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In Yerevan, about five thousand people took part in the protest action, organized by the initiative group DEM.AM outside the residence of the President of Armenia with a demand to guarantee enforcement of the decision of the Constitutional Court (CC) on the new pension system.

On April 18, the bill aimed at tightening the anti-terrorism legislation was adopted in the second reading by 348 Russian State Duma MPs. The third reading is scheduled for April 22, says the website of the Duma.

Today in Dagestan, the parishioners of the Salafi mosque located in the village of Shamkhal, an outskirt of Makhachkala, detained during a police raid have been set free, said a local resident.

Starting from April 20, parents of detained and tried activists of the Azerbaijani "Nida" movement will go on hunger strike in protest against the prosecutor's demand to sentence their sons to long terms of imprisonment, ranging from 6.5 to 8.5 years. The parents believe that their sons are innocent and are being persecuted for political reasons.

On April 16, the Yazidi community of Armenia celebrated the New Year – Tawusi Melek. On the eve of their New Year, young Yazidis gathered in the temple "Sanctuary", which was built two years ago in the village of Aknalich, Armavir District, where they read the prayer, lit a fire and made their wishes.

On April 18, in the city of Nalchik, unidentified man opened fire at policemen who tried to check his documents, says the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR). He was shot dead by response fire, while none of the policemen was hurt.

On April 18, the Kirov District Court of Astrakhan began considering the criminal case against the removed City Mayor Mikhail Stolyarov, accused of taking a bribe. The court listened to the prosecution, while the defendant has refused to plead guilty.

On April 18, Firdovsi Fikret oglu Nasibov, a conscript of the Azerbaijani army, was found hanged. This was reported by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan. According to the preliminary information, the soldier has committed suicide.

The ban to hold a rally in Makhachkala in support of Said Amirov was unjustified, and law enforcers provoked participants of the rally. This was stated by participants of the press conference held in Makhachkala.

Journalists of the Georgian "TV3" Channel detained on April 15 by Russian border guards in Gori District claim they did not violate the border with South Ossetia. However, they do not deny that they captured on video the Russian military base.

One more crew member of the Astrakhan bulk-carrier "Vatan-1", which was detained in the port of Baku for debts, has been hospitalized. For the third day, the crew of the vessel is on the ship without fuel, heat and electricity.

In Yerevan, about 40 Syrian Armenians and Arabs organized a march in memory of the victims of the conflict in Syria and combat actions in the town of Kesab. The event was timed to the Independence Day of Syria, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

According to the investigators' priority version, militants are involved in the assassination of Musa Islavov, a Dagestani MP. This was reported by an official from the investigating bodies.

In Azerbaijan, journalist Parviz Gashimli, who is kept in the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the Azerbaijani Ministry of National Security (MNS), has stopped his hunger strike. Meanwhile, Parviz Gashimli claims he is still subjected to pressure in the SIZO.

The concerns of rights defenders that Evgeny Vitishko, an ecologist from Krasnodar, was placed in the dungeon in the penal colony in the Tver Region of Russian, where he serves his term, have not confirmed. As reported by activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), Evgeny's conditions have not changed.

In Azerbaijan, at the trial of "Nida" activists, today the court has finished studying the evidence and listened to the closing speech of the state prosecutor. He demanded from 6 to 8.5 years of imprisonment for the defendants. The latter announced an endless protest hunger strike.

The Prosecutor's Office of Chechnya has initiated the resumption of the criminal case dealing with the kidnapping and subsequent disappearance of Askhab Soltagiraev, a resident of Chechnya, who was kidnapped by unidentified power agents in spring 2002, said the Office. Soltagiraev's relatives believe that law enforcement bodies were involved in his kidnapping.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that Timur Tangiev, who is kept in SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 1 of the Department for the Chechen Republic of the Russian Penitentiary Service (known as UFSIN), complains about threats and unfair treatment that he receives from law enforcers – in protest he cut his wrists, but survived.

Since March 21, activities of the public organization "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) are suspended in accordance with Article 42 of the Law "On Public Associations". This was reported by Bella Meretukova, the head of the Division for NGO Affairs of the Department of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for the Republic of Adygea.

Following the results of 2013, Russia occupied the 10th place in the ranking of countries, where high probability of impunity for murders of journalists still remained. This was reported by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The report prepared by the CPJ mentions the murders of journalists from Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Chechnya and the Stavropol Territory.