All news

The legislation on the activities of non-commercial non-governmental organizations (NCOs and NGOs) needs to be permanently amended and improved, as stated today by President of the Russian Federation Dmitri Medvedev at the sitting of the Board under Russian President for promoting development of civil society institutes and human rights.

David Dzhalalyan, a correspondent of the Internet edition named "А1+", who suffered in clashes with policemen in the Northern Avenue of Yerevan, has refused from his earlier statement that he was beaten by policemen. According to Mr Dzhalalyan's application kept at the Kentron police station, he was not beaten by policemen, but occasionally fell down on his back and received bruises.

Today, at 2:50 p.m. an ambulance brought Sayara Geidarova, earlier accused of beating four males at a time on April 1, 2005, and now announcing another hunger strike, to Baku-based Efendiev Hospital No. 2. Geidarova's condition is estimated as grave.

The Olympiad in Sochi can bring a catastrophe to this city; it should be either decentralized or rejected - this is the conclusion of the report published yesterday, on April 13, by Boris Nemtsov, a candidate for Sochi Mayor, and economist Vladimir Milov.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by a source in the Military Commandant's Office of Chechnya that one of the reasons of incident, during which on April 12 a soldier of the Federal Forces deployed in Chechnya shot dead three of his comrades could be nationality-based aversions among militaries.

On April 13, in Armenia, Givi Ovannisyan, advocate of Ashot Tadevosyan, a former law enforcer, who was detained for "insulting a policeman" and "resisting a power representative", told journalists that violence was used to his client. Now Tadevosyan, according to his advocate, needs a medical examination.

A contract soldier Irkit Res-Tarochin, who deserted from a subdivision of the Internal Troops of Russia's MIA deployed in the Martan District of Chechnya, was detained in the evening yesterday, on April 13.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Kabardino-Balkaria has refused to satisfy the advocates' petitions on sending a request to the Constitutional Court of Russia on conformity of the amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), adopted by the State Duma and stipulating exclusion of cases having anti-state character from jurisdiction of juries, to Russian Constitution. The court decided that any citizen of the country, including advocates, may send such request to the Constitutional Court by his or her own.

The reason of the attack on Abdullagun Aliev, 49, and his son Adam, 19, residents of Ekazhevo village of Nazran District, committed by unidentified persons on April 12 in their village could be their dealing with alcohol drinks, as local residents explained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On March 13, the opposition in Georgia declared a "tougher struggle"; however, it has no clear plan of further actions and no unified opinion about future strategy of confronting the authorities. This is the opinion of Emil Adelkhanov, deputy chairman of the Board of the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development.

The explosion, which happened on April 13 in Mizur village in North Ossetia, as a result of which one young man died and seven more wounded, was caused by an explosive made by the victims themselves, as Herman Shtadler, Public Prosecutor of North Ossetia, said to journalists today.

The MIA of the Republic of South Ossetia (RSO) asserts that detention of the members of "People's Party" on April 10 in the Party's office had nothing to do with their political activity. The letter of the MIA's press service that arrived to the "Caucasian Knot" office says that the neighbours living close to the Party's office asked law enforcers to make a check.

On April 14, one of the defendants in the "Case of Seven", political prisoner Shant Arutyunyan will be transferred from the psychiatric hospital "Nubarashen" to the corrective establishment named "Vardashen". The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by human rights defender Mikael Danielyan, who confirmed the statements of Arutyunyan and his relatives about very poor conditions in "Nubarashen" hospital.

On April 12, in the south of Chechnya, in the mountain Shatoy District, a contract soldier of the federal forces shot dead an officer and two soldiers, also on contract service, then, he tried to commit suicide. He was hospitalized in a grave condition.

On April 11 in Krasnodar, opposite the building of the territorial administration, a one-person picket was held to cancel the curfew for minors in force in the Krasnodar Territory for more than 8 months.

Today, Ella Kesaeva, leader of the All-Russian Public Organization "Voice of Beslan", sent an application to the Beslan tax service asking to explain why the tragedy victims were ordered to pay 13 percent of the cost of their children's training in a lyceum near Moscow.

The process of bringing the forced migrants from Chechnya, who are temporarily living in the territory of Ingushetia, back to their homeland is carried out with violation of human rights. People are returned by deceit, blackmail and threats. This is the opinion of Aslambek Apaev, expert of the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) for Northern Caucasus and the head of the Committee in defence of forced migrants' rights.

In the Malgobek District of Ingushetia, four young men aged 20-25 disappeared in one day in unclear circumstances.

The expression - "war of nerves" - used by both parties of confrontation in Georgia is quite topical: at night on April 12, the authorities' nerves failed - the only explanation of night "pogroms" on the opposition. This was stated by independent expert Ramaz Sakvarelidze to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The death of Lemka Batyrova, 54, a resident of Chermen village in North Ossetia, on April 7, when militiamen chased the persons suspected of hijacking a car, was caused by a gunshot wound in the breast area, and not by a road accident. This was reported by a source in the Investigatory Department (ID) of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation for Ingushetia.