South Wales Echo
April 7, 2004, Wednesday

REPRIEVE FOR MUM

by BY ANNA HAMMOND

A couple refused asylum in this country have been given a last-minute
reprieve.

Aygun and Rauf Musayeva moved to Cardiff from Azerbaijan 15 months
ago after suffering physical violence and torment.

The couple claim mother of two Aygun, 29, was persecuted by locals
and the police because of her mixed ethnic origin.

But both were refused asylum and Mrs Musayeva, whose mother was
Armenian, was told she must return to Azerbaijan THIS week after an
appeal hearing ruled she had been ill-treated but not severely enough
to gain asylum.

Since then neighbours have rallied together hoping that the
authorities will let them and their sons – Mirjamil, six, and Farid,
four, stay.

The couple’s solicitor Michael Barnett, an asylum case worker with
Cardiff-based company Rees Wood Terry, said he had discussed the case
with the Immigration Service and the couple had been given more time.

He said that Mrs Musayeva had been granted permission to stay in the
country until her husband’s appeal.

He added: ‘The file has been sent to the appeal office but we have no
idea when the hearing will be.’

Rauf, 35, of Moorland Road, Splott, said: ‘I am very pleased that my
wife and children can stay with me until a decision is made on me.’

Neighbour Debbie Robinson, 39, said the family still had the support
of many people in the street.

‘It is good that they are not going, this is what we have been
working on,’ she said. ‘The next stage is making their stay permanent
because they have so much to offer the community.’

Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press
April 7, 2004

SKINHEADS PROSECUTED ON RARELY USED CHARGES. — Incitement of Ethnic
Enmity With the Use of Violence. Kommersant, March 9, 2004, p. 5.
Condensed text:

Editors’ Note. — The St. Petersburg City Prosecutor’s Office has
completed its investigation of the case against Dmitry Bobrov, leader
of a skinhead group known as Schultz-88, and six of his accomplices,
and has forwarded the materials to a court. . . . Andrei Tsyganov has
the details.

* * *

Detectives from the St. Petersburg Administration for Combating
Organized Crime [ACOC] came across Dmitry Bobrov’s group while
investigating one of the city’s increasingly frequent attacks on
people from the Caucasus. In late March 2003, a group of teenagers
with shaved heads brutally beat a native of Armenia in the lobby of
the Pushkin subway station. Two months later, ACOC detectives
detained Aleksei Madyunin, a 21-year-old lathe operator, and a
17-year-old skinhead on suspicion of involvement in the incident. At
first they were both charged with hooliganism. . . . However, during
the investigation the detectives concluded that a more serious crime
had occurred. During searches of the apartments of the detainees and
their friends, the detectives confiscated skinhead paraphernalia and
large amounts of extremist literature. . . . In the opinion of the
ACOC detectives, the authors of the magazine articles did their
utmost to belittle the national dignity of Jews, blacks and people
from the Caucasus, and openly called for violence against them.

In late October of last year, ACOC detectives detained 24-year-old
Dmitry Bobrov (Schultz), who had written many of the aforementioned
articles and, as it turned out, was the unofficial leader of a group
of the same name, Schultz-88. According to the detectives’
information, the Schultz-88 group had existed for about two years,
during which time it had become one of the most well-organized young
people’s groups in Petersburg. The group (Schultz himself called it a
“gang”) numbered between 30 and 40 people (aged 16-20), had its own
store on Liteiny Prospect (where skinhead literature and clothing
were sold), had established ties with unofficial groups in the
capital, and engaged in both “ideological” work and attention-getting
actions: beatings of foreigners. Detectives say the Schultz group was
responsible for at least 10 to 15 such beatings. Only a few of them
could be proved, however; many victims of skinhead attacks do not
file police reports.

After studying the materials assembled by the detectives, the St.
Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office decided to reclassify the actions of
suspects Bobrov, Madyunin and four other arrested Schultz members
from “hooliganism” to the rarely used Art. 282 of the Russian
Federation Criminal Code (“Incitement of Ethnic, Racial or Religious
Enmity”). Part 2 of this article (under which all the detained
Schultz members are being charged) provides for punishment in the
form of three to five years’ incarceration. In addition, Dmitry
Bobrov is being charged under Criminal Code Art. 282 (a) (“Organizing
an Extremist Association”; this is the first time this article has
been used), as well as Art. 280 (“Calling for the Violent Overthrow
of Russia’s Constitutional System”) and Art. 150 (“Involving a Minor
in the Commission of a Crime”). . . .

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday

Russia, Armenia to hold several joint exercises in summer

MOSCOW

The Armed Forces of Russia and Armenia will hold several joint
exercises in summer this year, Colonel-General Mikhail Arutyunyan,
Armenia’s Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of
Defence, has announced in an interview published in the Krasnaya
Zvezda (Red Star) newspaper on Thursday.

Arutyunyan said, “Joint combat training activities are carried out
under the plan, signed by the defence ministers of our two countries,
for bilateral cooperation between the Defence Ministries in 2004 and
a plan for joint operational planning of the use of troops in the
interests of ensuring joint security.”

“A command-and-staff exercise in conjunction with the Combined Group
of Troops (CGT) and a joint tactical exercise with field firing are
planned for summer,” General Arutyunyan said. “Besides, it is planned
to hold a series of joint activities of air defence units and
aviation of the 102nd Russian military base and Armenia’s Armed
Forces that draw joint duty within the framework of the Joint Air
Defence System of CIS countries,” Arutyunyan emphasised.

“Joint command-and-staff training was conducted together with the CGT
early in February. At the end of that month, we held an operational
assembly of the Armed Forces’ commanding personnel with the
participation of the generals and officers of the Russian military
base located on Armenia’s territory,” Arutyunyan said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday

Attempt on RF commander’s life is provocation – Bordyuzha

By Tigran Liloyan

The attempt on Russian troops in Transcaucasia commander Alexander
Studenikin’s life in Tbilisi is a provocation, said Major-General
Nikolai Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the Collective Security
Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

Bordyuzha arrived in Yerevan for talks with Armenian leaders on
Thursday evening.

“This is a pure provocation to destabilise the situation in Georgia
and strain relations between Tbilisi and Moscow,” Bordyuzha told
Itar-Tass.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday

Bordyuzha arrives in Yerevan for talks on situation in region

By Tigran Liloyan

Secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation
(CSTO) Major-General Nikolai Bordyuzha arrived in Yerevan on Thursday
for talks with Armenian leaders on the situation in the region, key
security problems and prospects for the creation of a collective
security system.

“This is a planned trip to prepare a June session of the Collective
Security Treaty Organisation, including sessions of the councils of
foreign ministers, defence ministers and the committee of secretaries
of the security councils,” Bordyuzha told Itar-Tass upon arrival in
Yerevan.

Earlier, Bordyuzha visited Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The CSTO
secretary-general is also expected to visit Kazakhstan and Belarus.
He will meet Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and representatives
of power-yield structures.

He said, “Armenia is one of the most active and interested
participants in the work of the CSTO. Armenian leaders join efforts
to step up cooperation with the CSTO and make this organisation more
effective and competent.”

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday

Karabakh crisis should be settled by compromise, dialogue – CE

By Sevindzh Abdullayeva and Viktor Shulman

BAKU

Council of Europe Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer said the
Karabakh conflict should be settled on the basis of compromise and
dialogue.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Schwimmer said the
Karabakh problem is a problem for all Europe and not only for
Azerbaijan,

Armenia and the region.

The CE secretary-general stressed that the conflict affected over one
million Europeans – Azerbaijani and Armenian refugees.

He noted that the Council of Europe was ready to help the OSCE Minsk
Group search for ways to settle the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. He
is convinced that it is possible to solve the problem on the
principles of humanism, through compromise and dialogue.

Schwimmer recognised that it was very difficult to reach a
compromise. At the same time, he pointed out that there was no
alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

The CE secretary-general called on the sides to refrain from mutual
accusations. This will not lead to peace, he said, adding that the
return of refugees was one of priority tasks.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday

Cultural exchanges in CIS space bring peoples closer

By Galina Gridneva, Valery Zhukov

DUSHANBE

The restoration of the tradition of cultural exchanges in the expanse
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) promotes spiritual
enrichment and rapprochement of peoples, holds Mikhail Shvydkoi, the
chief of the Russian Culture and Cinematography Agency.

Russian culture days that began in Dushanbe on Thursday sum up the
results of the work over the past 12 years to preserve cultural unity
of ex-USSR republics, Shvydkoi told Tass in the Tajik capital on
Thursday.

