Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of September 30-October 6

Solution of the case of threats to Georgian peacemakers and pardon by president of conditional convicts in Georgia; amnesty in Armenia dated to 22 years of independence; start of consideration of the bill on refusal from direct election of the head of North Ossetia; end of judicial investigation and verdict of the Supreme Court on cases of resonant killingsin the village of Kuschevskaya, Krasnodar Territory; stop of hunger strikes of parents of many children and parents of children with disabilities in Volgograd Region, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of September 30-October 6, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Georgia: solution of case on threats peacemakers and pardon to conditional convicts

On October 2, Irakli Garibashvili, the Georgian Interior Minister, reported about solving the case associated with the video clip posted on Internet on June 5, containing threats addressed to the Georgian militaries because of their involvement in operations in Afghanistan. On October 3, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) voiced out the details of the case, saying that a Kyrgyz citizen Samar Chokutaev, working in the capital of Abkhazia, used a prepared in advance server in Malaysia, entered, through the encrypted port the Internet network of two private offices in Tbilisi, and uploaded the video clip with threats. Law enforcers have put the alleged author of threats to peacemakers on the international wanted list.

On October 2, President Mikhail Saakashvili signed a decree pardoning all the country's conditional convicts (probationers) and persons with previous criminal records. The decree, however, sets limits on some especially grave crimes, such as attempts to life, sexual freedom and actions against the state; the pardoning will affect about 18,000 people, who have turned to the President for a pardon.

Armenia: Parliament votes for amnesty in honour of 22^nd anniversary of independence

In honour of the 22^nd anniversary of Armenia's independence, celebrated in the country on September 21, on September 30 President Serzh Sargsyan brought a proposal to declare amnesty in the country to the Parliament. On October 3, the National Assembly (Parliament) approved the Sargsyan's proposal by majority vote. According to preliminary figures, announced by the Ministry of Justice, the amnesty will cover 1200 persons; of whom 500 prisoners will be released in the near future.

North Ossetia: Parliament starts considering the bill on refusal from direct election of region's head

In North Ossetia, on October 3, the Council of the Republic's Parliament approved the bill initiated by the MPs of the faction of the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party, on amending the Constitution, according to which the head of the region should be elected by the Deputies of the Republic's Legislative Assembly (Parliament). It is planned that in late October, the bill will be considered in the first reading. The Russian Federal Law, providing the subjects of the Russian   Federation with the right to cancel the direct election of governors, was signed by the President of Russia on April 2. This right was already enforced by Dagestan and Ingushetia. The next election of the head of North Ossetia will take place in 2015, upon expiry of the term of office of the incumbent head of the republic Taimuraz Mamsurov.

Krasnodar Territory: end of judicial investigation and sentencing by Russia's SC for killings in Kuschevskaya

On October 3, the Krasnodar Territorial Court finalized the judicial investigation of the case on the massacre committed in the village of Kuschevskaya, where on November 4, 2010, in the house of a local farmer Server Ametov, 12 persons were killed, including four children. The Court proceeds to the stage of debates, which will begin on October 8.

On September 30, the Supreme Court (SC) of Russia put a full stop in the murder cases of the head of the Kuschevsky District Boris Moskvich and Nikolai Tsapok, the brother of Sergey Tsapok, who is accused on the case of mass murder in Kuschevskaya. Earlier, on June 19, the Krasnodar Territorial Court acquitted four defendants, referring to the jury's verdict. However, the prosecutor's office appealed against the decision at the Russia's SC, which has confirmed the acquittal.

Volgograd Region: hunger-striking parents of many children and parents of disabled children stop their protests

On October 4, parents with many children, who held their hunger strike in Volgograd for more than 10 days demanding to pay attention to local problems of motherhood and childhood, stopped their action. This was preceded by a meeting of hunger-strikers with the Governor of the Volgograd Region Sergey Bozhenov, Acting Premier of the Region Roland Kherianov and the Mayor of Volgograd Irina Guseva, who promised to address their problems.

On September 30, also in Volgograd, a group of parents of children with disabilities, who held their so-called "fan-like" hunger strike since September 12, decided to stop their protest after receiving a promise of activists of the All-Russian Popular Front to meet their demand to opening a rehabilitation centre in the region.