Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - december 2008

• 2008-12-31
• Europa in de wereld

1 december

- N. Caucasus: (i) Three policemen were killed in a clash with gunmen in Sunday in Makhachkala. (ii) One policeman was killed and five others wounded in a clash with militants on Saturday in Chechnya. (iii) According to media reports, the seventh young woman has been found dead in Chechnya. Earlier last week, the bodies of six young women with gunshot wounds were found in Chechnya. It is not ruled out that the women might have been targeted because they were seen as leading “amoral lifestyles”. (iv) Kommersant-Vlast weekly publishes an interview with former Ingush President Ruslan Aushev on the situation in Ingushetia and the whole Northern Caucasus. (Interfax, Kommersant, MT, RIAN)

3 december

- N. Caucasus: (i) Two servicemen were wounded in an explosion on Tuesday in Chechnya. (ii) According to media reports, five people have been detained in North Ossetia in connection with the assassination of Vladikavkaz mayor Vitaly Karayev who was killed in a presumably sniper attack. Earlier, an Islamist group claimed responsibility for Karayev’s murder. (iii) Vremya novostei reports on Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov’s initiative to set up a public council on human rights in Ingushetia, which will deal with the missing people issue. (Interfax, Izvestia, MT, VN)

5 december

- StrasbourgCourt rules against Russiain Chechen abductions cases: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russiapay 320,000 euro as compensation to relatives of Chechens killed or abducted in Chechnyain 2001-2003. (RIAN, VN)

8 december

- N. Caucasus: (i) Vedomosti reports on plans to set up within the Federation Council a special commission for the Northern Caucasus. The daily writes that the commission will be in charge of issues related to North Caucasusrepublics, but adds that “representatives of Parliaments of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Georgia, Azerbaijanand Armenia” will get observer status. (ii) Two suspected militants and an FSB officer were reportedly killed in an operation on Saturday in Makhachkala. (Interfax, Vedomosti, VN)

12 december

- Former Chechen warlord killed in Istanbul: Former Chechen separatist field commander, Islam Dzhanibekov, was killed on Tuesday in Istanbul. According to media reports, the killers used a Groza pistol, which was often used by Russian special operations forces. Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports that one of the theories behind the killing is “Russian special services’ revenge”. (Izvestia, NG)

19 december

- Two policemen killed in Chechnyaclash: Two police officers were killed and six others were injured in a clash with militants late on Wednesday in the Chechen town of Argun. Vremya novostei points out that there have been no such serious clashes with militants in Chechnyafor a long time. (NG, RIAN, VN)

22 december

- Medvedev, Abbas to discuss Mid-East situation, bilateral ties:President of the Palestinian National Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas, who is visiting Russiaon December 20 - 22 at the invitation of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev intends to discuss bilateral cooperation and the Middle Eastsituation with the Russian president on the last day of his visit. Abbas started his visit in Chechnyaon Sunday, where he was welcomed by Chechen president Ramsan Kadyrov. (All media)

23 december

- Medvedev holds talks with Abbas: Commenting on the agenda of talks between President Medvedev and President of the Palestinian National AuthorityMahmoud Abbasyesterday in Moscow, press mentions the issues of the Middle Eastpeace settlement and a conference on the Middle East, planed for 2009 in Moscow. It was the first meeting between Medvedev and Abbas. During his current visit to Russia, Abbas also visited Chechnya. (Gazeta, Izvestia, Kommersant, VN)

25 december

- Court grants parole request to ex-colonel Budanov convicted for killing Chechen girl: Yesterday, a court in the Ulyanovskregion granted a parole request filed by former army colonel Yury Budanov, who had been convicted of the murder of an 18-year-old Chechen girl and sentenced to ten years in prison and stripped of his military rank and awards. The court ruled to reduce Budanov’s term by one year and three months. Kommersant writes that the father of the killed girl was “shocked” by the court ruling. (Gazeta, Kommersant, Novye Izvestia, RG, Vedomosti, VN)

26 december

- Northern Caucasus: (i) More than 1,000 people rallied on Thursday in Groznyto protest against a court ruling which grants parole to former army colonel Yury Budanov who had been convicted of the murder of a Chechen girl. The father of the killed girl intends to appeal against the court ruling with the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office and file a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights. (ii) According to media reports, twelve suspected militants were killed in an operation that began on Wednesday in Ingushetia. (iii) The media reports on the detention of a number of former and current high-ranking Ingush officials on charges of embezzling RUR 355 million (around €8.86 million). (Gazeta, Interfax, Kommersant, Lenta.ru, Novye Izvestia, VN)

30 december

- Northern Caucasus: top police officer killed in Dagestan: (i) Maj. Gen. Valery Lipinsky, deputy commander of the North Caucasusarm of Russia's Interior Forces died of wounds he sustained in a gun assault on Monday evening in Makhachkala. (ii) An aide to the Nazran prosecutor was injured in an attack on Sunday. (iii) A second rally was held on Monday in Groznyto protest against a court ruling which grants parole to former army colonel Yury Budanov who had been convicted of the murder of a Chechen girl. (Interfax, Lenta.ru, RIAN)

31 december

- Family of killed Chechen girl appeals against parole of ex-colonel Budanov: The family of an 18-year-old Chechen girl has appealed against acourt ruling which grants parole to former army colonel Yury Budanov who had been convicted of her murder. A lawyer for the family has sent a complaint to Russian Supreme Court Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev. (Interfax)