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Acting Mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov, who is in this post from January 20, has announced a temporary moratorium on allocation of land plots for real estate construction, including dwelling houses, having accused bureaucrats of corruption.

The personalities of today's casualties of the combat collision in the city of Baksan, Kabardino-Balkaria, have been established. A criminal case was initiated on the fact of rendering armed resistance to militiamen under the articles of "Illegal storage of arms" and "Attempt on life of a law enforcer".

The Zamoskvoretskiy Court of Moscow has ruled to pay out some 130,000 roubles under two claims lodged by the victims of the terror act in Dubrovka against plundering hostages' belongings. However, the defence was dissatisfied with the ruling and plans to appeal against it.

Today, at the hearings about the attack on power structures in Kabardino-Balkaria, the defendants have petitioned challenge to Olga Chibinyova, head of the prosecution group, under the motive that this employee of the prosecutor's office "did everything to protract the trial not to admit formation of the board of jurymen."

Today, people in North Ossetia paid tribute to the victims of the explosion in the Central Marketplace of Vladikavkaz in 1999. Then, as a result of a terror act, 54 persons were lost, more than 80 were wounded.

Anar Mamedli, head of the Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Training (CEM&DT), told journalists today that violations and deficiencies in the course of the referendum held on March 18 in Azerbaijan evidence it failed to meet European practice and cannot be regarded free and democratic.

Ingush human rights activists find the intention of Ingushetia's authorities to hold peaceful dialogue with militants' helpers to be a stabilizing factor and think that the amnesty is necessary. At the same time, they assess the system of "pardoning", offered by the authorities, as difficult to implement and inefficient.

The meeting of the head of Dagestan Mukhu Aliev with Russian human rights defenders and members of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation for Interethnic Relations and Freedom of Conscience on March 10, as well as subsequent public hearings, was not senseless; the time will define the effect thereof. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Liudmila Alekseeva, chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group.

The Georgian Times newspaper suspended by journalists because of pressure exerted by Georgian authorities will soon be restarted. Its owner Malkhaz Gulashvili has promised to go on criticizing the incumbent authorities in the pages of his media.

The Armenian National Congress (ANC) is discussing the issue of participation of political prisoners in elections of deputies of the Yerevan City Council. Armand Musinyan, press secretary of the ANC, has informed the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about it.

Alexander Glukhov, Junior Sergeant of the Russian Army, who ran away from his unit deployed in South Ossetia, was awarded in Georgia a refugee status and all the privileges as stipulated by the Georgian legislation. This was stated by Shota Utiashvili, official spokesman of Georgia's MIA.

On March 18, the National Assembly of Armenia adopted, by overwhelming majority of votes, in the second reading, amendments to Articles of the Criminal Code No. 225 "On Mass Disorders" and No. 300 "On Power Usurpation".

The construction of cement factories in Abkhazia, announced this February will have catastrophic consequences for the Abkhazian coastal line. This was reported by Georgiy Gachechiladze, leader of the Green Party of Georgia, to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The authorities of South Ossetia have dismissed all the charges from the citizens of Georgia, detained in Tskhinvali by the Republic's law enforcement bodies in late February for illegal crossing the border.

After a search of the son of Malkhaz Gulashvili, owner of the oppositional newspaper Georgian Times, published in the Georgian language, which was treated by the publisher as "psychological terror" by Georgian authorities, the edition was stopped.

Ali Akhmedov, executive secretary of the party in power "New Azerbaijan", has stated that the high voter turnout at the referendum on amendments to the Constitution of Azerbaijan is an evidence of people's support of the amendments.

The information about kidnapping of the resident of the Grozny District of Chechnya, who had earlier worked as inspector, was not confirmed. It was found out that the incident was staged (feigned) with the aim to conceal a woman's murder.

Today, the defendants in the criminal case on the attack on power agencies of Kabardino-Balkaria on October 13, 2005, have challenged the court. The court retired to the consultation room. The decision on the claimed challenge will be announced tomorrow.

On March 16, the Venetian Commission of the Council of Europe (CE) promulgated its multi-page document with a legal examination of the amendments to the Constitution of Azerbaijan offered for the referendum to be held on March 18.

Yesterday, on March 16, in the Kurchaloy District of the Chechen Republic, a contracted soldier from the engineering-sapper subdivision of the Internal Troops of Russian MIA was lost. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about the incident by the Republic's Military Commandant's Office.