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Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe (CoE) have announced a joint action plan for 2014-2016, aimed to fulfil the country's commitments to this international organization. It provides for measures to strengthen the protection of human rights, the rule of law and the fight against corruption.

On May 20, policemen detained a resident of Grozny, in whose flat they found a TT pistol and ammunition, an officer of the Chief Department of the MIA for Chechnya told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The reception office of the network "Migration and Law" of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Sochi was addressed by more than 1500 migrant workers, whose rights had been violated. Human rights activists hope that the organizers of the Football World Cup, to be held in Russia in 2018, will take into account the lessons of the Olympics.

The body of the man, which was found in a burnt car and recognized by relatives as Omaraskhab Alibegov, the Imam of the village of Stalskoe, Kizilyurt District of Dagestan, was not officially identified; and no criminal case in connection with his death was initiated, said Rasul Temirbekov from the Investigating Committee.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports from the Moscow City Court (MCC) that the jury has unanimously found all the defendants in the murder case of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya guilty.

The North-Caucasian Branch of the State Museum of Oriental Arts in Maikop has opened the exhibition called "Caucasus in Eyes of 19th Century Artists", dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War and displaying over 70 reproductions of the works by Russian and European artists.

As reported by Andrei Rudomakha, the coordinator of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), a petition to cancel the ruling of the Tuapse District Court on Evgeny Vitishko's placement into colony for three years, was put forward by the Deputy Public Prosecutor of the Krasnodar Territory.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports with reference to a source from the City Court of Buynaksk, that the state prosecution has asked the court to sentence Zarema Bagavutdinova, an activist of the Dagestani Regional Public Organization "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy), to six years in prison on charges of promoting terrorism.

So far, the Makhachkala-based "Anji" Football Club (FC) will pay to the UEFA one million euros from the imposed fine of 2 million euros, Alexander Udaltsov, the PR Director of the FC, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. In his words, the money will be taken from the FC budget.

Civil society activists of Azerbaijan have urged Thorbjorn Jagland, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE), who is on his official visit to Baku, to help in releasing political prisoners. He was given a list of 30 political prisoners, who, according to human rights activists, should be immediately released.

Safety in Southern Caucasus is impossible without resolution of conflicts and regional cooperation. This was the leitmotif of the roundtable, organized in Baku by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation from Germany.

On May 19, in the Naursky District of Chechnya, policemen detained two men who tried to sell a batch of firearms, a representative of the Chief Department of the local MIA told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On May 19, youth organizations and student councils of Karabakh universities released an appeal, adopted during a protest rally in Stepanakert against the statement of James Warlick, the US' Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group for peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

On May 18, in the course of a special operation conducted in the village of Dugulubgey, Baksan District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), power agents did not allow relatives of the people blocked in the house during the storm to pass through the cordon and persuade their relatives to surrender, thus preserving their lives, Eduard Abazov, a villager, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Prior to attacking policemen, two of three criminals, who took part in the shooting with members of the crew of the road-and-patrol service (known as DPS) in Chegem in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), had kidnapped a taxi driver and stole his car. This was reported by officials from the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

Three residents of the village of Sogratl of the Gunib District of Dagestan, detained on May 17, are suspected of possessing weapons. Their relatives claim that grenades were planted to the detainees by law enforcers, who conducted searches in the village.

The testimony of the last prosecution witness has been announced in Rostov-on-Don at the trial of the dismissed Makhachkala Mayor Said Amirov, accused of plotting a terrorist act. Now, the defence will begin presenting its evidence at the session scheduled for May 21.

The members of an illegal armed formation (IAF) killed during a special operation in the village of Dygulybgey were involved in the killings in 2013 of civilians and law enforcers, said the spokesman of the operational headquarters of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR).

Magomedamin Magomedov and Zalimkhan Valiev, the leaders of Tarkin settlements, detained for 48 hours by decision of the investigator of the Inquiry Division of the Dagestani NIA, were released from temporary detention and placed, under the ruling of the Kirov District Court of Makhachkala, under home arrest.

In Moscow, the "Gostinny Dvor" Exhibition Centre hosted the Moscow International Travel Fair "MITF-2014", where residents and guests of Moscow had the opportunity to get acquainted with the offers of the leading Russian and international tour operators and to book tours at special discounted rates. Representatives from two North-Caucasian republics Ingushetia and Dagestan have noted an increased interest of the visitors in their region.