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Civil society activists of Azerbaijan have urged Thorbjorn Jagland, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE), who is on his official visit to Baku, to help in releasing political prisoners. He was given a list of 30 political prisoners, who, according to human rights activists, should be immediately released.

Safety in Southern Caucasus is impossible without resolution of conflicts and regional cooperation. This was the leitmotif of the roundtable, organized in Baku by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation from Germany.

On May 19, in the Naursky District of Chechnya, policemen detained two men who tried to sell a batch of firearms, a representative of the Chief Department of the local MIA told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On May 19, youth organizations and student councils of Karabakh universities released an appeal, adopted during a protest rally in Stepanakert against the statement of James Warlick, the US' Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group for peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

On May 18, in the course of a special operation conducted in the village of Dugulubgey, Baksan District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), power agents did not allow relatives of the people blocked in the house during the storm to pass through the cordon and persuade their relatives to surrender, thus preserving their lives, Eduard Abazov, a villager, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Prior to attacking policemen, two of three criminals, who took part in the shooting with members of the crew of the road-and-patrol service (known as DPS) in Chegem in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), had kidnapped a taxi driver and stole his car. This was reported by officials from the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

Three residents of the village of Sogratl of the Gunib District of Dagestan, detained on May 17, are suspected of possessing weapons. Their relatives claim that grenades were planted to the detainees by law enforcers, who conducted searches in the village.

The testimony of the last prosecution witness has been announced in Rostov-on-Don at the trial of the dismissed Makhachkala Mayor Said Amirov, accused of plotting a terrorist act. Now, the defence will begin presenting its evidence at the session scheduled for May 21.

The members of an illegal armed formation (IAF) killed during a special operation in the village of Dygulybgey were involved in the killings in 2013 of civilians and law enforcers, said the spokesman of the operational headquarters of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR).

Magomedamin Magomedov and Zalimkhan Valiev, the leaders of Tarkin settlements, detained for 48 hours by decision of the investigator of the Inquiry Division of the Dagestani NIA, were released from temporary detention and placed, under the ruling of the Kirov District Court of Makhachkala, under home arrest.

In Moscow, the "Gostinny Dvor" Exhibition Centre hosted the Moscow International Travel Fair "MITF-2014", where residents and guests of Moscow had the opportunity to get acquainted with the offers of the leading Russian and international tour operators and to book tours at special discounted rates. Representatives from two North-Caucasian republics Ingushetia and Dagestan have noted an increased interest of the visitors in their region.

In the course of the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, during the week from May 12 to May 18, 2014, at least 21 people suffered, including 10 killed and 11 wounded persons. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The managers of the Azerbaijani Service of Radio Liberty have appealed to Ramil Usubov, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Azerbaijan, demanding to investigate the attack on the reporter Islam Shikhaliev, committed on May 16, while he was covering a confrontation at the smelting factory in Baku.

On May 17, the action held in front of the parliament building gave a start for collecting signatures in Tbilisi to support a demand to amend the Law "On Prohibition of All Forms of Discrimination" and adopt a new law prohibiting the propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation. It is planned to send the collected signatures to the Georgian Parliament.

The defendants in Said Amirov's case have nothing to do with the man-portable air defence system (MPADS), presented by the prosecution, said the advocate of the dismissed Mayor of Makhachkala. In his turn, the state prosecutor said that not all the evidences had been presented yet, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports from the trial underway in Rostov-on-Don.

The noisy opening of the resort season says nothing about the city's preparedness for the arrival of tourists, said local residents questioned by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The opening ceremony took place on May 17 in Sochi – concerts, festivities and other entertainment events lasted till late at night.

In connection with the disaster in the Darial Gorge, the press service of the Georgian Ministry of Energy has issued the statement which denies the responsibility of builders of the Darial Hydraulic Power Plant (HPP) for the landslide.

The visit of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to the Kashatag District of the breakaway and non-recognized Nagorno-Karabakh was met by a protest of local residents against the principles of conflict settlement proposed by James Warlick, the US Co-Chair of the above Group.

In Sochi, city officials fail to enforce their own decision of 2011 on demolition of the emergency house, situated in the settlement of Vesyoloe, Adler District, and on resettlement of its tenants. People claim that they have no sewage, heating, water and gas supplies, while officials disregard all their problems.

Today, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Arslanali Zeinalov, the Chairman of the Board of Elders, that Magomedamin Magomadov and Zalimkhan Valiev, the leaders of community councils of Tarkin settlements, were detained in Karaman, near Makhachkala. Residents of the above settlements demand their release under recognizance not to leave.