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The information about beatings in a colony located in Karelia spread by Lom-Ali Gelogaev, a native of Chechnya, via his advocate is untrue, Vitaly Fefelov, the head of the press service of the UFSIN (Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service) of the Republic of Karelia, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on March 1.

Attacks on civilians are not a new tactics used by the North-Caucasian underground, but such attacks are outside the ideology of jihad, said Alexei Malashenko, a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

The oppositional rally dated to the clashes of demonstrators with the police on March 1, 2008, and held in Yerevan in Freedom Square attracted more than 10,000 people. The Armenian National Congress (ANC), which organized the rally, said that civil initiatives and employees of the "Nairit", "Grand Candy" and a number of other major companies had joined them.

The joint programme of the HRC "Memorial" and the "Civil Assistance" Committee entitled "Harmonization of Interethnic Relations through Promoting Minor Businesses" was finalized in the Prigorodny District of North Ossetia with a workshop for educators, a roundtable in the employment centre and graduation of trainees in the "Kurtata" Business Centre.

In the 2013 annual report on the human rights situation in the world, the US Department of State has criticized the Azerbaijani government for restricting the fundamental human rights and freedoms. Oppositionists and civil society activists have welcomed the report, while the official Baku has rejected the criticism.

Roman Shikarev, the organizer of the rally against discrimination of Sochi residents has received a court ruling on his complaint against inaction of the city administration (Mayoralty) at considering his notification about a public action. The Court has found the complaint reasonable and ordered the officials to eliminate the violations.

Sochi rights defenders and activists have declared the need to discuss the police's actions during the preparation and holding of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Activists plan holding a roundtable and invite there top-ranking officials of the police, prosecutor's office, FSB and administration of Sochi.

The court has extended the detention for the participants of the "Million Mask March" by two months. Relatives of the detainees accused of resisting the police, are dissatisfied with this decision and believe that it was dictated by the court by the country's top authorities.

The first show of the film "February" by Ruslan Magomadov about the deportation of the Chechen-Ingush people took place on February 28 in Grozny. The film screenings will be held in all major towns in Chechnya, as well as at international film festivals, said the spokesman for the Ministry of Culture of the Republic.

On February 28, a commemoration party of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", took place in Grozny, which was attended by local human rights activists, her friends and those whom she had helped.

The United Mobile Group of rights defenders has finished checking the reports about torturing Ruslan Kutaev, a resident of Chechnya and president of the "Assembly of Caucasian Nations". The human rights organization "Committee against Torture" reports that the actions of officials used against Kutaev are qualified as torture.

The case "Djabrailov at al versus Russia" has demonstrated that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has passed to the "conveyor-like consideration" complaints submitted by residents of Northern Caucasus, because of systemic problems of non-investigation of disappearances, said Furkat Tishaev, the legal director of the independent non-commercial organization "Astreya".

On Friday, the birthday of Natalia Estemirova, a commemoration party took place in the conference hall of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

Participants of the pickets held in Moscow distributed leaflets of the Amnesty International in support of Evgeny Vitishko and urged the public to send appeals to Yuri Chaika, the General Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, asking him to do his utmost for the immediate release of the activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch).

A delegation of Cossacks from Ukraine arrived in the pre-border areas of the Rostov Region and claimed asylum, sources report. The authorities of the Rostov Region have declared their readiness to adopt Ukrainian refugees and provide them with the necessary aid. Rostov-on-Don plans holding two rallies in support of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.

In Dagestan, a Police Colonel Salikh Gadjiev, who was fired from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), is seeking reinstatement. His critical remarks against the leadership of the Dagestani MIA, which were regarded as a gross violation of discipline, caused the dismissal. Gadjiev has appealed to the Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to interfere.

During the Winter Olympics in Sochi, video services blocked about 40,000 clips posted on the Internet and containing illegal content about the 2014 Games, said the officials of the US broadcaster NBC. Also, about 5000 illegal live broadcasts from the Olympics were suppressed.

Murat Tkhagapsoev and Astemir Khagazheev, residents of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), whose disappearance in the city of Anapa was declared by Tkhagapsoev's wife, were arrested three times for 15 days by the court.

The lawyers and relatives of the defendants in Said Amirov's case deny that they received death threats, which had been declared by investigators and prosecutors, when they asked to extend the custody of the ex-Mayor of Makhachkala and to try the case in Rostov-on-Don.

The lawyer of the HRC "Memorial", who is representing the interests of the respondents under the lawsuit filed by the administration of the city of Karabulak on eviction of eight refugee families from the temporary accommodation centre (TAC) "Promzhilbaza", asked the claimant to provide a number of documents relating to the appointment of monetary compensation to forced migrants.