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Today, the Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan has considered the cassation compliant lodged by the of opposition activist Bakhtiyar Gadjiev, convicted on charges of evading his regular military service. The complaint states that Gadjiev had a draft deferment because of his higher education and the right to alternative service. However, the SC has upheld the decisions of the first and appellate instances.

In Azerbaijan, relatives of Turadj Zeinalov, who died in this August in the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the Ministry of National Security (MNS) of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR), believe that he died from torture and insist on an objective investigation into the case and punishment for the guilty persons. This was reported by father and wife of the deceased person at the press conference held on December 5 in Baku.

On December 5, in the Karabulak Court of Ingushetia, at the next session on the case dealing with use of torture by policemen, Zukhra, the mother of the victim Zelimkhan Chitigov, moved a petition on providing her family with state protection, said a source from the prosecution party.

A verdict to a group of believers arrested in connection with an action of protest in front of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan on May, 6, was announced in Narimanov district court of Baku.

Human rights organization Amnesty International called for the Russian authorities to release the participants of the action of protest detained on December, 5, after the election of State Duma of the Russian Federation. Members of Amnesty International emphasize that the majority of the detainees were just peacefully expressing their protest.

On the day of election of deputies of State Duma of the Russian Federation in Krasnodar in process of counting of votes in the polling station No 22-47 representatives of LDPR and KPRF parties discovered stuffing packs of ballot papers with votes for "United Russia". Investigative bodies are carrying out inquiry on the incident.

Central Election Committee of the Russian Federation (CEC) announced preliminary results of State Duma election. "United Russia" polls 49,54% votes, KPRF - 19,16%, "Fair Russia" - 13,22%, LDPR - 11,66%, "Patriots of Russia" - 0,97%, "Yabloko" - 3,3%, "Right Cause" - 0,59%.

In Karachay-Cherkessia, following the result of the election to the State Duma, the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) leads, which, according to the preliminary calculations, gained 89.83 percent of vote. This was reported by Vyacheslav Aparin, Deputy Chairman of the Republic' Election Commission.

In Kabardino-Balkaria, the course of the election of deputies to the State Duma of the Russian Federation revealed that many voters had not received voting tickets, which usually indicated the address of the electoral precinct. As a result, many voters did not know where to go for voting. Besides, in some cases, voters arrived at electoral precincts and failed to find themselves in the lists. Nevertheless, according to the official information, the election was conducted without violations.

The "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party does not recognize the results of the election to the Legislative Assemblies of Saint Petersburg and Astrakhan. This was reported today by Sergey Mironov, the Party's leader. According to him, in both regions, the law was violated during the voting, and the Party would appeal to the Central Election Commission on that fact.

On December 5, the Khamovniki Court in Moscow continued the consideration of the appeal filed by the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov against the acquittal to Oleg Orlov, Chairman of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial". At the request of Genry Reznik, the Orlov's lawyer, the next court session was appointed for December 23.

In the course of the voting in the elections of deputies to the State Duma of the Russian Federation conducted in Sochi on December 4, illegal re-count of votes, removal of observers from electoral precincts and an attack on one of them occurred. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by the observers from the CPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation).

Two voters of the electoral precinct No. 1736, located in the Soviet District of Rostov-on-Don, claim that, when they received the ballots on December 4, they had to sign for other people, since other people had already signed in front of their surnames. All materials on the violation were brought to the Election Commission of the Rostov Region for examination.

The Internet edition of the "Caucasian Knot" remains in the top ten of the most quoted news sources of the Runet. According to the study conducted by the company "Medialogy", in November the "Caucasian Knot" showed the highest growth.

Local residents and observers told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on ballot-box stuffing, several people's voting on the same passport, open filling in the ballots, and other violations during the voting in the election conducted on December 4 in Makhachkala and the Akhvakh District of Dagestan.

The turnout for the election of deputies of State Duma and bodies of municipal authority in Chechnya on December, 4, made 99,45%, Central Election Committee (CEC) of the republic reports sating the absence of complaints of violations. According to CEC, "United Russia" polled 99,48 % votes and the rest of the parties polled 0,38%. Local observers sate a large-scale forgery at the election.

Activists of "Left Front" and a passerby detained in Rostov-on-Don on December, 4, were accused of disorderly conduct and then released. According to Vladislav Ryazantsev, coordinator of Rostov branch of the organization, the policemen did not oblige the detainees to come to court.

In the South-West of Chechnya military aviation of federal forces applied a bombing-missile attack at a woodland in the neighbourhood of one of the settlements. This was reported by representatives of a non-governmental organization. The military neither confirm nor disprove this information.

Vladimir Markin, official representative of Committee of Inquiry of the Russian Federation (CIR), reported that the case of Rashid Atuov, Kemal Yezbeev and Khamidulla Yapov accused of involvement in killing 84 paratroopers from Pskov during battles in Ulus-Kert, Argun canyon of Chechnya, was referred to court.

Today, a journalist and blogger Maria Plieva was detained in Vladikavkaz. She is accused of minor hooliganism and under threat of an administrative penalty.