News

July 23, 2009 21:00

• Ingush FSB: Albakov's kidnapping was staged by his accomplices

  The kidnapping of the resident of Ingushetia Batyr Albakov, who was then killed on July 21 during special operation in Sunzha District of the republic, was imitated by his accomplices with the aim to conceal the fact of his departure to militants. This is the opinion of the Department of FSB for Ingushetia.

July 23, 2009 20:00

• Chechen MoE plans to form special teams for land demining

  In the nearest ten days, the Chechen Republic is planning to set up special groups for demining farmlands. The respective decision was passed upon agreement with the Ministry of Emergencies (MoE) of Russia.

July 23, 2009 19:00

• Sabail Court of Baku rejects bloggers' appeal against police

  Today, the Sabail District Court of the city of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, under the chairmanship of Famil Nasibov, rejected the complaint submitted by young bloggers Adnan Gadjizade and Emin Milli against the actions of the Sabail District Police.

July 23, 2009 19:00

• In Armenia, Ombudsman is anxious about state of health of convicted journalist Babadzhanyan

  Armen Arutyunyan, Armenian Ombudsman, has addressed Gevork Danielyan, Minister of Justice, with a request to help in organizing medical examination of Arman Babadzhanyan, now imprisoned editor-in-chief of the oppositional newspaper "Zhamanak" (Time), whose health condition has sharply worsened.

July 23, 2009 18:00

• Gannushkina: version that they killed Estemirova to do harm to Kadyrov fails

  The version of Natalia Estemirova's murder for the sake of causing harm to President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov can be excluded from consideration in view of the circumstances of the murder. This was stated by Svetlana Gannushkina, chair of the public charitable organization for helping refugees and forced migrants "Civil Assistance", head of the network "Migration and Law" of the HRC "Memorial".

July 22, 2009 23:30

• Azerbaijan: arrested bloggers sue the police

  The arrested bloggers and youth activists Adnan Gadjizade and Emin Milli have lodged a suit against the Sabail District Police Department. It will be considered on July 23 by the Sabail District Court of Baku under the chairmanship of Famil Nasibov.

July 22, 2009 23:00

• Rostov: prosecutor's office ready to check threats addressed to leader of "Young Europe"

  Konstantin Baranov, leader of the Rostov-on-Don branch of the all-Russian organization "Young Europe", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he was summoned to the Regional Prosecutor's Office in the context of his statements that appeared in media about threats, which he receives from neo-Nazis.

July 22, 2009 23:00

• Federation of Circassian Hases of Turkey demand to punish Natalia Estemirova's killers

  The Federation of Circassian Hases of Turkey (KAFFED), which unites representatives of all Caucasian nations, condoles with Natalia Estemirova's relatives and friends and condemns the customers and executors of her murder.

July 22, 2009 22:30

• Video surveillance will help maintaining order in Chechen capital

  In the nearest two weeks, all the administrative buildings, commercial sites and other throngs of citizens in Grozny will be equipped with video surveillance cameras.

July 22, 2009 22:10

• In Ingushetia, a shop selling alcohol was blown up

  In Ingushetia, in Ordzhonikidzevskaya village, today, at about 3:00 a.m., a shop that was selling alcohol beverages among other things was blown up. There were no victims, but the building was strongly damaged.

July 22, 2009 22:00

• Circle of suspects of Natalia Estemirova's murder established

  A high-ranking source in power agencies of the Southern Federal District has reported that the investigation had defined a circle of suspects of murdering Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the HRC "Memorial".

July 22, 2009 21:10

• Sochi: local residents demand to punish Moscow officer for abusing them

  Residents of Sochi Nuriet and Zarema Achmizova have lodged a complaint to the military public prosecutor of the Sochi garrison against Roman Nistratov who had humiliated, in their opinion, the national dignity of local residents of Golovinka settlement and members of Sochi national minority - Shapsugs (Adygs).

July 22, 2009 21:00

• FIDH: absence of "Memorial" means a failure in defence of human rights in Chechnya

  The International Federation of Human Rights (French abbreviation - FIDH) expresses its concern about the departure of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" from the Chechen Republic. The leaders of the Federation believe that the absence of "Memorial" in the republic will create a failure in defence of human rights.

July 22, 2009 19:00

• UN: by consent to international investigation of Estemirova's murder, Russian authorities will show their intention to find gunmen

  Rashid Aluash, adviser of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Russian Federation, believes that by consenting to hold an independent international investigation into Natalia Estemirova's murder, Russian leaders will manifest their commitment to reveal the culprits.

July 22, 2009 18:00

• Khazbiev: Batyr Albakov was killed in Ingushetia for the sake of statistics

  Batyr Albakov, who was kidnapped and later found dead and who was labelled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Ingushetia as a militant, was killed for the sake of statistics. This opinion was stated by Magomed Khazbiev leader of Ingush opposition. Human rights defenders note many strange things in this murder. Arsen Sakalov, director of the Nazran-based fund "Legal Initiative" said that as a whole, it happens extremely seldom that the kidnapped person is presented as militant.

July 21, 2009 23:40

• Azerbaijani human rights activists are indignant with judgement on bloggers

  Members of Azerbaijani NGOs have resolutely condemned the decision of the Baku Appeal Court to uphold the ruling of the Sabail District Court to arrest youth activists and bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Gadjizade for the period of two months.

July 21, 2009 23:10

• Mikail Ezhiev calls Natalia Estemirova's murder a provocation

  According to Mikail Ezhiev, leader of the NGO "Human Rights Centre of the Chechen Republic", members of local NGOs treat the murder of human rights defender Natalia Estemirova as a provocation. In their opinion, its aim was to kindle a military conflict between Chechnya and Ingushetia.

July 21, 2009 23:00

• In Georgia, two oppositionists are sentenced to 13-day custody

  The Tbilisi City Court has ruled to punish Meloru Vachnadze and Henri Bibileishvili, activists of the youth movement named "Join!" and participants of the action at the entrance to the building of Parliament, with a 13-day imprisonment.

July 21, 2009 22:30

• Three witnesses established in Estemirova's murder case, the fourth one is searched

  The law enforcement bodies engaged in investigating the circumstances of kidnapping and subsequent murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the HRC "Memorial", are searching two cars and the young woman, who was in immediate proximity from the place of the incident at the moment of kidnapping.

July 21, 2009 22:10

• Deportee from Egypt Maskhud Abdullaev is in Grozny

  Maskhud Abdullaev, son of Chechen field commander Supyan Abdullaev, who was deported from Egypt, is now in Grozny and plans to leave for Baku on July 24 to his mother. He told about it to Svetlana Gannushkina, chair of the Committee "Civil Assistance" in a telephone conversation.