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The court in the Astrakhan Region has sentenced 17 local residents, including 11 employees of the Krasnoyarsk customs post of the Astrakhan Customs, accused of contraband committed as an organized grouping, said the spokeswoman of the Regional Prosecutor's Office. Eight of them were awarded with real custody terms.

In Yerevan, the court, which considered the lawsuit lodged by the family members of ex-President Robert Kocharyan against the Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Skizb Media Kentron", the founder of the opposition newspaper "Zhamanak" (Time), passed a verdict obliging the newspaper to pay 3 million drams (about 8000 US dollars) for libel and insult.

Hearing the case on the appeals filed by the attorneys of Aslanbek Dadaev, Elimpashi Khatsuev and Timur Isaev started in the Supreme Court in Moscow.

Four persons in North Osetia detained after the murder of poet Shamil Jigkaev were released. The investigation brought charges of storage of arms, drugs and extremist printed matter against the rest 14 detained, imam of the local Sunni mosque Kulat Ismailov among them.

On June, 5, actions against the activities of North-Osetian plant "Electrozinc" which according to the participants, discharges a great amount of heavy metal into the atmosphere passed off in Moscow and Vladikavkaz. In Moscow a picket was held in Chistoprudny boulevard and there was a cycle race along the central streets of Vladikavkaz.

Ex-militia major Mikhail Yevseev who had been accused of a number of grave crimes committed in the territory of Chechnya in 2004 will not be made criminally liable. Criminal proceedings against Yevseev were stopped in connection with formerly enacted amnesty.

On June 4, in St Petersburg, the Russian national football team beat their Armenian counterparts 3:1 in the qualifying round for Euro-2012. During the match, nine persons were detained.

On June 21, the Zyuzino Court of Moscow will consider the case about the death of schoolchildren in summer rehabilitation camp, which was located on Yeisk Spit. This was reported by lawyer Liudmila Aivar, who is defending the victims.

The Iranian nationals serving their sentences in prisons of Armenia plan - on the eve of the visit to Armenia of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - to go on hunger strike, demanding their transfer to Iran. In total, the number of would-be hunger-strikers is 59.

Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Kabardino-Balkaria have detected and closed an underground gambling hall, which operated in the capital of the republic.

The General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Azerbaijan has suspended criminal proceedings against Elnur Medzhidli, an active user of social networks, journalist and blogger, who is now living in France.

The body of Magomed Musaev, a resident of the village of Kokrek, Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, who disappeared on May 27, was found. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Magomed's wife - Makhabat Musaeva.

A foundation stone has been laid of the first congregation mosque in the city of Magas, where 8000 believers will be able to pray at the same time - it will be the largest mosque in Ingushetia.

In the Astrakhan Region tourists will be able to visit a large-scale reconstruction of the medieval town of Sarai-Batu - the capital of Golden Horde, built in the steppes of the Kharabalin District, near the site of the actual archaeological excavations of the ancient settlement.

The South-Ossetian leadership has banned the import of vegetables from the European Union (EU) countries to the territory of the republic. The decision has to do with the hazardous intestinal infection spread in Europe.

Satellites found a natural source of oil in the Black Sea off the coast of Georgia, the "ScanEx" Company reports.

On May 30, armed men broke into the office of the Human Rights Centre of the Chechen Republic in Grozny and started threatening the employees of this organization. This was reported by the HRC "Memorial", which added that the attackers were not identified, and the reasons of the attack are unknown.

Today in the evening a grenade blew up in Tskhinvali and wounded, according to various sources, two or three persons, one of them later died.

Today, under the ruling of the Rostov Regional Court, the printing facility of the "Krestianin" (Peasant) newspaper, located in the village of Chaltyr, Myasnikov District of the Rostov Region, was reopened for operation. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Irina Samokhhina, the head of the "Krestianin" Publishers.

On June 3, Tigran Postanjyan, brother of Zaruhi Postanjyan, deputy of the parliamentary faction of the "Heritage" Party, was released from custody under decision by the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan.