Most of Chechnya's convicts to be pardoned by yearend - Kadyrov

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GROZNY, September 19 (Itar-Tass) -- By the end of this year nearly all
of Chechnya's residents convicted of various offences since the beginning
of the counter-terrorist operation in the republic will be pardoned and
freed, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said on Friday. He was speaking at
a festive ceremony in Grozny on Friday timed for the Chechen Woman Day.
Kadyrov said the measure would not apply to those jailed for terrorism.


.PGO investigators deny Arctic Sea crewmembers are held by force.


MOSCOW, September 19 (Itar-Tass) -- The Prosecutor-General's Office
Investigation Committee has emphatically dismissed media rumors some crew
members of The Arctic Sea freighter are being held by force on board the
vessel and the investigators are allegedly forcing them to keep working
against their will, PGO IC spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass.
He said that Friday's statement by the head of the northern regional
branch of the Russian Seamen's Union, A. Krasnoshtan, had nothing to do
with the reality.
On board the freighter Russian investigators and Maltese officials
were conductive investigative actions within the framework of the criminal
case opened over the instance of piracy and abduction of Russian citizens
- members of the freighter's crew.
"All actions were carried out in strict compliance with Russia's Code
of Criminal Procedure and international maritime law," Markin said. "No
unlawful actions have been committed by members of the investigation team
towards the crewmembers."
The PGO IC official said that investigation on board The Arctic Sea
had been completed on September 16 and by preliminary agreement the crew
and the investigators were to disembark at Las Palmas.
"However, the Maltese authorities' refusal to send their
representatives to the ship for the handover procedure posed a question
mark over the ship's arrival in that port. Also, it put the crew and the
investigators in an equally inconvenient position," Markin said.
"In view of the aforesaid the PGO IC demands publication of a special
statement refuting the claims as groundless. It reserves the right to turn
to court to file a lawsuit against the source of false allegations to
demand compensation for the damage caused to its reputation," Markin said.


.Georgia's stance at Geneva consultations politicized-Russian FM.


MOSCOW, September 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Georgia's stance at the Geneva
consultations within the framework of international discussions over
security and stability in the Caucasus that were held on September 17 was
politicized and confined to attempts at restoring its territorial
integrity by force, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
"The strenuous discussion within the two working groups - for security
and for humanitarian problems - indicated that the Georgian side, instead
of focusing on constructive work, prefers to follow the futile politicized
line towards restoring from the position of strength its territorial
integrity, lost as a result of its own aggression against South Ossetia in
August 2008," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The Russian side briefed its partners in detail on the efforts
exerted to strengthen security in this troubled area of the South
Caucasus, measures to stabilize the situation on the borders of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia with Georgia, and the scale of assistance being
extended to the newly independent states in Transcaucasia," the Foreign
Ministry said. "It was stated that the signing of agreements on the
non-use of force by Georgia, on the one hand, and Abkhazia and South
Ossetia on the other, remains the absolute priority."
"Useful contributions to stabilization on the borders between
countries of the region might be made by such international organizations
as the United Nations, the European Union and the OSCE, in particular,
through constructive involvement in the operation of joint mechanisms of
incidents prevention," officials at the Foreign Ministry explained.
"Delegations from Abkhazia, Russia and South Ossetia suggested focusing on
practical work to extend assistance to Georgian, Ossetian and Abkhazian
refuges, who had to abandon their homes throughout the period of armed
confrontation in the region starting from 1989, and expressed the
readiness to go ahead with the joint search for ways of improving the
humanitarian situation in the region."
"Taking part in the meeting were delegations from Abkhazia, Georgia,
Russia, the United States, South Ossetia and representatives from the EU,
the UN and the OSCE," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "Deputy Foreign
Minister Grigory Karasin led the Russian delegation. The next meeting in
Geneva is due on November 11."

-0-str