News

June 05, 2009 23:00

• Idris Tsizdoev, kidnapped in Ingushetia, not found yet

  Relatives of Idris Tsizdoev, 28, who was kidnapped by unidentified persons on May 26 in Malgobek, still know nothing about his whereabouts. On that very day they informed law enforcement bodies about the incident; however, so far, they failed to learn anything about Tsizdoev's further fate.

June 05, 2009 22:40

• Newspaper editors: Abkhazian authorities hamper independent editions

  This week in Abkhazia the issue of the independent newspaper "Chegemskaya Pravda" failed to appear, and another paper - the "Wanted Paper" - was forced to be printed by means of a risograph. According to editors of the editions, which position themselves as independent, the printing house named "Alasharbaga", where the papers used to be printed for a couple of years already, suddenly rejected them, saying that small circulations are unprofitable for them.

June 05, 2009 22:10

• Armenia: imprisoned oppositionist is against amnesty

  Gagik Dzhangiryan, an activist of Armenian opposition and former Deputy General Public Prosecutor, convicted for rendering resistance to power officials, is against amnestying political prisoner, saying that they had committed no crimes; therefore, the concept of amnesty is inapplicable to them.

June 05, 2009 22:00

• Stay of children outdoor at night to be restricted in Volgograd Region

  Amendments to the law aimed to restrict the stay of minors in public places late in the evening and at night, adopted at the federal level were supported by deputies of the Volgograd Regional Duma. The bill is ready and planned for adoption on June 11.

June 05, 2009 21:00

• Dzhussoev: ecologists' claims against gas pipeline built in South Ossetia are groundless

  Albert Dzhussoev, director general of the "Stroyprogress" Company, has stated that ecologists' accusations of his company, engaged in laying the Tskhinvali-Dzuarikau gas pipeline, are groundless, as before the construction the object of international value had undergone all the required numerous checks.

June 05, 2009 20:00

• Chechnya's MIA reports detention of woman-militant

  In the Grozny District of Chechnya, power agents have detained a woman, a suspected member of an illegal armed formation (IAF). Local law enforcers think that last autumn for a short period of time she was with one of militants' groupings.

June 05, 2009 19:00

• Court postpones hearing of Nemtsov's claim on cancellation of Sochi Mayor election

  Today, the Tsentralny District Court of Sochi has postponed for the third time the preliminary hearing of the claim lodged by oppositional politician Boris Nemtsov with a demand to cancel the outcomes of the election of the city Mayor. The hearing failed for absence of respondents from the electoral commission and Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov.

June 05, 2009 18:00

• Interior Minister of Dagestan buried in his native village

  Adilgerei Magomedtagirov, Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, assassinated today in Makhachkala, was buried according to Islamic rites into the cemetery of Gonoda village in the Gunib District.

June 04, 2009 23:40

• Defendants in Nalchik attack case cancel their announced hunger strike

  The defendants in the criminal case on the events in Nalchik on October 13, 2005, decided not to start their hunger strike since, as reported by their advocates, doctors from the SPID Centre visited the SIZO, examined defendant Sergey Kaziev suspected to be sick with hepatitis B and appointed respective treatment to him.

June 04, 2009 23:30

• Ombudsman of Armenia condemns violence against journalists during elections in Yerevan

  Ombudsman Armen Arutyunyan has stated that he has facts that press professionals were prevented from normal work in Armenia and that force was used against journalists on the voting day to the Board of Elders of Yerevan.

June 04, 2009 23:00

• Journalists from Southern Caucasus and Russia rewarded in Oslo

  On June 3, the capital of Norway hosted the awarding ceremony of Herd Bucerius Award "Free Press of Eastern Europe" to journalists from the CIS countries. Journalists from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Russia were among the laureates.

June 04, 2009 22:10

• Farmanyan: investigation of opposition's clashes with the police is in deadlock

  The work of the fact-finding group about clashes of the opposition with the police forces on March 1, 2008, in Yerevan has in fact failed. This was told to journalists by Samvel Farmanyan, press secretary of the President of Armenia, in his comments on the complicated situation in the group. He has expressed his regret that the group members nominated by various political forces failed to depart from their political benchmarks and work independently.

June 04, 2009 22:00

• AI: situation in Northern Caucasus remains instable

  The section named "Russia" in this year's report on human rights worldwide of the Amnesty International (AI), the largest international independent human rights organization, dealt mainly with the situation in Northern Caucasus. This was reported by Frederica Behr, an AI's researcher.

June 04, 2009 21:00

• Olympic construction threatens to poison Sochi residents with mercury, authorities unaware

  The city of Sochi stands on deposits of mercury ore; and its chaotic build-up without due geological surveys can lead to emission of mercury vapours to the surface and result in tragedy. Nadezhda Didenko, candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences and scientific secretary of the Sochi branch of the Russian Geographical Society told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about it. So far, the authorities of Sochi know nothing about it, but promise to address the issue.

June 04, 2009 20:00

• Arthur Babaev: criminal case of "Yabloko" leader assassinated in Dagestan can get ruined

  Arthur Babaev, brother of Farid Babaev, leader of the Republic's branch of the Russian "Yabloko" Party, who was killed in Dagestan, does not exclude that the murder criminal case can be closed. Dokka Itslaev, advocate for the Babaevs, said that the direct gunman can escape punishment.

June 04, 2009 19:00

• In Ingushetia, prosecution party in "case of twelve" demands trial without jury

  At the session on June 3 of the court considering a group of suspected participants in the attack on Ingushetia in summer of 2004, the prosecution moved a petition to consider the case without jurymen. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by one of the participants in the litigation.

June 04, 2009 18:00

• Special commission to gather information about disappearances in 1992 in Prigorodny District

  A special commission in charge of investigating the fates of missing residents of the Prigorodny District of North Ossetia has started its work with collecting all relevant information; then, it will move to localities.

June 03, 2009 23:50

• Moscow City Court releases militiamen who stopped fight with participation of Chechen natives

  Today, the Moscow City Court has cancelled the decision to arrest militiamen from the OVD (Interior Department) "Mitino", accused by four natives of Chechnya of beating them in a Moscow cafe. The Court has sent the arrest petition submitted by the investigation to the Tushino District Court for re-consideration.

June 03, 2009 23:30

• Ismail Khamkhoev kidnapped in Ingushetia found dead in Chechnya

  Ismail Khamkhoev, 39, kidnapped on April 28 by unidentified persons in Ordzhonikidzevskaya village of Ingushetia, was found dead in Chechnya. He was buried on June 1.

June 03, 2009 23:00

• ICPO: a MIA agent kidnapped and killed a local resident in Ingushetia

  Mustafa Iliev, an employee of the MIA on the Republic of Ingushetia, will face justice for kidnapping and murdering a human. This was reported by the Investigatory Department (ID) for Ingushetia of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation.