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In Makhachkala, a rally was organized by teachers and students of the Dagestan State Polytechnic University (DSPU) against illegal construction launched in the park zone adjacent to the university. Unknown businessmen fell down old trees and during one night laid the basement of a supermarket in the territory of the largest city park.

Two civil society activists - Ilgar Nasibov and Vafadar Eivazov - were summoned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR, Azerbaijan) in the context of attack on them on December 15.

The Moscow House of Journalists hosted a ceremony of awarding the first premium of the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) in the area of human rights defence for 2009. Natalia Estemirova, a human rights defender and employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", was posthumously awarded "for the courage demonstrated in defence of human rights."

Despite the continuing storm, divers continue pumping fuel from the sunken part of the dry-cargo ship "Aras-1", shipwrecked inshore Sochi.

After the residents of the Imereti Lowland, whose houses happened to get into the zone of Olympic construction, took an active part in a rally in Sochi, Natalia Kalinovskaya, chair of the local self-government partnership named "Psou", felt pressure from the authorities.

During dismantling the "Glory Memorial" in Kutaisi, Nino Dzhincharadze, a girl of 8, and her mother were killed by explosion.

Mussa Khidriev, brother of defendant Maksharip Khidriev, accused of organizing the explosion of the "Neva-Express" train in 2007, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he has weighty proofs of his brother's innocence.

President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity has signed a decree on pardoning three convicted citizens of Georgia. 15 minutes after the document was signed, in the frontier zone, three convicted Georgian minors - Levan Khmiadashvili, Victor Buchukuri and Georgiy Archvadze - were handed over to the Georgian party.

Ahmed Ismailov, a resident of Petrakovskiy settlement, Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, states that militiamen are persecuting him because he is a relative of Magomed Ismailov, 18, who was found murdered on November 26.

The programme of urban redevelopment and construction of the city water supply system is launched in Shusha, Nagorno-Karabakh. The project and cost-estimate works are underway, and in 2-2.5 months a construction tender will be held. This was announced on December 16 by Ara Vardanyan, executive director of the All-Armenian Foundation "Ayastan".

Salamat Gandaev, a pilgrim from Karachai-Circassia, who was detained by law enforcement bodies in the city of Sochi, is suspected of murdering Ismail-Hadji Bostanov, Rector of the Islamic Institute.

According to Mussa Aushev, brother of the Ingush human rights activist Maksharip Aushev, assassinated in October, the version that the car with the Dzhaniev family - Maksharip's relatives, which blew up on December 16, suffered from a gas bottle explosion, is inconsistent. He refers to eyewitnesses who assert that the gas bottle blew up after the first explosion.

In 2009, about one hundred new complaints were lodged from Chechnya to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). They have to do mainly with detentions and disappearances of applicants' relatives. This was explained by Anatoly Kovler, Judge of the European Court from the Russian Federation.

The pilgrims, who made their hadj to the sacred places in Saudi Arabia, have returned to Kabardino-Balkaria. Amerbi Gegraev, head of the group, which went to Mecca by bus, said that the hadj was held at a high level, practically without any problems.

Along with the economic recession, Armenia sees a significant growth of poverty. The count of poor population in the country has increased by 90,000 persons, or by 3 percent as compared with last year. This was reported to journalists by Aristomene Varudakis, representative of the World Bank in Armenia.

As reported by President of Dagestan Mukhu Aliev on December 17 in Makhachkala at the sitting dated to the Day of Security Services, marked on December 20, from the start of 2009 in Dagestan 150 militants were liquidated, including 5 foreign mercenaries. 108 members of the armed underground and their helpers were detained.

The interregional public ecological organization "Live Utrish" sees no sense in the All-Russian protest action, planned on December 26-27, in defence of the "Bolshoi Utrish" nature reserve, announced by the Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus. This was stated by Marina Korovina, coordinator of the "Live Utrish". According to her version, now the organization is worried with the state of affairs in another nature reserve - "Abraus".

The pressure on the regional branch of the all-Russian organization "Young Europe" in Rostov-on-Don gets stronger; now they try to add the "national issue" to persecution; and threats arrive on behalf of the Caucasian Diaspora. This was stated by the head of branch Konstantin Baranov.

The aim of blowing up the car committed yesterday in Ingushetia was supposedly Fatima Dzhanieva, widow of the assassinated earlier Maksharip Aushev. This version was announced by the investigation.

The Polish police have addressed the court of the city of Zgorzelec for a sanction to arrest several natives of the Caucasus, who have captured the train Wroclaw-Dresden. Should a criminal case be initiated, three refugees will get under threat of up to three years of imprisonment.