News

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.

Rovshan Kebirli, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Mucaliphate," and journalist Yashar Agazade, who are now in prison, filed a complaint to the Yasamal District Court against the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan on poor conditions of their custody.

The parents of the perished militants - Elena Karmova, Raissa Keresheva and Larissa Alakaeva - filed a complaint to Yuri Mairov, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria, Vladimir Vybornov, Chairman of the Nalchik City Court, sending copies to the President of the Republic and mass media.

Today Georgian power agents have detained the camera crew of the "Rossiya" State Radio and Television Company (GTRK). The Committee for Information and Press of South Ossetia has informed that Andrei Chistiakov and 3 assistants were detained.

Today, a roundtable was held at the Human Rights Centre of Kabardino-Balkaria with participation of mass media representatives to discuss the situation with the freedom of speech in the Republic.

Today, the European Court for Human Rights has once again found the state of Russia guilty of disappearance and death of a Chechnya resident. According to the Court's decision, in 2000 Ayubkhan Magomadov fell victim of violent disappearance, and his right to live was breached.

Today, four more employees of the newspapers "Gyundelik Azerbaijan" and "Real Azerbaijan" Famil Jafarli, Jeihun Nagiev, Ainur Elgyunesh and Neimat Guseinli have been interrogated as witnesses at the Ministry of National Security (MNS).

Aflatun Amashev, Chairman of the Board of the Press, has met the arrested journalists Mirza Sakit and Faramaz Allakhverdiev ("Nota Bene").

Representatives of the "Nord-Ost" public organization have filed an application to the State Office of Public Prosecutor with a demand to open a criminal case against the members of the operative headquarters set up to rescue the hostages.

In Zelenograd, a town near Moscow, the militia has prevented a mass fight between a group of local youth and natives from the Caucasus.

In the course of clean-ups ("zachistkas") and non-authorized detentions in the period of military actions in the territory of Chechnya, a total of 4,400 persons disappeared in this Republic.

Today, the correspondent's office of the "Caucasian Knot" located in the city of Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, has been approached by the relatives of the victims of the October 2005 events who have stated that the bodies of the casualties were not cremated.

A special operation is underway in Chechnya to search the militants who yesterday, on July 9, blew up armoured personnel carrier (APC) of Federal Troops.

Khilal Mamedov, head of the Committee for Defence of the Rights of Novruzali Mamedov, arrested editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado," has accused the Azerbaijani authorities of discriminating the national minorities living in the country, in particular, the Talyshes.

Hundreds thousands of victims of political repressions in the USSR have been illegally rejected rehabilitation, and in some cases "they rehabilitate those whom they should not," Nikita Petrov, a Board member of the Scientific-Information and Education Centre "Memorial" and author of many books on Stalinist history, told.

V. D. Zorkin, Chairman of the Constitutional Court (CC) of the Russian Federation (RF) made a statement on the necessity to adopt new legal norms of the Russian law for those who apply against Russia to the European Court for Human Rights.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Friday's decision by an Azerbaijani appellate court in Baku to uphold the convictions of two independent journalists on charges of insulting Islam in a November commentary.

The atmosphere of fear has already been stated by two candidates for President of Nagorno-Karabakh - Masis Mailyan and Armen Abgaryan.

The spokesman of the Russian Federal Service of Punishment Enforcement (FSPE) has stated that the FSPE found no violations of the rights of Mikhail Trepashkin, ex-FSB officer, sentenced for disclosure of state secret and serving his term at the Nizhni Tagil colony-settlement.

The "Educated Media" Foundation, which is the assignee of the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization (ANCO) "Internews," has declared its self-liquidation.