Watchdog

The director of an independent periodical in Russia's Samara Oblast faces charges of infringing on intellectual property rights, according to RFE/RL's Russian Service.

"Samarskaya gazeta" head Sergei Kurt-Adzhiev was officially accused by Russian prosecutors of using unlicensed PC programs for employees.

He was ordered not to leave the city of Samara until the investigation is complete.

Kurt-Adzhiev, a former Samara bureau chief for the independent "Novaya gazeta" newspaper, rejects the charges and says they are politically motivated.

His lawyer, Nikolai Gavrilov, told RFE/RL that he would file an official protest with the Prosecutor-General's Office.

Reports that a newly built mosque is slated for demolition has sparked a protest in the northwestern Azerbaijani town of Delimmedli, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reported.

The Hazrat Ali Mosque was completed less than a year ago.

Protesters say officials claim the building is situated too near a road, but they question why other structures are not being subjected to the same fate.

Mohammad Ashurov, a Goranboy regional official, said the mosque is being demolished because of a natural-gas pipeline that passes nearby.

But he said the mosque might not be pulled down if an order saving it comes from a higher level of government.

Two other mosques have been razed in the past month: a mosque in the Yasamal district and the only offshore mosque, on Oily Rocks off the coast of the capital, Baku.