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Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (CoE), has expressed his concern over the deterioration of the situation with democratic freedoms in Azerbaijan. He has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to comply with their international obligations in the sphere of human rights, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

On April 23, Yerevan hosted a torchlight procession to pay tribute to the memory of victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Participants of the torch procession demanded to withdraw the Armenian-Turkish protocols of 2009.

As reported by the Baku Military Court, Vice Admiral Shakhin Sultanov, the former Commander of the Navy of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, has been arrested for three months.

On April 22, the local ethnographic expedition "Native Landscape", headed by Victor Kotlyarov and Maria Kotlyarova, found a hideout with a large number of grenades and shells of the Russian Civil War in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR).

Ovik Abramyan, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Armenia, has stated that in the country, the mandatory component of the pension reform is suspended until the adoption of the legislative package complying with the requirements of the Constitutional Court (CC). This was reported on the official website of the Armenian government.

At least 133 people suffered from the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus in the first quarter of this year; of them, 84 people were killed and at least 49 more wounded. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

In Azerbaijan, the defence has challenged the arrest of Rauf Mirkadyrov, accused of treason. International human rights organizations and public activists of the country expressed their doubts about the grounds for charges against the journalist and called to release him.

On April 22, the frigate "USS Taylor" of the US Navy entered the Black Sea. This was reported by an official from the General Staff of the Russian Navy Forces. Meanwhile, military men of the Southern Military District (SMD) report on their intention to show the public for the first time the samples of equipment at disposal of the SMD navy units: the system designed to destroy surface vessels.

In Chechnya, starting from the beginning of the year, law enforcers detained five suspected accomplices of militants. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for Chechnya. According to the source, the armed underground in the territory of Chechnya has been almost completely destroyed.

Nagorno-Karabakh demonstrates progress in constructing state and strengthening democratic values. This progress may be encouraged by a more active position of the European Union towards the unrecognized state. This was stated by Frank Engel, a member of European Parliament (MEP).

On Wednesday morning, a regime of counterterrorist operation (CTO) was introduced in the Derbent and Tabasaran Districts of Dagestan. This was reported by the operational headquarters of Dagestan.

The Kuschevskaya District Court found four local residents, members of an organized criminal grouping, guilty of serious crimes. They were sentenced to 7-14 years of imprisonment.

Persons, who have organized discharge of construction waste in the Tsanyk Creek in Sochi, will be brought to administrative and criminal responsibility. This was reported by the police. The protocol against persons guilty of breaking rules of improvement and sanitary maintenance was transferred to the administrative commission. This was reported by the Khosta administration.

In South Ossetia, members of NGOs speak out against the use of the term "foreign agent" in the laws. People will find it difficult to understand the difference between an "agent" and a "spy". This opinion was expressed by Dina Alborova, the leader of the Agency for Socio-Economic and Cultural Development.

In the village of Andi, Botlikh District of Dagestan, a special operation took place aimed to find supporters of members of illegal armed formations (IAFs), said the head of the village Arslanali Alikhanov.

Boris Stomakhin, a founder of the newsletter "Radical Politics", who had served a sentence for providing informational help to websites supporting militants in Chechnya, has been sentenced by the Court to 6.5 years of imprisonment in a high-security colony. Upon completion of his sentence, Boris Stomakhin will be prohibited from working as a journalist.

In Dagestan, a new director of the Kizlyar Cognac Factory has been appointed. This was reported by Nikolai Spirin, Cossack Chieftain of the Kizlyar Special Near-Border District of the Lower Terek Cossack Army. According to his story, Oleg Artukhov became the company's director.

In Yessentuki, policemen have detained ex-military man, in whose car they found an improvised explosive device (IED) with electric detonator. According to the preliminary information, the bomb power was about one kilogram of TNT (trotyl) equivalent.

The investigating authorities of Dagestan have identified a suspected assassinator of Musa Islavov, a Deputy (MP) of the People's Assembly of Dagestan. This was reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On Tuesday, in the capital of Azerbaijan, policemen have dispersed a group of supporters of the arrested activists of the movement "Nida", who gathered near the building of the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. The Court has listened to the final speeches delivered by advocates in the case against the activists.