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A person's involvement in illegal armed formations (IAFs) should be proved only in the court, while the practice of killing suspects without trial in Northern Caucasus must be stopped. This was stated by Vladimir Lukin, Russian Ombudsman, who presented his 2010 report to the State Duma.

Several people in the district center of Imishli, Azerbaijan, started a hunger strike of protest stating that the money assigned by the state on aid to victims of the flood caused by overflow of the Kura and the Araz rivers were distributed unfairly or plundered.

Journalist Zoya Svetova is sure of political responsibility of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov for Estemirova's death. She told about it on May 16, while giving evidence at the Khamovniki Court of Moscow. According to her story, during her meeting with Estemirova in London, the latter expressed fears for his life; and the threat came not from militants.

On May, 13, Marina Ziuryaeva, a twenty-three-year old single mother in Volgograd region, went on an open-ended hunger strike for the reason of getting no reply from the authorities to her request of accommodation her child in a kindergarten.

Tigran Postanjyan who is in prison "Nubarashen" went on a hunger strike protesting against the prison conditions. According to Postanjyan, 18 prisoners are kept in a cell of 25 square meters, the people sleep in turn and it is impossible to observe elementary rules of hygiene in the cell.

The "Georgian Party" held an action of protest in front of the US Embassy. The leaders and supporters of the party called for the US Administration to stop support of Saakashvili's Government.

A district court in Rostov-on-Don brought in a verdict of guilty to a former militiaman Yaroslav Umrikhin for illegal detention and beating up a local resident.

Policemen are examining the Nalchik-Moscow and Moscow-Nalchik trains for the presence of explosive devices. An unknown woman said by telephone that the trains had been mined.

On May 3, in the course of the judicial session on the case of policemen's beating a 14-year-old teenager, which is considered by the Shamil District Court of Dagestan, the defendants claimed that they rejected all the presented charges. One of the witnesses, who had earlier claimed that he saw a beaten boy at the ROVD (District Interior Division), changed his evidence in court.

Human rights activists and public figures of Russia have issued a statement in defence of the Chairman of the Board of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial" Oleg Orlov, accused of slandering the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov. Collection of signatures under the statement is underway on the Internet.

On May 12, Pyatimat Khashagulgova, a resident of the Ingush city of Kurabulak, whose husband Issa had been detained on suspicion of involvement in the terror act in Vladikavkaz, addressed Heidi Hautala, Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament, asking for "assistance in protecting the rights and freedoms of her husband and family, provided for by international legal acts and the Declaration of Human Rights."

The Municipal Court of Copenhagen has begun a trial of Lors Dukaev, a Chechen boxer-invalid, who is living in Belgium and accused of terrorism.

Residents of the village of Sovietskoe, Magaramkent District, said that on May 13 they were beaten and humiliated by local policemen. The victims have appealed to the investigatory committee of the Magaramkent District. The local police division does not confirm the information about the incident.

On May 12 in Nazran, Adam Moshkhoev, a local resident and an entrepreneur, was kidnapped by employees of the Ingush Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). They wanted to receive ransom for him, said a source from the MIA, who preferred to remain anonymous. The local authorities deny this information.

In the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), Thomas Hammarberg, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, was interested in the issues of human rights in enforcement of judicial decisions, actions of power agents, the progress of the trial on the case of the attack on Nalchik in 2005.

Today, North Ossetia saw a one-day visit of Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe. He was interested in the fate of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North Ossetia, respect of human rights and investigation into the Beslan terror act.

On May 15 in Nalchik, at the Memorial to Balkars-Victims of Repressions, a rally was held in memory of Arthur Zokaev, head of the administration of the village of Khasanya. The event was attended by about 200 persons - residents of Balkar dwelling settlements and Zokaev's friends and relatives.

During the trial on the case of slandering Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov by Oleg Orlov, Head of "Memorial" Human Rights Center, going on in Khamovniky court of Moscow Alvi Karimov, Head of Kadyrov's Press service, declared that he knew nothing of Ramzan Kadyrov's threats to Natalia Estemirova.

The parents of Ruslan Magometovich Poshev born in 1982, native of the settlement of Dongaron, Prigorodny district of Ingushetia, reported abduction of their son to human rights center "Mashr". In their opinion, the abduction was committed on May, 14, by members of the top brass who accuse the young man of involvement in armed underground.

The young man kidnapped on May, 9, in Lenin district of Chechen capital is not yet found. It emerged that on May, 7, he was also captured by personnel of unknown power ministries, tortured and forced to confess the fact of preparation an act of terror. However, then the kidnapped man was released.