“Russia has preserved normal working friendly relations with cultural
figures of virtually all Commonwealth countries,” Shvydkoi said. He
sited the examples of Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and a number of
other countries.

“A favourable cultural climate for us has been created in Azerbaijan
and Armenia,” he said. “Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili made a
request to Russian leaders for Russian culture days in Georgia,”
Shvydkoi said. “We plan to hold these days in the second half of the
year”.

Shvydkoi said Russia has retained high quality artistic school. “It
is not accidental that most leaders of culture of ex-USSR countries
had been educated in the best establishments in Moscow and other
Russian cities. We will continue the tradition for training
specialists in our higher educational establishments,” he said. There
are plans for the exchange of creative collectives and art
exhibitions.

Shvydkoi believes Russian pedagogues will be needed in Tajikistan
where a conservatory and a ballet school opened last year. Following
the talks with the leaders of Tajikistan’s Culture Ministry it is
planned to sign the agreement on cultural cooperation up to 2006,
Shvydkoi said.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday

Armenia govt has enough legal means to curb extremism

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

The Armenian government has enough legal means to curb political
extremism in Armenia, President Robert Kocharyan said in an interview
to Armenian public television on Thursday.

“The opposition must be careful or else its actions can boomerang on
it,” the president warned. He believes people will not tolerate
provocations. Wisdom will help them make the right appraisal of the
situation.

Kocharyan understands “the indignation of those who elected him when
they constantly hear members of the opposition say that the backbone
of power must be broken, that blood must be spilt”.

He called on his supporters “to show restraint and ignore
provocations of the opposition”. “People have elected me, so I should
fulfil their expectations, not the vice versa”. “People have
authorised me to use levers of power to ensure law and order in the
country,” the president said. He believes opposing one part of the
people to the other would be “the worst scenario”.

The president “gets the impression” he “became the target for the
competing leaders of the opposition”. He said the situation would
ease as soon as the opposition, the “aggressive political minority”,
names its leader.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday

CIS official arrival in Armenia not linked with opposition moves

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

Nikolai Bordyuzha, the secretary-general of the Collective Security
Treaty Organisation, denied assertions that his arrival in Armenia is
linked with the fact that the local opposition stepped up its
activities.

Bordyuzha said in an exclusive interview to Tass upon his arrival
that the Collective Security Treaty Organisations is not going to
interfere in the events in Yerevan. “This will be decided by
political instruments, not by clashes,” Bordyuzha believes.

The opposition that became more active in the recent days urges the
Armenian authorities to fulfil the decision of the country’s
Constitutional Court, made last year, about a referendum on the vote
of confidence for the president. The opposition convenes a “national
rally” on Friday, wishing to compel the president to resign.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday

Armenia is no Georgia, president tells opposition

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan told the opposition it would not
succeed in importing the revolution scenario from neighboring Georgia
and he would remain in office.

The opposition plans to stage a rally Friday in Yerevan and demand
the president to step down.

“The situation in Armenia was influenced by the developments in
Georgia. The change of authority there incited hope in the Armenian
opposition. However they did not take into account that the countries
are different and the strength of authorities is different as well”,
Kocharyan said.

The opposition Justice bloc and the National Unity party said in a
statement their aim was to make the president resign. Opposition
leaders Stepan Demirchyan and Artashes Gegamyan urged to fulfill last
year recommendation of the Constitutional court to hold a referendum
on trust to authorities.

Demirchyan said the opposition will do its best so that the “process
is under control and peaceful”. He warned the authorities will be
responsible for any use of force.

Kocharyan responded by saying “Armenia has enough resources to curb
political extremism by lawful means”. He ordered police to be
“extremely reserved, to interfere only in extreme cases so that there
are no reasons to accuse authorities of brutality”, the president
said.

“The opposition should be cautious in its actions as they may
boomerang back”, he warned and called on his supporters to be
reserved and avoid provocations. Kocharyan said the reported beating
of some opposition leaders “can only be denounced”.

The Mayor’s office of Yerevan has not allowed to hold the opposition
rally and security in the capital has been enhanced.

“They will either have to resort to unlawfulness, and they know what
the response will be, or retreat, which will mean they will lose
face”, Kocharyan said branding the opposition as “aggressive
political minority”.