News

February 13, 2010 12:00

• Kalmykia to mark one of the main national holidays - Tsagan Sar

  On February 14, Kalmykia will mark the national spring holiday - Tsagan Sar (White Month). Traditionally, celebratory actions and molebens will be held in all the khuruls (monasteries and prayer houses) of the republic.

February 13, 2010 11:00

• Chechnya: authorities plan to tax livestock and poultry

  Residents of Chechnya report that they are demanded to pay tax on their domestic animals. According to their version, officials assert that President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has personally ordered to take taxes on domestic cattle and poultry.

February 13, 2010 10:00

• Hurricane leaves 50,000 families without electricity in Georgia

  In Georgia, over fifty thousand families remain without electricity. On February 12, the cities of Poti and Kutaisi suffered from hurricane, when the wind reached 30 meters per second. Weather forecasters warn that today bad weather will cover the whole country.

February 12, 2010 23:40

• In Rostov Region, young volunteers teach Internet to elderly people

  The Project entitled "Place Where Generations Meet" (of the Programme "Dialogue Is Rendezvous Place"), executed by the Sholokhov Library - a branch of the Novocherkassk Central Library System - and supported by the Foundation "Memory, Responsibility and Future" (Germany) and the Federal State Institution (FSI) "Fund of Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation" (Moscow), assumes teaching old people in information technologies by volunteers.

February 12, 2010 23:10

• MCC reappoints consideration of complaint of the person acquitted on attempt on Chechen President on February 26

  Today, the Moscow City Court (MCC) has delayed the consideration of the rehabilitation claim lodged by Ruslan Musaev, one of the acquitted figurants in the case on the attempt on President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov committed back in May 2007.

February 12, 2010 23:00

• About 9000 are still without electricity in Dagestan

  Because of strong snowfalls and wire icing, electric power supplies are broken in the Buinaksk, Karabudakhkent and Sergokalin Districts of Dagestan. About nine thousand residents are still without electricity; they promise to restore supplies by February 15.

February 12, 2010 22:10

• Azerbaijan is not unanimous on amendments to laws on journalists

  In the evening on Friday, February 12, the National Assembly of Azerbaijan with 92 votes for and 7 votes against approved the amendments to a number of legislation acts imposing restrictions on collection and dissemination of information.

February 12, 2010 22:00

• In Azerbaijan, consideration of bloggers' complaint postponed again

  Today, the consideration of the appeal complaint lodged by young bloggers' Emin Milli and Adnan Gadjizade was again postponed by the Baku Appeal Court.

February 12, 2010 21:00

• Resident of Dagestan claims defence of honour and dignity against Zhirinovsky

  The Meschanski District Court of the city of Moscow has accepted to consideration a claim from a resident of Makhachkala Shamil Sheikhov about protection of honour, dignity and business reputation and demand to collect compensation in the sum of 100 million roubles in equal halves from Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Chairman of LDPR (Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia) and vice-speaker of the State Duma of Russia, and from the editorial board of the newspaper "LDPR". The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by Mr Sheikhov himself.

February 12, 2010 20:00

• Trial of Tsotne Gamsakhurdia to resume on February 18

  The litigation on the case of Tsotne - the son of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia - will resume at the Tbilisi City Court on February 18 at 1:30 p.m., said his advocate Keti Bekauri.

February 12, 2010 19:00

• PACE Rapporteurs on Azerbaijan worry about Fatullaev's life

  The case of Einullah Fatullaev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Real Azerbaijan", who was convicted in Azerbaijan, is causing many doubts and gives rise to worry for his life. This was stated by Andres Herkel, Rapporteur of the PACE Monitoring Committee.

February 12, 2010 18:00

• Ramzan Kadyrov is ready to be Chechen leader for another term

  President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov said that he is ready to remain the head of the republic until he is on demand in this position. His term as President of Chechnya expires in 2012.

February 12, 2010 10:00

• Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of February 1-7

  Incessant armed conflict in Northern Caucasus; loss of satellite signal of Georgian TV Channel causing an international conflict; Baku and Yerevan restart talking about a new war for Nagorno-Karabakh, - look up these and other events in the review of the week of February 1-7, 2010, in Caucasian regions prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

February 11, 2010 23:50

• Moscow militia refuses to bring case against blogger Artemiy Lebedev

  The blog of the web designer Artemiy Lebedev, known for his use of obscene lexicon, causes no harm to public morals. This was the conclusion of the OVD (Interior Division) of the Tver District of Moscow, having studied his LiveJournal and refused the initiative group "Volgogradskiy Proryv" (Volgograd Breakthrough) to open a criminal case against Lebedev for his use of abusive expressions in his blog.

February 11, 2010 23:20

• Nogaideli: restoration of Russian-Georgian relations is important for Georgia's economic development

  According to Zurab Nogaideli, ex-premier and leader of the oppositional "Movement for Fair Georgia", who visited Moscow on February 8-10 and signed during this visit a cooperation agreement with the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party, believes that restoration of Russian-Georgian relations is crucial for economic development of his country - to get Georgian goods back to the Russian market and give chance to Georgians to earn money and improve their social status.

February 11, 2010 23:10

• Authorities of Russia and Georgia wait for steps towards restart of air communication from each other

  In the opinion of Timur Khikmatov, head of the PR Department of the Ministry of Transports of the Russian Federation, if Georgia wants to resume air traffic with Russia, she should initiate negotiations at the level of state administrations. In his turn, Georgiy Dokuchava, head of the united transport organization of Georgia, believes that Russia should initiate negotiations, as it was Russia, who closed the air corridor in August 2008.

February 11, 2010 23:00

• Alexander Sivyakov, convicted on Sychov's case, is at large

  The former junior sergeant Alexander Sivyakov, who was convicted to four years of imprisonment for mockeries during his military service in the Chelyabinsk garrison over private soldier Andrei Sychov, recruited from Novocherkassk, Rostov Region, has been set free. Andrei Sychov's family believes that Sivyakov was too leniently punished.

February 11, 2010 22:30

• Novorossisk UVD refused to ensure safety of Dymovskiy's supporters

  The militia refused to ensure safety of the organizers of the rally on February 21 with the demand of fair trial on the case of the ex-militia major Alexei Dymovskiy, capital reform of the MIA and resignation of Vladimir Chernositov, head of the Novorossisk UVD (Interior Department). Vadim Karastelyov, an expert of the Novorossisk Committee of Human Rights (NCHR) and Dymovskiy's official representative, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he was recommended at the UVD to hire private securities for this purpose.

February 11, 2010 22:10

• Arapova: Northern Caucasus shouldn't be called to mind only after murders

  Media recollect about the situation in Northern Caucasus only another resonant murder there, while the local society has got accustomed to murders and no longer perceive them as tragedy. This was stated by Galina Arapova, Director of the Centre in Defence of Media's Rights, in her interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, who added that this should not be the case.

February 11, 2010 20:00

• After publications about Dymovskiy, custody conditions in Krasnodar SIZO became better

  The UVD of Novorossisk and SIZO (pre-trial facility) of Krasnodar are thoroughly studying the publications in mass media about Militia Major Alexei Dymovskiy; the latter entity is even printing out them and takes measures to improve the custody conditions of detainees there. This was reported by Vadim Karastelyov, an expert of the Novorossisk Committee of Human Rights (NCHR) and Alexei Dymovskiy's official representative.