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).

The published Special Report of the Investigatory Group on the bombardment of the Kodor Gorge on March 11, 2007 states in fact that the experts' work conditions and the available materials could not allow coming to unequivocal conclusions about the responsibility of this or that party.

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court has returned the case on toughening Mikhail Trepashkin's custody regime back to the Tagilstroj District Court of the city of Nizhni Tagil.

Mr Veliev, Rovshan Novruzoglu, Director of the Centre for Fighting Corruption and International Terrorism and science collaborator of the Human Rights Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, has been arrested.

Faik Shabanov, police chief of the Zagatala District in Azerbaijan, is torturing Wahhabites: they are brought to the police, where their beards are burnt with a lighter and then shaved off.

Chechnya needs a laboratory for identification of body remains found in mass and individual burials that abandon in the Republic. This conclusion can be drawn from the decision of the European Court announced on July 12 on the case of violent disappearance of Magomadov brothers.

Rober Attechyan, editor-in-chief of the Istanbul Armenian-language "Marmara" newspaper, has told Armenian journalists that after Dink's murder Armenian schools and churches began to receive frequent threats.

Khana Singer, Representative of the UNICEF in Azerbaijan, made a statement for the press, in which she expressed her concern of the recently escalating negative attitude in the country towards HIV/AIDS patients.

The Russian Congress of Caucasian Nations has called on the Russian State Office of Public Prosecutor to escalate its efforts to prevent kindling of interethnic enmity in mass media and Internet publications.