By empty (5/24/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

If Russia grants political asylum to former Georgian states security service head and leader of Georgia\'s opposition Justice party Igor Giorgadze, it will be acting in accordance with Russian legislation and international law, Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov said. \"Political asylum could be granted to Giorgadze, in the first place, on the basis of Russian legislation which complies with the 1961 convention on granting political asylum to persons who are being persecuted by their state for political reasons,\" Kolesnikov told Interfax on Wednesday. (Interfax).

By empty (5/24/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Armenian President Robert Kocharian has expressed gratitude for the actions taken by Russia after the crash of the Armavia Airbus A320 near Sochi in a telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin. \"The Armenian president expressed gratitude for Russia\'s efficient and full-scale involvement in the rescue operation after the crash and congratulated the president for the successful completion of efforts to recover the flight recorders,\" the Kremlin said, adding that the conversation was initiated by Kocharian. Putin \"expressed hope that the recovering of the black boxes, which became possible as a result of the unique skills of experts, will allow to uncover all the details of the crash,\" the Kremlin said.

By empty (5/24/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Nodira Hidoyatova, a businesswoman and the coordinator of the Uzbek opposition movement Sunshine Coalition, was released from jail in Tashkent on May 23 with a seven-year suspended prison sentence for financial crimes. Hidoyatova originally received a 10-year sentence in March for economic crimes. The court commuted her sentence at an appeal on May 23 after Hidoyatova\'s relatives and friends compensated the state for 36 million soms ($29,500) and $40,000 in damages.