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Leila Yunus, a well-known Azerbaijani human rights defender, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), was awarded the international prize named after Theodore Hecker. On May 5, the German town of Esslingen-am-Neckar held an award ceremony.

At the exit post "Gerzel", located between Dagestan and Chechnya, power agents tried to detain Said-Khusein Tsarnaev, a photojournalist of the RIA "Novosti" in Northern Caucasus, a distant relative of Tsarnaev brothers, suspected of committing the terror act in Boston. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by the journalist himself.

The trial of Degi Dudaev, the son of the first head of the Chechen Republic Johar Dudaev, began in Lithuania. He is accused of participating in a criminal grouping, engaged in forging passports.

A native of Azerbaijan Ramil Ismailov died of a gunshot wound during a mass brawl in the south-west of Moscow. Two other participants of the fight, also natives of Southern Caucasus, were hospitalized with stab wounds.

Kamal Shagabutdinov and his son Shamil, in whose household, according to the police of Buinaksk, some ammunition was found, were detained. The ammunition had been planted on Kamal Shagabutdinov during the search, his daughter-in-law Aisha asserts.

The religious community of Muslims "Darul-Arqam" in Moscow, in the mosque of which 140 parishioners had been detained on suspicion of belonging to extremist religious organizations, has suspended its operation for an indefinite period, said one of the believers; however, so far there is no official confirmation of the information from the leadership of the community.

Today, employees of law enforcement bodies blew up three private houses belonging to suspects of having links with militants in the Dagestani city of Buinaksk, as local residents told the "Caucasian Knot". The local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has confirmed only one explosion.

Nikolai Cherniavskiy, one of the organizers of the rally with a demand of freedom for political prisoners and an activist of the "Left-Wing Front", was detained by law enforcement officials, as Valery Kotelnikov, the co-chairman of the regional branch of the "RPR-Parnas", has reported.

Today, Rostov-on-Don has held a rally in defence of the figurants of the criminal case on disorders in Bolotnaya Square. The action was about 100 persons strong.

Leaders of the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District have criticized the recommendations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Great Britain to refrain from visiting the regions of the district and offered tourists to personally make sure that visiting Northern Caucasus is absolutely safe.

The Moscow tourist Alexandra Peterimova, who was carried away on May 3 by a water stream when crossing a river in the highland Abkhazia, has not yet been found. The body of the drowned tourist Vadim Maslyakov was brought today to Sukhumi.

On the eve of the presidential election upcoming this October, the authorities of Azerbaijan step up repressions against political and civil activists. Since the beginning of 2013, about 40 persons have been arrested for participating in protests, political and human rights activities arrested, Oktay Gyulalyev, the coordinator of the social alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners", said at a press conference on May 3 in Baku.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Armenia has registered 6612 local observers from 26 organizations aiming to monitor the elections to the Board of Elders of Yerevan – by 362 observers more than at the recent presidential election, a source from the CEC told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The return of Georgian products to the Russian market will start with honey – the shipments thereof will start immediately after the May holidays, said Zurab Chekurishvili, the head of the Georgia's "National Foodstuff Agency".

On May 3, a rally had been planned in the village of Karata, the administrative centre of the Akhvakh District with a demand of resignation of the head of the local municipal formation Ismail Magomedsharipov. However, law enforcement authorities disrupted the event.

Stefan Füle, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, urged the leadership of Azerbaijan to ensure that the presidential election upcoming this October are held in accordance with the country's commitments before the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and the Council of Europe.

Within the first international gathering of owners of BMW motorcycles, bikers from different countries arrived in Vladikavkaz, in the capital of North Ossetia they were joined by local motorcyclists. The bike rally "Moscow-Vladikavkaz" lasted for three days.

The cases of life-long prisoners will be reviewed; the issue will be considered by the Parliament of Georgia, said Eka Beseliya, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, after visiting Gldani Prison No. 8.

In Tbilisi, the "Club of Young Politicians" has held a rally to mark the Victory Day, where its members called to sue President Mikhail Saakashvili, who had belittled, according to the members of the Club, the importance of Georgia's participation in the struggle against fascism.

Over the past few years, the situation in the field of the freedom of expression in the media of Armenia has improved, said members of journalistic organizations. However, in their opinion, to ensure the freedom of speech, a new law regulating the media should be adopted.