While browsing the Internet, we accidentally came across a picture of an elderly woman holding a sign dedicated to ‘Nord-Ost’. We were moved by both the sign, and the person holding it.

We wished to know more about this person, and as a result of searches of Live Journal, we learned that this elderly woman is a survivor of the Leningrad Blockade, a teacher, and draws her own posters.

Her political leanings are Democrat, and on every 31st of the month, as well on as other days, she walks along Nevsky Prospect with her signs, and often stands with her posters in front of Saint Petersburg’s large exhibition and shopping center, Gostiny Dvor.

On the evening of May 6th she was at Gostiny Dvor, holding up two signs, with two more on the sidewalk next to her. The police simply walked on by, and no one bothered her. The next day, however, she was again at Gostiny Dvor, and was arrested for some reason, but the police chief ordered her released, because: “I won’t holding a Blockade survivor here!” Later she moved her demonstration to St. Isaac’s Square, and stood by Tsar Nikolai’s monument with a sign protesting Putin’s inauguration.

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Organizer of the Sep 11th terrorist attacks brought before military tribunal

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the organizer of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, and four accomplices were brought before a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. The Associated Press reported this on May 5th.

At this first session Mohammed refused to answer Judge James Pohl’s questions. According to his lawyers, the accused was protesting against his “unjust” trial. Pohl warned Mohammed about inadmissibility of such behavior, and the trial continued without him.

Another defendant, Walid bin Attash, for some unknown reason was placed in a special chair used for aggressive inmates. After bin Attash promised to “behave appropriately”, he was untied.

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Day of mourning declared in Dagestan for victims of double bombing

President of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov declared Saturday, May 5th, to be a day the national mourning in connection with the twin terrorist attacks that took place in Makhachkala, killing 12. RIA ‘Novosti’ reported this.

Two blasts took place in Makhachkala on the evening of May 3rd. The first was a suicide bomber who detonated an explosive device after stopping his car in front of a highway patrol post. Ten minutes later, after police and emergency ministry personnel had arrived at the scene, there was a second explosion. This time the device went off in a parked ‘Gazelle’ van. Law enforcement assessed the power of explosions at 10 and 50 kilograms of TNT equivalent.

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European Court will ask Russia questions about the largest terrorist attack in its history

The European Court of Human Rights will examine the actions of Russian security forces during the September 2004 Beslan hostage rescue. ‘Moscow News’ found out that the ECHR has agreed to consider a complaint from 447 residents of the North Ossetia city — people who were hostages, and those who have lost loved ones. These residents accuse the Russian authorities of violating the right to life in that law enforcement knew about the impending terrorist attack and did nothing to prevent it, and that the assault on the school entailed too much risk.

The Beslan victims’ case will be no precedent for the ECHR, which examined another terrible terrorist attack: the Chechen seizure of the Dubrovka theatrical center in Moscow. For failure to provide proper medical assistance to the victims and an ineffective investigation into the incident, the court resolved that the 64 plaintiffs be paid the unprecedented sum of $1.3 million

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