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The operation to "neutralize" Doku Umarov was conducted in late 2013, said Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB.

At the hearing of his case, the Rostov journalist and blogger Sergey Reznik complained about the custody conditions at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) and asked to change it for home arrest; but the court denied the motion.

On April 15, the Zamoskvorechye Court of Moscow is to hold the next court hearing to consider the claim filed by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" against the prosecutors' demand to get registered as a foreign agent.

Azerbaijan starts a judicial investigation into the criminal case against Anar Mamedli, the head of the Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Training (CEMDT), and his two colleagues. The case will be considered in the Baku Court of Grave Crimes by judge panel chaired by Judge Rauf Aliev.

In Chechnya, Christian cemeteries have been properly cleaned for the upcoming celebration of the Orthodox Easter, which will be held on April 20. This was reported by officials from the Chechen Ministry on National Policy, External Relations, Press and Information.

Alvi Abdurakhmanov, a resident of Chechnya, who was detained by law enforcers after his acquittal in court, is held in Grozny in one of the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). This was reported by his family members.

The advocates of those accused of committing crimes in the territory of Ingushetia and North Ossetia, including the terror act in the marketplace of Vladikavkaz in 2010, expressed their disagreement with the verdict passed by the North-Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don and announced their intention to appeal against it.

Russia had had more information about the intentions of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a native of Chechnya and one of the organizers of the terror act during the marathon run in the US city of Boston, but did not share it with the FBI, says the inspectors' report on the check of the actions of the CIA to prevent the terror act.

In Armenia, activists of the group DEM.AM intend to scale up protests, should the government fail to amend the new pension law.

The Vladimir Putin's decision to include Ramzan Kadyrov into the Presidium of the Russian State Council was expected. This opinion was expressed by Professor Alexei Malashenko from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin.

The defence of the public organization "Don Women's Union" has denied in the court the prosecutors' claims on recognizing the organization as a foreign agent, said the defence lawyers. According to their version, three witnesses were questioned at the session on April 7.

The North-Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced a group of defendants, accused of crimes committed in the territory of Ingushetia and North Ossetia, including the terror act in the marketplace in Vladikavkaz.

On March 31, Suleiman Edigov, a resident of Chechnya, accused of endangering the life of a law enforcer and arms trafficking, stopped his hunger strike, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reports.

The international human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) has launched a campaign to collect signatures to the petition calling for release of the youth activists of the civil movement "Nida", arrested in Azerbaijan.

The Federal Security Bureau (FSB) of the Russian Federation acting jointly with its colleagues from other countries, including Georgia, has stopped the preparations of terror acts at Olympic facilities in Sochi, said the FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov.

Fariz Namazly, the advocate of Mamed Azizov, an activist of the civil movement "Nida", kept in prison in Azerbaijan, has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) asking to investigate his client's torture. The lawyer believes that Article 3 (prohibition of torture) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was violated in respect of Azizov.

The militants, who in November 2013 attempted on the life of madrassa teacher Arslanali Shakhbulatov, known for his criticism of Wahhabism, have been identified, said a law enforcement source. They were killed during a special operation in January.

Russian authorities should immediately release Ruslan Kutaev, a resident of Chechnya and the President of the "Assembly of Caucasian Nations", who was detained on February 20 by republic's power agents, and ensure the effective investigation of his report about torture at the police, the international Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports.

The Russia's Constitutional Court (CC) has recognized constitutional the requirement that NGOs receiving financial assistance from abroad should get registered as "foreign agents". The decision of the CC will allow the courts to consider the "roundtables", interviews, and press releases as political activities. This was emphasized by Furkat Tishaev, a lawyer of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

The Moscow City Court holds hearings in the case of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta". During the presentation of defence evidence, the advocates of the defendants twice demanded to disqualify the judge.