News

March 16, 2006 19:19

• Russian servicemen in Dagestan accused of desecration of Koran

  Russian servicemen in North Caucasus are accused of desecrating Koran, the holy book for Moslems. One such incident in Dagestan has been reported by local journalists. Moscow's servicemen unofficially say that the case is serious.

March 16, 2006 16:17

• Dagestan court declines the protest of human rights activist Boliev's lawyers against prosecutor's actions

  In the course of the court trial on the case of Boliev which is under way now in Khasavyurt (Dagestan) the court declined the lawyers' petition to recognize the evidence of the prosecution illegitimate.

March 16, 2006 11:16

• Another court hearing on the case of Boliev concluded in Dagestan

  Today, the court hearing in the Khasavyurt town court of Dagestan has been resumed on the case of the human rights activist Osman Boliev accused of storage, acquisition and wearing of arms took place in Dagestan. The defence represented by lawyers Ahmed Umaev and Salimat Kadyrova filed an application to exclude from the list of evidences the report on Boliev's search because it had not been signed either by the persons conducting the search or by Boliev. Salimat Kadyrova stated that "it is obvious that the evidence was obtained with violations of legislative requirements and have no legal force. If the report is not signed it is not valid."

March 16, 2006 01:02

• Boliev's lawyers convinced in framing of the case by power authorities of Dagestan

  Today, the court hearing in the Khasavyurt town court of Dagestan has been resumed on the case of the human rights activist Osman Boliev accused of storage, acquisition and wearing of arms. Salimat Kadyrova, Sergey Brovchenko and Ahmed Umaev, the defendant's defence lawyers, report this to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. As lawyer Umaev has just related from the court room by telephone, the judge has declined the defence application to exclude from the case the evidence obtained with violations of the law. At the moment, arrival to court of witnesses for the prosecution is expected. Their interrogation will start the consideration of the case on its merits.

March 15, 2006 18:02

• Mikhail Trepashkin's lawyer convinced in the accusatory outcome of the trial over her defendant

  "Yes, the ruling to refuse the grant of parole has been passed by the court. But the trouble is that neither me nor Sergey Brovchenko, the other lawyer of Trepashkin, could attend the hearing, and we sent a telegram to Sverdlovsk court to this effect in advance," stated Elena Liptser to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "I have just talked with the Trepashkin's local lawyer and she has told me that the court had an intention to consider the case today."

March 15, 2006 17:16

• Local resident released by power authorities in Chechnya after torture

  In the evening of March 7, 2006, officers of the local power authorities captured and took to an undisclosed location Islam Esinbayev, born in 1979, resident of the village of Prigorodnoye, Grozny District, Chechnya.

March 15, 2006 17:12

• Mikhail Trepashkin on hunger strike in Nizhni Tagil colony

  Mikhail Trepashkin, former FSB officer, serving his term at Nizhni Tagil colony for disclosing a state secret, has gone on a hunger strike. "In protest against what is being done with regard to Trepashkin, he has resorted to extreme measures and gone on hunger strike," states Elena Liptser, the convict's lawyer. According to her, Trepashkin's health is not good and the hunger strike may only deteriorate his condition, "there is even a threat to his life."

March 15, 2006 10:17

• The prosecutor's office in Kabardino-Balkaria tries to hush the case of R. Tsakoev killed by power authorities officers

  As has been found out by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, the parents of the deceased Rasul Tsakoev have addressed a complaint to Vladimir Lukin, RF Ombudsman, in which they report about the death of their son and the fact that the Prosecutor's Office in Kabardino-Balkaria is unwilling to investigate the circumstances of the crime and hold the guilty persons responsible.

March 15, 2006 03:06

• "Beslan Mothers" severely criticize the law on terrorism

  A roundtable discussion "Combating terrorism. Power and people" has been held in North Ossetia. The roundtable has been initiated by the "Beslan Mothers." The event has been attended by victims of the terrorist act in Beslan, leaders of the Republic's parliament and government, representatives of political parties and public organizations, and also by employees of the FSB, MIA, Ministry of Emergencies, and the prosecutor's office, who directly deal with combating terrorism.

March 15, 2006 00:00

• Refugee returned from Georgia to be kidnapped

  On March 9, ten unknown persons wearing camouflage and armed with automatic guns entered flat No 76 at Khmelnitski Street, 43 in Lenin District of the Chechen capital and took to an undisclosed location Borchashvili Mikhail Dzhaparovich, born in 1957. Nothing is known about his location now.

March 14, 2006 18:33

• Children of militants killed during attack on the Kabardino-Balkaria capital are denied social protection

  As the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been informed, the widow of Rustam Nafedzev, participant in the attack on the Nalchik power authorities on October 13 who had three children of pre-school age, filed a law suit in the Nalchik town court against the refusal by the Pension Fund to allocate a social pension to the children. Some other widows are also preparing similar suits.

