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Today, at the Moscow City Court (MCC), the advocates of the figurants in the murder case of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper, have demanded to quash the guilty verdict handed down by the jurors on May 20, dissolve the jury and send the case for retrial.

The Prosecutor's Office of Dagestan has challenged the verdict passed to seven members of the "Southern" grouping of militants, who had surrendered under the guarantee of the Adaptation Commission of militants. The Prosecutor's Office treats the verdict pronounced by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Dagestan as too lenient.

In Georgia, activists have collected 15,000 signatures under the demand to adopt amendments to the anti-discrimination law and to adopt a new law prohibiting propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation. This has been announced today by Mikhail Andguladze, a member of the Society of Noble Families.

Azerbaijani court has sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment Abdula Abilov, a founder of the "Stop toadies!" Facebook group, who was accused of drug trafficking. Abdula Abilov has pleaded not guilty. He has claimed being prosecuted for political reasons.

On May 24, the authorities of Ingushetia have called on Ingush residents, who were rendering assistance to militants in Sagopshi, to voluntarily come to the law enforcement agencies within the three-day term. However, the Ingush residents did not respond to the authorities' call. This was reported by Alikhan Kuzgov, Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Ingushetia.

On May 26, Aslan Natov, a resident of the city of Baksan of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), who was detained during the special operation, was arrested by the decision of the Baksan City Court. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Ruslan Natov, the brother of the arrested man.

The court of general jurisdiction of first instance of the administrative districts of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeitun has dismissed the motions filed by the defence of retired Colonel Volodya Avetisyan, a Karabakh War veteran, accused of fraud, and left him in custody. Advocate Ara Zakaryan has announced that he will challenge the court's decision at the Council of Justice of Armenia.

Residents of the village of Sogratl, Gunib District of Dagestan, are drafting regulations for self-defence units and compile lists of members thereof, as Amirkhan Magomeddadaev, the deputy of the Dagestani presidential envoy to the Mountain Territorial District, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The need to create such units is questionable, experts say.

Rauf Mirkadyrov, an Azerbaijani journalist, who is under inquiry and who was temporarily released from custody to attend the funeral of his father, today is back in the detention facility, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports. The defence is preparing an appeal complaint, said the lawyer Mamedli.

On May 26, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Anar Mamedli, the head of the Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Training (CEM&DT), to 5.5 years in prison; and activists Bashir Suleimanly – to 3.5 years in prison, and Elnur Mamedov – also to 3.5 years, but conditionally with a probation period of 2 years, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

On May 25, about 60 residents of the village of Akhshtyr held in Sochi a rally in the format of a meeting with Igor Vasiliev, the leader of the local branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and the assistant to the State Duma Deputy Sergey Obukhov. The reason for the meeting was the absence of any official response of the authorities to multiple local residents' complaints about the absence of water supply and bad ecology.

By his decree of May 26, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev pardoned 171 punished persons. According to the document, 157 prisoners are freed from further serving their prison terms, including four persons recognized as political prisoners by rights defenders; two people sentenced to conditional imprisonment are exempt of it; one person is relieved from public works; 11 people are exempt from payment of awarded fines.

The Russia's Ministry of Culture has initiated an additional examination of the film "Ordered to Forget", which tells about the deportation of Chechens and Ingushes in 1944. The outcomes of the examination will decide whether the film authors will be granted a screening certificate.

Today, near the building of the Regional Duma, Boris Pylin, the chairman of the public organization "Union for Local Residents of Volgograd Region", has held a solo picket against the abolition of the direct elections of heads of cities and districts. This was reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

During the week of May 19-25, 2014, at least 13 persons suffered in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, 12 persons were killed, and 1 person was wounded. These are the results of calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

In Azerbaijan, bank accounts of journalist Ainur Imranova were arrested. The journalist and her advocate treat the decision as unlawful. They have challenged it at the Court of Appeal. The bank accounts were arrested without prior notification. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Ainur Imranova.

At present, Aslan Natov, who was detained on May 23 during the special operation in the city of Baksan, is kept at the IVS (temporary detention facility). His family members are not aware of the charge brought against him. This was reported by his brother Ruslan Natov.

On May 24, during the festival of freedom devoted to the Andrei Sakharov's birthday, activists read and discussed the play "A Few Ways to Lose Friends" written during the festival in the village of Tekali located on the border between Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The participants of the readings have come to the conclusion that such meetings of the conflicting parties in South Caucasus allow overcoming the barrier of hostility.

In Adygea, the court has found Vasily Purdenko, a resident of Maikop, the editor of the blog "Free Speech of Adygea", guilty of posting on the Internet the article "Nationalism in Action", which, according to the court, is an extremist material and which is aimed at inciting national enmity and hatred. Vasily Purdenko has been sentenced to a fine of 100,000 roubles.

The decision of the Zamoskvorechye District Court of Moscow to dismiss the complaint filed by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" against the request of the Prosecutor's Office to get registered as a foreign agent is unjustified, but still expected. This opinion was expressed by human rights defenders. Lawyers of the HRC "Memorial" intend to challenge the decision of the Court.