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Boris Silevich and Martin Jensen, Co-Rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee, called on the Georgian authorities to punish the persons responsible for massive clashes that took place in Tbilisi on May 17.

The Azerbaijani government is using dubious charges of drug possession in order to silence the political activists who are criticizing the authorities, says the today's statement of the Human Rights Watch (HRW).

As stated by Elnur Aslanov, the head of the Division for Political Analysis and Information Support of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, the international human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) uses outdated methodology to compile its reports on the human rights situation; therefore, there is no need to discuss its reports. At the same time, Azerbaijani human rights activists believe that the AI's conclusions are correct.

The Azerbaijani leadership should stop criminal prosecution of citizens for their statements and respect democratic norms in the country, Nils Mujzhnieks, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (CoE), said after his visit to Azerbaijan.

The Director of the Department of Physical Education and Sports of the Sochi Administration has been arrested on suspicion of an attempted large-scale fraud. He is accused of soliciting a bribe of 1.1 million roubles, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) said today.

After the explosion near the MIA building in Makhachkala on May 25, 19 victims were hospitalized; 13 of them are still there, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Public Health of Dagestan.

On May 20, Muslim Bibulatov, a native of the Chechen city of Argun, disappeared under unclear circumstances on the Azerbaijani-Russian border, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reports.

The confessions of Igor Bestuzhy, the former administration head and city manager of Stavropol, were obtained by torture, his advocate Inna Denisova said today at a preliminary court hearing.

The President of the International Society of Meskhetian Turks "Vatan", a citizen of Russia Suleiman Barbakadze has been released from custody in Georgia, said Konstantin Dolgov, the commissioner for human rights, democracy and the rule of law of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Mamed Azizov, an activist of the youth movement "Nida" (Shout), who was arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of drug possession, has filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of National Security (MNS) and the AzTV State Channel, claiming to recognize a breach of his presumption of innocence and payment of monetary compensation of moral harm.

At the trial dealing with the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005, the prosecution announced the documents on refusals to institute criminal cases on defendants' complaints. The advocates and defendants complain that investigators use violence and threats in the course of inquiry.

So far, the whereabouts of Magomed Magomedov, a native of Dagestan, who disappeared on April 16 in Tbilisi, is unknown. Magomedov had left Russia because of problems with law enforcers, his sister Khadizhat asserts.

The Supreme Court of Abkhazia has sentenced Djemiko Okudjava and Otari Djgarkava, two residents of the Taglan village of the pre-border Gali District to 13 and 11.5 years of imprisonment, respectively in a high security penal colony.

Today, the Moscow City Court (MCC) has sentenced Darya Botvinskaya (Tikhanova) to five years at a minimum security colony for assaulting two natives of Dagestan under the motive of ethnic hatred. During the trial, the defendant pled guilty.

Narcotic drug was found in the car of the filming group of the Public Television of Russia Nikolai Yarst and Filipp Vasilenko, who were detained in Sochi, said the spokesman of the city UVD (Interior Department).

A resident of Buynaksk Gadjimurad Ilyasov was taken away to some unknown place by armed men in masks, his wife has reported. A source from law enforcement bodies said that Ilyasov was detained and is checked for involvement of the armed underground.

In its annual report on the situation of human rights in 159 countries around the world, the Amnesty International has declared suppression of freedoms in Russia, oppression of minorities and pressure of the state on NGOs.

The oppositional "Heritage" Party has cancelled the week of rallies, announced in Liberty Square in Yerevan from May 24 to May 30, said the party spokesman Ovsep Khurshudyan.

The Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow has dismissed the claim of the International Society "Memorial" that challenged the inspection of the Society by the Moscow Prosecutor's Office.

The strike of the workers of the Zestafoni ferroalloy factory continues for the fourth day, Tamaz Doloberidze, the chairman of the Metalworkers' Union of Georgia, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to his story, the strikers are all the 2400 workers of the factory.