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On July 17, the Nasiminskiy District Court of Baku under presidency of Judge Ikram Shirinov considered and rejected the claim lodged by Agil Halil, an employee of the "Azadlyg" newspaper, on illegality of termination of the criminal case initiated on the fact of his beating on February 22 this year committed in the Olive Grove.

The Department of Internal Affairs (UVD) of the Zapadny District of Krasnodar has refused to try to establish the person who called to the office the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent Evgeniy Titov with a threat of murder.

The terror exercised by the authorities of Georgia continues. This phenomenon was declared today by the leaders of the United Opposition in the press conference held at the office of the Conservative Party of Georgia.

A number of Azerbaijani and Russian political analysts assert that the tension in Russian-Georgian relations will hardly ever grow into an open armed conflict.

Today, several women got together in the Lenin Square in Makhachkala with posters demanding resignation of Adilgirey Magomedtagirov, Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan.

The Labour Party of Georgia has perceived the decision of the Strasbourg Court that at the 2004 parliamentary elections the Labourites' rights were derogated from to be a personal victory of its members.

At night on July 16, in the Shatoy District of Chechnya, workers of power agencies kidnapped and took away in unknown direction two local residents - close relatives of the well-known Chechen lawyer Ilyas Timishev, who is representing the interests of suffered residents of the Republic both in local courts and in the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Human rights activists have announced the start of collecting signatures against the war of Russia on Georgia. The statement emphasizes that the Russian Federation, being the stronger party, should exhibit greater restraint.

The information about release of Betilgireev, Zaur Khizirovich, a resident of Serzhen-Jurt village, Shali District of Chechnya, who was brought delivered to the Shali ROVD, was not confirmed. The local resident is still behind bars.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan sent an answer to the request of Djamil Gasanli, Deputy of the National Assembly, on the fact of violence applied to Emin Guseinov, head of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety, on June 14 in the 22nd Police Station of the Nasiminskiy District of the capital of the country.

Arsen Guchapshev, a resident of Kabardino-Balkaria, has complained to the Department of Own Safety of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the KBR against pressure on him by certain Chechenov, an operative inspector of the Chegem ROVD, who is a member of the investigatory group in charge of disclosing the murder of entrepreneur Murat Mukov.

The Ingushetian opposition is now preparing a nationwide rally, where they plan to put forward the demand of resignation of Murat Zyazikov and return of Ruslan Aushev back to the post of the president of the Republic.

During the first six months of 2008, 22 violence episodes, including physical and psychological pressure, threats and attacks were committed against journalists in Azerbaijan. The figure is contained in the report named "Legal Status of Media in Azerbaijan", prepared by the Institute of Media Rights and presented today in the press conference.

On July 16, the Baku Appeal Court presided by Mirpasha Guseinov finished considering the appeal complaint lodged by ex-Minister for Economic Development of Azerbaijan Farkhad Aliev, his brother, former head of the "Azpetrol" private company Rafik Aliev, and five more persons.

In the near future, South Ossetia will consider accession of the Republic to the Union State of Russia and Belarus. In the opinion of the authorities, South Ossetia needs to seek ways to ensure its safety.

On Tuesday, the Nasiminskiy District Court of Baku sentenced Sergey Strekalin to 18 months for attacking Agil Halil on March 13 this year. The international journalists' organization "Reporters Without Borders" made a statement, expressing a regret that the trial in Azerbaijan on the case of attack on Agil Halil resulted in punishing the person who had nothing to do with the incident.

Today, Armen Arutyunyan, Ombudsman of Armenia, made a statement, in which he has expressed expediency of early release of Armand Babadzhanyan, editor-in-chief of the "Zhamanak-Yerevan" newspaper.

Speaking to journalists about subscription bagging, initiated by the Centre of Nationwide Movement in support of bringing Robert Kocharyan, the second president of Armenia, to the International Tribunal in The Hague, Stepan Demirchyan, leader of Popular Party of Armenia, has explained that this is a public initiative, and political parties should not consider their accession to it.

Recently, oppositional figures have been more frequent on TV in Armenia; they can speak freely, without censorship, and, in general, the trend is positive, asserts Alexander Iskandaryan, director of the Institute of the Caucasus.

The prosecutor's office of the Novosibirsk Region has sent a presentation to local Internet providers asking them to restrict access of their clients to a number of websites, which are, in the opinion of law enforcers, extremist in nature. Among these websites, there are some resources of Chechen separatists.