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On March 14, the law enforcement bodies lifted the counterterrorist operation (CTO) legal regime introduced a year ago in the Khasavyurt, Kazbek and Kizilyurt Districts.

Today, a source of the "Kommersant" close to investigators has reported that since 2014, the FSB had been wiretapping phone calls of members of the Dagestani government, including Abdusamad Gamidov.

On March 14, Khedy Ibrieva, an advocate of Ingush oppositionist Magomed Khazbiev, could not visit her client, kept in the SIZO-1 of Karabulak.

Dalia Zaviatskene has held a solo picket in central Gelendjik, demanding to cancel the decision to demolish her house, and resignation of the city head. She said that policemen threatened to arrest her in case of continuing her pickets.

The counter-terrorist operation (CTO) regime, introduced in the Tsumada District of Dagestan on March 4, has been cancelled today, the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) has stated.

On March 13, the Chechen authorities initiated a pre-election flash mob in social networks. Employees of public institutions told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they were obliged to take part in the flash mob.

On March 13, after the TV debate on the "Alania" GTRK (State TV and Radio Company), Soslan Bestaev, an authorized representative of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, attacked Badri Gazzati, an authorized representative of Grigory Yavlinsky and the chair of the local branch of the "Yabloko" Party, the press service of the "Yabloko" Party reported on the same day.

On March 13, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported detention in Dagestan and Moscow of nine persons suspected of extorting money and threatening the head of one of Dagestani mass media and his relatives, and of attacking the journalist.

In 2017, an overall decrease in the number of victims to the armed conflict in the regions of Northern Caucasian occurred against the backdrop of an increase in the number of civilian casualties. This is evidenced by the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot".

In the village of Vale, near the Saint Nino Chapel, unidentified people burned down Catholic books and icons. Local residents suggest that someone is trying to sow enmity between the Catholic and Orthodox believers.

The advocates and relatives of Muslimat Kurbanova, who returned home from Syria, intend to appeal against the verdict awarded to her, considering it too harsh. The court could have passed a more lenient sentence, if it had followed the new, not old, wording of the article, which provides for a softer punishment, an advocate for Muslimat Kurbanova told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Irina Berchiyan has managed to visit her native Baku for the first time in 30 years. The woman joined the "Armenia-Azerbaijan Civil Peace Platform", an organization supporting the settlement of the Karabakh conflict on the Azerbaijani conditions.

Rovshan Azizov, an English language teacher, has appealed to the court to be reinstated in his job at a school in Baku. According to the teacher, he was dismissed for his civil position. On March 12, the school principal admitted at trial that the teacher was dismissed because of his calls for peace between the peoples of Azerbaijan and Armenia he had voiced in front of pupils, Rovshan Azizov said.

The today's visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Dagestan was accompanied by reinforced security measures: in the morning, the central square of Makhachkala was cordoned off by policemen and special service agents; a large number of armoured vehicles were parked nearby; and snipers were deployed on roofs of houses.

In the Stavropol Territory, members of the movement "Golos" (Vote) and the local Navalny's office have held a series of trainings for observers. Participants of the trainings interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" noted the trainings gave them confidence that observers were able to prevent violations at polling stations.

Today, Murtazali Gasanguseinov, a father of the murdered shepherds, has succeeded in meeting Denis Popov, Prosecutor of Dagestan. At the meeting with the chair of the Dagestani Prosecutor's Office, Murtazali Gasanguseinov was accompanied by rights defender Djambulat Gasanov, a representative of the Gasanguseinov family.

On March 12, an advocate of Oyub Titiev announced that the police came to the conclusion that the cigarettes found during a search in the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" contained marijuana. The advocate questioned the conclusions made by the experts.

On March 12, acting Dagestani leader Vladimir Vasiliev announced that the problem of dilapidated schools is to be solved by the method of "all-nation construction" with allocation of the money from the Dagestani budget and investment of the funds by outstanding natives of a district or a city.

In Azerbaijan, there is no any political intrigue in the upcoming presidential election, and they virtually have no alternatives, but one candidate only, Anar Mamedli, the head of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre (EMDS), told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Family members of Pyotr Parpulov, who was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony for high treason, were notified that the former air traffic controller had been refused a pardon.