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Yesterday, on October 20, near the tax inspection office in the city of Dagestanskie Ogni, Ramazan Pashaevich Ramazanov, a local resident, born in 1983, was kidnapped by people in camouflage and masks in the eyes of his mother. This was reported by Magomed Khanmagomedov, a special correspondent of the newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft).

Today, the international organization "Reporters without Borders" (RWB) has published its report on the investigation into the situation with the media in the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Dagestan. The document notes that since their last visit to the republics, which took place two years ago, its activists found no changes for the better. The report provides estimates of journalists themselves, human rights activists and representatives of the republics' authorities, and the RWB's recommendations concerning the situation in the region.

Avaz Zeinally, the editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani newspaper "Khural", believes that the confiscation of property of the newspaper is connected with an increase in publication frequency of the newspaper or the authorities' response to the criticism of the Ilham Aliev's interview.

Archil Benidze, a member of the Labour Party of Georgia, received status of a political refugee in Italy.

The Proletarsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don announced a verdict to Sergey Levchenko, ex-Deputy Transport Chief of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), who was accused of bribery. This was reported today by the press service of the Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office.

The registration committee of horse racing which is held in Kentucky (USA) intends to revise the licence of the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov entitling him to apply for participation in these competitions. This decision was made after the committee received a letter from the US State Department referring to human rights violations.

The Tver District Court of Moscow completed interrogation of the defendants on the case of mass riots in Manege Square in last December. At the court session, the Ruslan Khubaev, the last defendant, gave testimony.

In the Moscow City Court in the trial of the case on the mass fight in Kronstadt Boulevard, the jury unanimously pleaded Aslan Cherkesov, the native of the city of Nalchik, guilty of murdering Yegor Sviridov, the football fan.

Today, candidates for presidency of South Ossetia send a petition addressed to Taimuraz Khugaev, the General Prosecutor of the republic, and President Eduard Kokoity, asking to change pre-trial restriction for registered presidential candidate Alan Kochiev, who is in prison now.

In Cherkessk, the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia, participants of wedding procession who arrived from Adygea for the bride, shelled a trolleybus in the city centre from traumatic firearms. One woman-passenger was injured.

Zubair Zubairaev, a native of Chechnya, is being tortured in the colony of the town of Minusinsk of the Krasnoyarsk Territory: he got bruise, signs of brain concussion, and fracture in spinal column. This was declared today by Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the "Civil Assistance" Committee, during the press conference "Torture and beatings in Russian prisons".

In the city of Grozny, earlier disappeared Ramzan Dadaev, the 25-year-old native of Chechnya, released. This was reported by his relative.

In the evening of October 19, bailiffs of Narimanov District of Baku confiscated the property of the independent newspaper "Khural" (Congress).

Yesterday, on October 18, in Geneva (Switzerland) the 13th Meeting of countries participating in the Convention against Torture, Georgy Tugushi, Georgian Ombudsman, was elected a member of the UN Committee against Torture for 2012-2015. 97 votes were given for his candidacy.

On October 18, the District Court of the Shamil District of Dagestan held a session on the case of teenager's beating. The figurants in the case were three police officers of the Police Division of Shamil District of Dagestan. The court decided to remand the criminal case to the prosecutor for a more complete and objective investigation.

Dokku Umarov, the leader of militants in the North Caucasus, and Akhmed Zakaev, ex-Prime Minister of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, who are in the wanted list of the Russian law enforcement agencies on terrorism charges, are involved in murder of three Chechen natives in Turkey. This was declared today by Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya.

Russian human rights defenders expressed their concern about the fate of the businessman Stanislav Kankiya, native of Georgia, prisoner of the metropolitan prison "Matrosskaya Tishina" (Sailors' Silence). He has been under investigation on charges of fraud for more than 17 months. During that time the 47-year-old man got four apoplectic attacks, got half-paralyzed and nearly blind; however, his pre-trial restrictions were not changed.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled to collect from the Russian authorities 11,000 euros in favour of Gennady Shuvalov, a 38-year-old ex-policeman from Volgograd, who was sentenced in 2006 for selling drug and who complained of having been beaten at the SIZO (pre-trial prison). This is reported by the press service of the ECtHR.

Athletes from Karachay-Cherkessia have won three gold and one bronze medals in the World Championship for Wrestling on Belts, which took place on October 12-16 in Bishkek.

A 16-year-old schoolgirl from Ingushetia was convicted by the court in Chechnya for assistance to participants of the armed underground. The underage girl was sentenced to imprisonment to be served in a juvenile correctional facility.