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The spokesman of the Investigatory Department for the Chechen Republic of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation has reported that one person was lost and 14 more were wounded as a result of explosion in the evening on October 9 in the Staropromyslovskiy District of Grozny.

On October 7, the office of the human rights organization "Mashr" of the Republic of Ingushetia hosted a meeting in memory of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed right three years ago, on October 7, 2006.

In the city of Khasavyurt, Dagestan, after the explosion that happened at 9:45 p.m. Moscow time on Friday, October 9, on the city gas pipeline, gas supply to the nearby settlements was stopped.

In the city of Pyatigorsk, Stavropol Territory, in the house of a jobless local resident, her son, a schoolboy, died today in an explosion, as reported by a source in law enforcement bodies.

The leaders of the Conservative Party of Georgia have drafted and delivered to western diplomats a list of political prisoners kept in Georgian prisons.

On October 8, Sardar Alibeili, editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani newspaper "Nota", and Faramaz Allakhverdiev, an employee of this edition (also known under pseudonym Faramaz Novruzoglu), were sentenced to three months of imprisonment each on charges of slander and insult.

On October 9, the office of the Azerbaijani Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) hosted a press conference on the fact of detention on October 8 of Shakhin Agabeili, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Milli Yol" (National Way) and Information Agency "Poligon" (pia.az), and his deputy Radil Mamedov, and confiscation of photo and video cameras from the employees of the IRFS.

Today, the Sabail District Court of the capital of Azerbaijan, chaired by Judge Araz Guseinov, continued the judicial hearings on the case of young bloggers Adnan Gadjizade and Emin Milli, accused of hooliganism and causing physical injuries.

Preparation for local elections in Dagestan, appointed on October 11, is accompanied by administrative pressure and rough violations of the law. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent learnt about it from Eduard Khidirov, deputy of the People's Assembly of Dagestan and head of the regional branch of the Party "Patriots of Russia".

The family of Anna Politkovskaya, who perished three years ago, is gradually losing hope that the whole chain of criminals involved in the journalist's murder will ever be revealed and the culprits will ever be punished. This was stated by Vera Politkovskaya, Anna's daughter. In her opinion, "the political will of country leaders can be the key factor in this context."

Currently, Moscow hosts the first Russian-South-Ossetian of the public and political organizations, which brought together over 200 representatives of different organizations from South Ossetia; many of them came to Moscow intentionally to take part in the forum.

On October 8, Tigran Arakelyan, a young activist of the Armenian opposition, accused of applying violence to policeman, was released from custody under recognizance not to leave.

Today in the afternoon, activists of the opposition party "Musavat" were subjected to physical pressure in the city of Barda, 300 kilometres off the capital of Azerbaijan. The MP Ikram Israfil, Arif Gadjily, head of the central office and electoral headquarters of the "Musavat", and journalist Mustafa Gadjibeili came there to meet local party activists in connection with preparation for municipal elections.

The recent anniversary of the death of Anna Politkovskaya, who had in due time written a lot about violations of human rights in Chechnya, remained unmarked by local NGOs. The authorities of the republic organized grandiose horse races on that very day, on October 7, in the honour of the 57th birthday of the chairman of Russian government Vladimir Putin.

The Dorogomilovo District Court of Moscow has passed its decision on the case of "Black Hawks". The figurants in the case, accused of attacking two students in Moscow, were found guilty of nationalism-instigated hooliganism. Arutyunov was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment, Guseinov - to 6 years, and Mamedov - to 5 years. The remaining three defendants were sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment each with serving their terms in a minimum security colony.

Anastasia Denisova, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in the Krasnodar Territory, president of the Krasnodar territorial public organization Youth Group for Tolerance "ETnIKA" and a member of Youth Human Rights Movement, complains of breaching her right to the freedom of travel and pressure in the context of her public work in the Krasnodar Territory and elsewhere in Russia.

The Tbilisi City Court has finished interrogating the defendants, figuring in the case about the Mukhrovani mutiny. 20 defendants have refused to plead guilty and evidence to the court. 13 persons, including Giya Gvaladze, on whose evidences General Koba Kobaladze was arrested, concluded remedial agreement with the prosecutor's and were sentenced to 2 years of prison each.

On October 7, the Nasimin District Court of Baku, chaired by Elmar Kerimov, finished the trial on the claim of Mais Mansimov, president of the football club "Khazar Lenkoran", against the reporter of the website www.fanat.az Natik Mukhtarly and the head of this electronic edition Zakhir Azamat. The defendants were sentenced to corrective works.

The Neftchalinsk police would not allow Ragim Gaziev, ex-minister of defence of Azerbaijan and former political prisoner, to visit the district and run his business there. The police also exert pressure on the local residents hired by the ex-minister for agricultural works. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent learnt about it from Gaziev himself at the press conference in Baku on October 7.

The polling "Who deserves to become Ombudsman in Ingushetia?" held by the "Caucasian Knot" has aroused considerable interest among the readers. Recently, a splash in voting mainly for two candidates is observed.