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On June 22, the Supreme Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) found illegal the decision of the antiterrorist commission at the administration of the capital of the republic of December 24, 2009, to introduce a temporary ban on rallies, pickets and other mass political actions in the territory of the city of Nalchik.

The Moscow City Court (MCC) held a closed preliminary hearing on the case on murdering in September 2009 of the ex-deputy of the State Duma, Hero of Russia Ruslan Yamadaev.

A well-informed source in Chechnya told the "Caucasian Knot" that soon the recruiter of militants Alkhazur Bashaev, who was liquidated in November 2009, may be announced by the investigation to be the murderer of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Chechen branch of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", while the motive of her murder could possibly be found in the report of human rights activists, where Bashaev was mentioned. The employees of the HRC "Memorial" are afraid that this version may conceal real customers of the murder from responsibility.

In front of the building of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, a protest action is held by members of the Chechen Diaspora in France against illegal actions of power agents in Chechnya.

The case initiated on the death of Vaan Khalafyan, 24, has been transferred to the general jurisdiction court of the Kotaik Region. Four employees of the police saw their charges.

The claims like the one filed by President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov against the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" Oleg Orlov are not aimed at protecting one's good name, but attempt to restrict dissemination of information, as Svetlana Zemskova, a lawyer of the Fund in Defence of Glasnost, asserts.

In Azerbaijan, the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) has started a charitable campaign named "Marathon in support of 'prisoners of conscience'". The action is dated to the Day of National Press marked annually on July 22.

In central Sochi, nature defenders have again held a picket, asserting that many environmental problems of the resort have not been given due attention yet.

Employees of the office of the Azerbaijani Ombudsman have confirmed traces of bodily injuries in oppositionist Rovshan Nasirli, who was arrested on June 19 for his participation in the protest action of the oppositional block "Azadlyg" (Freedom).

The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has stated that Russian authorities should investigate the beating by militiamen in Dagestan of lawyer-rights defender Sapiyat Magomedova and bring those guilty to responsibility.

Leonid Slutskiy, deputy head of the Russian delegation to the PACE and the first deputy chair of State Duma committee for international matters, has noted a great importance of the discussion by European MPs of the resolution on situation with human rights in Northern Caucasus. The head of the Russian delegation to the PACE Konstantin Kosachov finds the adopted resolution to be objective and well-balanced.

On June 22, the South-Ossetian party released, on the basis of the decision of the Tskhinvali District Court, three citizens of Georgia detained on June 20.

Today Tsotne, son of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, has stopped his hunger strike, as reported by his advocate Keti Bekauri.

Today, the Valdai District Court of the Novgorod Region refused to release Maksharip Khidriev, a native of Ingushetia and a figurant in the first case of blowing up the "Neva-Express" train in 2007.

The investigation of human rights violations in Chechnya is sabotaged by local inspectors. This was stated by Igor Kalyapin, Chairman of the Nizhniy Novgorod Inter-Regional Committee against Torture and Coordinator of the Public Commission on Chechnya, on June 20 in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Kazbek Budtuev, a defendant in the Nalchik attack case, whose custody was replaced today by home arrest, can communicate only with his mother and advocate. The court ruling especially emphasizes that Kazbek Budtuev has no right to communicate with journalists and make statements.

In the end of last week at the same time in several cities of the Caucasian Mineral Waters and Kabardino-Balkaria a special operation was conducted, as a result of which seven members of the inter-regional criminal grouping were detained as suspects ed of trafficking in humans. This was reported today by the MIA's Central Administration for the Southern Federal District (SFD).

Andrea Nikastro, a journalist of the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, has explained the fact of distortion of the words of Doku Itslaev, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Chechnya, by the deficit of time he had for the publication.

On June 20 residents of city-resort Sochi held a number of rallies and pickets in defence of municipal streets against construction of federal highways; most of them are planned right under tenants' windows and assume cutting away a lot of greenery.

As reported by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", where on June 18 Zukhra Chitigova, Zelimkhan's mother, addressed her repeated written application, her son is still under guard in Karabulak hospital.