News

According to the head of the president's public and political office, Azerbaijan has not met only two obligations in the field of information and press undertaken by the country to the Council of Europe. The country is expected to meet them by the end of the current year.

Reports appeared on December 17 that activists of the National Movement's local branch had been beaten in Batumi and its local leader, Giya Masalkin, had left Adjaria from political considerations.

Executive Director of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Aaron Rhodes made a request to Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan Zakir Garalov, asking to release from custody Ilgar Ibragimoglu, leading coordinator of the Centre for Protection of Conscience and Religious Freedom (DEVAMM) and Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Chapter of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA).

Taking into consideration the fact that the occupation of a part of the Azerbaijan territory by Armenia has been already mentioned in some documents of the Council of Europe, head of the Azerbaijan Delegation to the PACE Samed Seidov expressed hope that the first report on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan would be unbiased.

The parties interested in the resolution of territorial conflicts must come to an agreement with each other, and Russia will be a guarantor for the agreements reached, noted the President.

The killed soldiers' parents state that the Military Prosecutor's Office destroys all evidence and does not allow some witnesses to testify in court.

Since the meeting was held on the initiative of the movement "Akhyatsa", its representative Akhra Bzhaniya offered a subject for discussion. It was titled "Balance of Forces and Measure of Responsibility in the Abkhazian Society".

The pro-government Azat Artsakh newspaper refers to the interview of French Co-Chairman of the Group Henry Jacolin with the Express newspaper published in Baku. Mr. Jacolin told in it he believed it was unreasonable to engage the Karabakh party in negotiations.

Yesterday the European Commission allotted 9.5 million euro to help people suffered as a result of the conflict in Chechnya.

A round table discussion initiated by the Krasnodar city administration was held at the Center of National Cultures in Krasnodar, with leaders of national communities and cultural associations being its participants.

The Juvenile Center has opened in Rostov. The idea of creating such a center appeared when the regional branch of the Judicial Department launched the "Facilitating Justice Towards Minors" Project.

We call your attention to some extracts from the statement by the organization "Southern Wave".

"Participants reached the agreement to join efforts in their struggle against the ruling power," the DPA spokesman said.

The operations headquarters keeps on receiving information from locals, saying that rebels divided into small groups are circling in the Tsuntinsky district.

The Swiss Parliament passed a resolution on Tuesday, December 16, recognizing mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War as genocide.

Four young men were captured and taken in an unknown direction by unknown gunmen in masks and camouflage in the village of Chiri-Yurt, Chechnya's Shali district.

The discussion club that has been founded in Nagorny Karabakh recently is going to hold its second meeting on December 18. The theme will be "Democracy: Problems and Outlook".

The feature film is called "May the Lord Help Us". Sofa Agumaa, Violet Maan, Zaira Ermolova, and Shalva Gitsba are acting in it.

The international conference "Peaceful and Legal Resolution of the Chechen Problem" addressed a special open appeal to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President of the European Parliament Pat Cox and President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Peter Schieder.

The picture "Festival on the Roadside" is about children in whose fates the war in Chechnya has left its trace.