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In 2009, Armenia saw slight positive trends in the sphere of mass media. In particular, as noted by Ashot Melikyan, chairman of the committee "In Defence of Freedom of Speech", facts of violence against journalists and pressure on mass media went down.

Relatives of the driver of the "KamAZ" truck, which on January 18, under the official information of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Ingushetia, rammed the militia cordon, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the truck had been shelled before it approached the cordon. They are indignant with the fact that Hasan Markhiev, 46, is assumed to be linked with militants.

Ruslan Musaev, who was acquitted on the criminal case dealing with his preparations in May 2007 in Moscow to attack President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, has lodged a rehabilitation claim to the Moscow City Court. This was reported today by Anna Usachova, head of the press service of the Moscow City Court.

20 years ago Soviet Army units occupied Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, which resulted in numerous victims among the peaceful population. On January 20, the country has a mourning non-working day.

On January 19, the police of Armenia dispersed a spontaneous rally of the opposition in support of Nikol Pashinyan, convicted editor of the newspaper "Aikakan Zhamanak".

The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" states with regret that the actions yesterday - on January 19 - in Moscow in memory of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova assassinated a year ago were accompanied by disorders. The Centre finds Moscow authorities and Moscow militia responsible for what happened.

In Dagestan, state officials and public figures give their comments on the initiative of President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev to create the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) and appoint Alexander Khloponin as his plenipotentiary there.

The Prosecutor's Office of Dagestan has summed up the checks of execution of legislation on state control. Numerous violations of the law were revealed.

The news about separation of the North-Caucasian Federal District out of the Southern Federal District was surely anticipated. The leaders of the regions, which now make parts of the new formation, support the idea and hope for the progress in social and economic spheres. Observers also find the decision logical and emphasize that the Kremlin has thus recognized the region's specificities.

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has expressed his readiness to render every assistance in solving the problems, which President of Russia put before Alexander Khloponin, who was appointed yesterday, on January 19, to the post of plenipotentiary in the newly-created North-Caucasian Federal District, and even promised to give some housing to him. Meanwhile, people in Chechnya are ambiguous to Mr Khloponin's appointment.

Advocates of Nikol Pashinyan, imprisoned activist of the opposition, a well-known journalist and editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Aikakan Zhamanak" (Armenian Time), who was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment, plan to appeal against the verdict to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). This was reported by Lusine Saakyan, one of the advocates.

The murder of Grant Dink was not occasional: he died for defending democracy, and he had been sued repeatedly for breaching Article 301 of the Criminal Code of Turkey, which forbids mentioning the genocide of Armenians in 1915-1922. This is asserted by the lobbyist organization Assembly of Armenians of Europe (AAE) in its statement dated to the third anniversary of the murder of Grant Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin, committed in Istanbul.

The criminal case opened against the organizers of the Internet action "We beg Armenians' pardon" is finally stopped. Earlier the public prosecutor of Turkey A. Jaren refused to put forward charges against a group of Turkish intellectuals, who had initiated signing-in a letter of sympathy with the Armenian people because of the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman empire of 1915.

The public organization of Jordan "Friends of Caucasian Adygs" has voiced against the so-called "Circasiad-2012", having explained it by the fact that the initiators of the project represent it as an event planned within the programme of the Olympiad-2014 in Sochi.

Prior to start of the trial against former militia major from Novorossisk Alexei Dymovskiy, appointed on January 25, a picket will be held in the city with a demand of fair trial of Dymovskiy under the suit of Novorossisk militia bosses lodged against him.

The Georgian observers, whose mass arrival in Ukraine was one of major topics on the eve of the first round of presidential election held there on January 17, have returned to Georgia.

As reported by law enforcement bodies of Ingushetia, Magomed Gorchkhanov, a member of the criminal grouping, engaged in kidnapping businessmen with the aim of getting ransom, was detained.

Some US congressmen have demanded from the administration of President Barack Obama not to take part in the work of the working group "Civil Society", set up last year under the top-level Russian-American Commission until the Kremlin replaces its Russian coordinator - first deputy of the administration of Russian President Vladislav Surkov.

The authorities of Moscow have again warned about inadmissibility of the march in memory of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova assassinated a year ago.

The public organization "Khasse" sees the solution of the land problem in Kabardino-Balkaria in enforcement of the Federal Law No. 131 "On General Principles of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation". This was stated on January 16 by the leaders of the organizations "Khasse" Ibragim Yaganov and "Circassian Congress" Ruslan Keshev at a press conference in Nalchik.