News

July 18, 2009 21:00

• Georgian Parliament toughens regulations on manifestations

  On July 17, the Parliament of Georgia adopted three bills "On Assemblies and Manifestations", "On Police" and Code of Administrative Offences, which assume tougher regulations on holding manifestations and more severe punishments for beaching them.

July 18, 2009 20:00

• "Memorial" leader Oleg Orlov is ready to face Ramzan Kadyrov in court

  Oleg Orlov, Chair of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", is ready to litigate with President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, who is now preparing, via his advocate, his claims to the court and Moscow GUVD (City Interior Department) in the context of Mr Orlov's statements about Mr Kadyrov's responsibility for the murder of human rights defender Natalia Estemirova.

July 18, 2009 19:00

• Chechen TV channels convince viewers that certain forces murdered Estemirova to blacken Kadyrov

  In Chechnya, TV channels are quoting, in their news programmes, the authorities of the republic, who keep asserting that the murder of human rights defender Natalia Estemirova was backed by certain forces willing to blacken the peoples of Chechnya and Ingushetia and Ramzan Kadyrov personally.

July 18, 2009 18:00

• HRC "Memorial" suspends its work in Chechnya

  The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" suspends its activity in Chechnya after the kidnapping and murder of its employee Natalia Estemirova.

July 17, 2009 23:58

• Russian human rights activists to support head of HRC "Memorial" in litigation against President of Chechnya

  Russian human rights activists promise to support Oleg Orlov, leader of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", in litigation against President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov. This was stated by Liudmila Alekseeva, Chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group. Mr Kadyrov also has a supporter - Ombudsman in Chechnya Nurdi Nukhazhiev.

July 17, 2009 23:00

• Meeting in memory of Natalia Estemirova held in Paris

  In the evening on July 17, about 150 persons came to St Michel Square in Paris to commemorate the perished human rights activist Natalia Estemirova.

July 17, 2009 22:30

• Employees of "Memorial" in Chechnya discuss expediency of further work in the republic

  Employees of the Chechen branches of the HRC "Memorial" are gathering to a meeting aimed to discuss the expediency of their further work and presence in the Chechen Republic. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by Lilia Yusupova, advocate and head of the Gudermes branch of the HRC "Memorial".

July 17, 2009 22:00

• Armenia: criminal case initiated against policemen who opened fire at opposition rally

  The Special Investigatory Service (SIS) of Armenia has opened a criminal case against the policemen who used the special means named "Cheryomukha-7" during dispersal of peaceful oppositional rally on March 1 last year in Yerevan. Journalists were informed about it by Sona Truzyan, press secretary of the State Office of Public Prosecutor of Armenia.

July 17, 2009 21:10

• In Chechnya, during Estemirova's farewell ceremony unknown persons tried to stop the procession

  In the course of the farewell ceremony with the well-known human rights defender Natalia Estemirova, killed on July 15, two men in civil clothes, one of them with firearms on him, tried to stop the column that moved along the Putin Avenue in Grozny ahead of the catafalque with Estemirova's body.

July 17, 2009 21:00

• OSCE representative calls Azerbaijani authorities to release arrested bloggers

  In the course of the meetings, held by the OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut with officials of Azerbaijan during his visit to Baku on July, 15-17, the issue was raised about the bloggers Adnan Gadjizade and Emin Milli, who were arrested last week.

July 17, 2009 21:00

• "Berlin's German-Russian Exchange" is shocked by Estemirova's murder

  The organization named "Berlin's German-Russian Exchange" (DRA) was shocked by the news about violent murder of Russian human rights activist Natalia Estemirova and thinks that Russia is still far from "overcoming its legal nihilism."

July 17, 2009 20:30

• Criminals killed Estemirova, having suspected a militia raid, investigation believes

  The Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation has restored the picture of the murder of the employee of the HRC "Memorial" in Chechnya Natalia Estemirova. Under inspectors' preliminary conclusions, the kidnappers initially were not going to kill the human rights activist, but had to do it, probably, having come across a road blockade. They could take the operative group that worked on the road for a round-up mission against them.

July 17, 2009 20:30

• Picket in memory of Natalia Estemirova held in Moscow

  The picket in memory of the assassinated employees of the Grozny "Memorial" Natalia Estemirova lasted in the Novopushkinskiy Mini-Park of Moscow for one and a half hours. Over 200 persons came to commemorate the human rights activist and express protest against events in Chechnya. At 7:17 p.m. the militiamen who surrounded the site allocated for the picket demanded the participants to disperse.

July 17, 2009 19:00

• European Court finds Russia guilty of a Chechen resident's disappearance in 2003

  On July 16, the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) passed a decision, obliging Russia to pay 50,500 euros to relatives of Arbi Karimov, a resident of Chechnya, as Russian authorities were found guilty of his disappearance in 2003.

July 17, 2009 18:20

• Russian rights activist kidnapped, found dead. White House condemns killing of Russian rights activist

  The killing of Natalia Estemirova, prominent Chechen human rights activist, came a week after U.S. President Barack Obama met with Russian civil society activists, including members of Estemirova's group. The White House National Security Council issued a strong statement of condemnation, saying it was "deeply disturbed and saddened."

July 17, 2009 18:00

• U.S. condemns murder of Russian rights activist Estemirova

  The White House has expressed sadness over the abduction and murder of Russian human rights activist Natalya Estemirova in the North Caucasus, and called on the Russian government to bring the killers to justice.

July 16, 2009 23:50

• Rostov miners-pensioners want to ask European Court to accelerate consideration of their claims

  In the near future, miners-pensioners from the city of Zverevo, Rostov Region, who strive for their privileges in payment for heating, plan to send a letter to the Chairperson of the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) with the request to accelerate consideration of their claims because of the applicants' elderly age.

July 16, 2009 23:10

• IRFS calls EU "trio" to help in defending human rights in Azerbaijan

  The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) has addressed the delegation of the European Union's "trio", which arrives in Baku on July 19, with an appeal to raise, at negotiations with Azerbaijani officials, the issues of human rights violations and restriction of the freedom of press in the country.

July 16, 2009 23:00

• MIA: three rebels liquidated, two militiamen wounded in skirmish near Makhachkala

  The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the MIA of Dagestan that in the course of the skirmish near Shamkhal-Termen village near Makhachkala, three IAF (illegal armed formation) members were killed today and two militiamen were wounded. One of the casualties was Imam of one of rural mosques.

July 16, 2009 22:10

• At trial on events of October 2005 in Nalchik, prosecution discloses the case

  On Thursday, at the session of the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria on the events on October 13, 2005, the accusation party started disclosing the materials of the criminal case related to the episode named "Landysh" (Lily of the Valley).