News

September 29, 2009 22:00

• Georgian opposition plans its future

  A number of leading opposition parties of Georgia hold consultations aimed to coordinate future plans. In particular, they still demand resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili and early presidential election, as Kakha Kukava, one of the leaders of the Conservative Party, said in the press conference.

September 29, 2009 21:00

• Policemen evidence at bloggers' trial in Azerbaijan

  Today, the Sabail District Court of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, chaired by Judge Araz Guseinov, continued its hearings on the case of young bloggers - Adnan Gadjizade and Emin Milli, accused in hooliganism and inflicting bodily injuries. Witnesses went on evidencing.

September 29, 2009 20:00

• Public Prosecutor demands 4-7 years in prison for "Black Hawks"

  Yesterday, on September 28, at the Dorogomilovo Court of Moscow, where the case of the "Black Hawks" is considered, the representative of the Prosecutor's Office asked the court to sentence the six defendants-natives of the Caucasus, accused of hooliganism and causing grave harm to human health, to prison terms from 4 to 7 years. This was reported by victims' advocate Sergey Stashevskiy.

September 29, 2009 19:00

• Azerbaijan: widow and son of perished political prisoner suffer in road accident

  The widow and son of Novruzali Mamedov, former head of the Talush Cultural Centre and editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado" (Voice of Talysh), who died on August 17 in imprisonment, in the evening on September 26 received traumas after their car ran foul of a truck, which then disappeared from the venue. Earlier, relatives of the political prisoner had accused the authorities that Novruzali was killed in prison.

September 29, 2009 18:00

• Militia post shelled in Ingushetia

  In the evening on July 28, unidentified persons opened fire from the direction of Ekazhevo village on the militia check post located in the village of Surkhakhi. There were no victims, but the building of the post was slightly damaged.

September 28, 2009 23:10

• SC of Dagestan to pass its decision on attempt on deputy Isaev on September 30

  Later this week, on September 30, the Supreme Court of Dagestan plans to pass its verdict on the case of Mukhtar Agaev, officer of the Dagestan Department of the Federal Service of the Russian Federation on Drug Circulation, accused of forming an IAF and an attempt on Shamil Isaev, a deputy of the National Assembly of Dagestan. The defendant will be given his last plea on September 29.

September 28, 2009 23:00

• Gannushkina: Kadyrov made Chechen authorities incapable to perceive human rights activists

  With advent of Ramzan Kadyrov to power in Chechnya, words of human rights activists, even void of criticism, are rejected. This was stated by Svetlana Gannushkina, chair of the Committee for Civil Assistance, speaking as witness on September 25 at the Tver Court of Moscow at the court session on Ramzan Kadyrov's claim against head of the HRC "Memorial" Oleg Orlov.

September 28, 2009 23:00

• Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of September 21-27

  Progress in investigating the murder of ex-Deputy of Russian State Duma Ruslan Yamadaev; news events in litigation of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov against the head of the HRC "Memorial" Oleg Orlov; information leak from the Commission of the EU for investigating the circumstances of the August 2008 military conflict in the Caucasus and results of Georgia's negotiations with Abkhazian and South-Ossetian parties, - look up these and other events in the review of the week of September 21-27 in the Caucasian regions prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

September 28, 2009 22:00

• HRW: Russia ignores ECtHR's decisions on Chechen residents' claims

  The Russian authorities have failed to enforce the decisions of the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) on more than 30 cases of Chechnya residents, runs the report of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) published on September 27.

September 28, 2009 22:00

• President of Ingushetia: Prigorodny residents should be brought back to their houses

  Today, there is a real opportunity to return all the Ingushes from the Prigorodny District back to their houses, as stated by President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov, who explained his attitude to the problem of this district - a part of North Ossetia.

September 28, 2009 21:10

• Youngsters assassinated in Chechnya were students

  The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Chechnya have reported that the two young men, suspected of participating in the armed underground, who were killed yesterday, on September 27, in the Shatoy District, were second-year students at two leading higher schools of the republic.

September 28, 2009 21:00

• Head of FIDH: Kadyrov failed "taming" HRC "Memorial"

  President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov offered employees of the HRC "Memorial" not to cover violations of human rights in media, but notify the head of Chechnya in private order. This was stated by Soer Belassen, President of the International Federation on Human Rights (FIDH), in her exclusive interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent; she was present on September 25 at the trial on Kadyrov's claim against head of the HRC Oleg Orlov.

September 28, 2009 20:00

• Criticism of Ramzan Kadyrov of HRC "Memorial" keeps Chechen NGOs on alert

  Ramzan Kadyrov's interview to the newspaper "Zavtra" (Tomorrow) of September 24, in which he poured his criticism on upon the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", having accused it of "undermining Russia" and its employees - of absence of patriotism, has seriously worried activists of local NGOs. In the opinion of some of them, such statements just escalate tension and can lead to most negative consequences.

September 28, 2009 19:00

• Georgian opposition moves ultimatum to Saakashvili because of early relief of Girgvliani murderers

  Today in Georgia, the members of the oppositional movement "November 7" have held a protest action against the early relief of four policemen, who in January 2006 beat bank employee Sandro Girgvliani to death.

September 28, 2009 18:00

• Lokshina: residents of Chechnya fear complaining of arsons of their houses

  Since this July, in Chechnya, human rights activists have registered about 30 arsons of houses of relatives of those, who were blamed as militants' helpers. It is more and more difficult to register such arsons as victims are too frightened to complain, as Tatiana Lokshina, deputy head of the Moscow bureau of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in her conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

September 26, 2009 22:00

• Head of Stary Achkhoy and his son assassinated in Chechnya

  Ali Artamov, head of the village administration of Stary Achkhoy, and his son Anzor, who worked as his father's security, have been murdered in Chechnya.

September 26, 2009 20:00

• Tsintsadze: refusal to return to parliament makes Georgian opposition weaker

  The refusal of opposition parties of Georgia to take part in elections does not strengthen, but only weakens the political force of the opposition, political scientist Soso Tsintsadze said in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

September 26, 2009 18:00

• Peaceful resident of Makhachkala, killed in skirmish, was announced militant, his uncle states

  One of the eyewitnesses of the special operation in Makhachkala on September 24 asserts that an innocent peaceful resident was killed in it and later announced to be a militant. Kurban Magomedov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that his nephew, Alikhan Dinov, 26, occasionally happened to be there and got into the skirmish.

September 26, 2009 17:00

• Georgia: street traders ask MIA to stop oppressing them

  In Tbilisi, the street traders, who worked in the territory adjoining the "Dynamo" stadium, sent a letter to Vano Merabishvili, Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, calling him to stop oppressions.

September 26, 2009 16:12

• Pakhomov: Sochi to conquer European level of service

  The city-resort Sochi has long-term experience of receiving guests, but by Olympic Games-2014 it will have to reach the European level of rendering of services, Anatoly Pakhomov, Sochi Mayor, said in the context of the 8th International Investment Forum "Sochi-2009".