Russian Journalists Disallowed from Entering Georgia

Russian journalists Vladimir Mamontov and Maxim Shevchenko, having arrived to Georgia to participate in a round table conference on Russian-Georgian relations, were disallowed from crossing the passport control line in the Tbilisi airport. Georgian border control officers explained that the entry ban is based on “Article 14,” but did not say of which law.

http://lenta.ru/articles/2009/09/03/goaway/

Forged Statute Officially Published

The City Charter of Miass, Russia, officially published in the local gazette, was discovered to materially differ from the version adopted by the City Duma (municipal assembly). Somebody introduced numerous amendments to the Charter in the period between its adoption and publication. It is not immediately clear which version, if any, is now in force.

http://russian-law.livejournal.com/49993.html

64,000 Phones Wiretapped in 2009

According to officially published statistics, Russian courts in the first six month of 2009 gave 64,000 permissions for wiretapping suspects’ phones to law enforcement bodies. In 1,500 cases such a permission was denied.

http://rg.ru/2009/09/03/sudy.html

Investigator Discloses State Secret

Attorneys for Boris Kuznetsov, a lawyer prosecuted for disclosing a state secret, announced that the investigator responsible for the case, when requesting an order for Kuznetsov's arrest, submitted classified documents to the court. Kuznetsov was prosecuted for a similar act: he copied a classified document (a memo on wiretapping that he argued was illegal) from his client's file and submitted it to the Constitutional Court. The defense has requested that the case against Kuznetsov be dismissed or that the investigator be punished. Kuznetsov fled to the U.S. in 2007 and obtained political asylum.


http://gazeta.ru/social/2009/09/02/3254877.shtml

Abkhazian Citizen Convicted of Spying for Georgia

The Supreme Court of Abkhazia, a Georgian breakaway province, sentenced Abkhazian citizen Diana Shedania (Aseeva) to 19 years of imprisonment for espionage. She was charged transmitting secret information on Abkhazian military objects to the Georgian intelligence service.

http://lenta.ru/news/2009/09/02/shedania/

Public Prosecutors Subject to Drunk Driving Laws

New regulations authorize the Russian traffic police to prevent public prosecutors and other officials with legal immunity from driving. According to a traffic police spokesman, intoxicated officials with immunity have caused many fatal accidents.

http://russian-law.livejournal.com/49916.html

South Ossetian Officer Convicted of Spying for Georgia

The Supreme Court of South Ossetia, a Georgian breakaway province, sentenced Major Timur Gutsmazty (Guchmazov), formerly a South Ossetian border control officer, to 16 years of imprisonment for espionage. He was charged with selling secret information to the Georgian intelligence service. Reportedly, Guchmazov has Russian citizenship and was captured by the South Ossetian KGB on Russian territory.

http://newsru.com/world/31aug2009/spy.html
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1055055

Turkish Skipper Sentenced in Georgia

Turkish citizen Mehmet Öztürk was sentenced by a Georgian court (the Gagra City Court in exile) to 24 years of imprisonment for illegally crossing the Georgian border and breaching the “rules of navigation on occupied territory.” Öztürk was the captain of a Panamanian-flagged tanker delivering oil products to Abkhazia, a Georgian breakaway province. Georgia also seized and confiscated the tanker. In response Abkhazia has threatened to seize Georgia-bound ships.

http://lenta.ru/news/2009/08/31/buket/

Demonstration in Support of Freedom of Assembly Dispersed

The Moscow police dispersed an opposition demonstration meeting in support of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees the "right to assemble peacefully, without weapons, hold rallies, meetings and demonstrations, marches and pickets." Thirty participants were detained.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1229663&NodesID=7