Watchdog

The trial of journalist Fatima Margieva on charges of illegal possession of weapons began this week in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus reports.

Police found a gun and explosives in Margieva's house in Tskhinvali last year. In February she was taken into custody by police.

Margieva said the case against her is politically motivated and retaliation by local authorities for her journalistic work. She has hired a lawyer from North Ossetia, Lana Khachirova, to represent her.

Khachirova told RFE/RL that South Ossetian authorities have not given her access to all of the documents related to the case. She said she has noted numerous procedural violations in the case.

She expressed certainty of an acquittal if those objections are taken into account.

Margieva's daughter, Yelena Kaloyeva, told RFE/RL that the court ruled not to hear all of the testimony by witnesses at the opening session of the trial on April 12.

The next hearing is scheduled for April 22.

The Russian Journalists Union has expressed solidarity with a Moscow-based magazine that refuses to turn over source material to police, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

In a statement, the union said it was "deeply concerned" at the attempt by authorities to seize documents from "The New Times" magazine.

Moscow's Tverskoi court ruled on April 12 that "The New Times" should give all of the audio and video materials related to two articles published in February about alleged abuses by the Interior Ministry's OMON forces to police investigating a libel case against the magazine.

The charges were filed by Moscow's Interior Affairs Department.

"The New Times" editors refused the court order, saying that they have a right to protect their sources. Editor in Chief Yevgeniya Albats told RFE/RL that she has appealed the case to a Moscow city court.

"The New Times" articles were reportedly based on statements from former and current officers. They alleged that OMON officers were paid to provide security for businesses and private homes, collected protection money from prostitutes, and essentially used Central Asian migrants as slave labor.

Hearings for the appeal are scheduled for April 28.