JULY 2006

From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 7/3/2006 12:30 PM
3/7/2006 2:07:36 PM
( Source: Reuters)

UK reporter barred from Russia

By Oliver Bullough

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has refused a visa to a British journalist well-known for his coverage of Chechnya and the turbulent Caucasus, citing the needs of "state security".

Thomas de Waal, who has previously worked in Moscow for the English-language Moscow Times, the BBC and the Times, said on Monday he had been due to attend the presentation of a Russian version of his book on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

But the Federal Migration Service refused him a visa.

The service was not available for comment on Monday but in its letter refusing the application, which was obtained by Reuters, it cited a 1996 law that says a visa can be refused "in the aims of securing state security".

De Waal said he had cooperated with Russian officials in the past on Nagorno-Karabakh, a South Caucasus ...
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From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 7/3/2006 1:35 PM
30.6.2006 16:34 MSK
In Ulan-Ude, participants detained in picketing against dissolution of Buryat autonomous regions
RUSSIA, Republic of Buryatiya, Ulan-Ude. On June 29th, in Ulan-Ude, participants were detained in a picketing action against the joining of two Buryat autonomous regions with the Irkutsk and Chita provinces. The picketing was held next to the building of the Buryat Drama Theater, where the All Buryat Congress was being held with Buryat representatives from various regions of the republic, Russian cities, and abroad.

According to Dorzho Dugarov, journalist from www.buryat-mongolia.info, and member of the human rights group "Erkhe", some of those detained were taken to the Soviet ROVD in Ulan-Ude. Dorzho Dugarov, Nikolai Tsyrempilov, Dorzh Tsybikdorzhiyev, and Radzhana Dugarova were accused there of disturbances of the social order while picketing. Among these "disturbances" were "flying the flag of the Republic of Buryatiya" and "shouting". The picketing was timed ...
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