March 14, 2006 10:38

• Human rights activists: Ramzan Kadyrov leads Chechnya to Shariat

  "What they have been fighting against in Chechnya - Shariat, drop out from the unified legal space, neglect of the Russian laws on the Republic's territory – everything which Dudaev was accused of, and also Maskhadov after the Khasavyurt agreement, now reigns in the republic under the patronage of Moscow," stated Lev Levinson, expert of the Institute of Human Rights, to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent while commenting on the recent Ramzan Kadyrov's orders with regard to mandatory wearing of kerchiefs by women. "Even a child can understand that it runs counter to the Constitution or the Russian laws. He has no authority to issue this kind of instructions, orders, directions, etc. "

March 14, 2006 06:00

• Militia of Ingushetia tries to search the house of Chechnya parliament member

  On March 14, 2006, the representative office of the Chechen Republic in the Republic of Ingushetia (RI) sent an address to the RI President M. Zyazikov, RI parliament speaker M. Sakalov and minister of internal affairs B. Khamkhoev, containing a request to take appropriate measures against illegal actions by law enforcement officers of the Republic of Ingushetia. This has been reported to the "Caucasian Knot" by the "Chechen Committee for National Salvation."

March 11, 2006 05:00

• Human rights activists: Mikhail Trepashkin's life under immediate threat

  The "Caucasian Knot" has been handed over an open address to the ambassadors of G7 in the Russian federation about the situation threatening the life of political prisoner Mikhail Trepashkin. The document is signed by Liudmila Alekseeva, Chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group; Elena Bonner, human rights activist; Svetlana Gannushkina, "Civil Assistance" Committee; Lev Ponomaryov, movement "For Human Rights"; Yuri Samodurov, director of the Andrei Sakharov museum and public centre; Ernst Cherniy, secretary of the Public Committee to Protect Scholars; clergyman Gleb Yakunin, Committee for the Protection of Freedom of Conscience.

March 10, 2006 15:08

• Supporters of Wahhabism are looked for in Kabardino-Balkaria schools

  The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that law enforcement officers in Kabardino-Balkaria go on looking for teenagers at schools who tend to practice non-traditional Islamism. The panic started after the inscription "Jihad is freedom" appeared in one of the schools of Nalchik.

March 10, 2006 11:18

• US State Department: Human rights seriously violated in Armenia

  "In 2005, serious problems existed in Armenia with regard to human rights." This is contained in the Report on Human Rights of the US State Department annually published early in March.

March 10, 2006 09:13

• Servicemen in Chechnya soot at village Katyr-Yurt

  At dawn of March 7, the vicinity of the village of Katyr-Yurt of Achkhoy-Martan district, Chechnya, was subjected to artillery shelling from the places where federal forces are located. The incident is reported in the press-release of the Russian-Chechen information agency, handed over to the "Caucasian Knot." There are no victims among the local residents. However, the blast wave broke glazing and damaged the roofing of some houses.

March 07, 2006 05:07

• Human rights activist Dmitrievskiy applies to General Prosecutor's Office against new abuses of judge

  The chief editor of the "Pravo-zaschita" newspaper, sentenced for publishing the address of separatists Maskhadov and Zakaev, has filed a new petition to the RF General Prosecutor's Office with a request to bring Vitali Bondarenko, judge of the Soviet district court in Nizhni Novgorod, to criminal responsibility for hampering justice and abuse of power. This is contained in the press-release of the Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship handed over to the "Caucasian Knot." On the previous day, complaints against the illegitimate actions of the judge were filed to the Judges' Qualification Panel and Sergey Kanevskiy, chair of the Nizhni Novgorod Regional Court.

March 06, 2006 18:18

• Public of Ingushetia calls for preventing revision of the law "On Rehabilitation of Repressed Nations "

  In the opinion of representatives of public in Ingushetia, Ossetia continues its attempts to have the law "On Rehabilitation of Repressed Nations" amended.

March 06, 2006 17:17

• Close associate of Maskhadov disappears after talk with Gilles-Robles

  On February 25, 2006, Alvaro Gilles-Robles, Council of Europe Commissar on Human Rights, visited the camp of "Chernokozovo" in the Chechen Naur district where he got acquainted with the conditions of holding prisoners among whom was Murdashev Vakhid Lakaevich sentenced to 15 years of prison, who had been with Aslan Maskhadov on the day of his death. After a talk with Murdashev, Alvaro Gilles-Robles stated that the "Chechen General demonstrates firmness and conviction" in asserting his principles.