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At dawn of March 7, the vicinity of the village of Katyr-Yurt of Achkhoy-Martan district, Chechnya, was subjected to artillery shelling from the places where federal forces are located. The incident is reported in the press-release of the Russian-Chechen information agency, handed over to the "Caucasian Knot." There are no victims among the local residents. However, the blast wave broke glazing and damaged the roofing of some houses.

The chief editor of the "Pravo-zaschita" newspaper, sentenced for publishing the address of separatists Maskhadov and Zakaev, has filed a new petition to the RF General Prosecutor's Office with a request to bring Vitali Bondarenko, judge of the Soviet district court in Nizhni Novgorod, to criminal responsibility for hampering justice and abuse of power. This is contained in the press-release of the Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship handed over to the "Caucasian Knot." On the previous day, complaints against the illegitimate actions of the judge were filed to the Judges' Qualification Panel and Sergey Kanevskiy, chair of the Nizhni Novgorod Regional Court.

In the opinion of representatives of public in Ingushetia, Ossetia continues its attempts to have the law "On Rehabilitation of Repressed Nations" amended.

On February 25, 2006, Alvaro Gilles-Robles, Council of Europe Commissar on Human Rights, visited the camp of "Chernokozovo" in the Chechen Naur district where he got acquainted with the conditions of holding prisoners among whom was Murdashev Vakhid Lakaevich sentenced to 15 years of prison, who had been with Aslan Maskhadov on the day of his death. After a talk with Murdashev, Alvaro Gilles-Robles stated that the "Chechen General demonstrates firmness and conviction" in asserting his principles.

Anna Chochieva, deputy chair of the public human rights movement "Law above Power," editor of the independent magazine "Amaga", accuses the South Ossetia authorities of failure to investigate the beating in Tskhinval of her husband Alan Parastaev, coordinator of the Caucasus NGO Forum representing South Ossetia.

It was held on March 4 on the Theatre Square of Rostov-on-Don and gathered about two thousands of participants. As had been announced by the meeting organizers, it was part of the All-Russia action against the "housing and communal choker."

The Volgograd garrison military tribunal has sentenced junior sergeant Alexander Sobolevskiy, accused of causing his comrade-in-arms to commit suicide, to three and a half years of imprisonment at a minimum security penal colony.

Today, representatives of the Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship have been handed over the decision on the withdrawal of the criminal case on tax evasion by the SRChF, dealt with by the tax offence investigation department under the Nizhni Novgorod oblast Directorate of Internal Affairs. The case was withdrawn on January 27, 2006 due to lack of corpus delicti.

Murat Oziev, chief editor of the public educational newspaper "Angusht", intends to appeal against the actions of the power authorities who conducted a search in his house.

The "Memorial" international society has made a statement about a warning given to the "Memorial" for publishing the results of an independent expert study.

As has become known to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, the panel of the Kabardino-Balkaria Supreme Court has considered the cassation appeal of the Kabardino-Balkaria Prosecutor's Office against the ruling of the Nalchik town court to invalidate the decision on suspending the investigation of the murder of Rasul Tsakoev, resident of Khasaniya, and returned the case for a new investigation. The new investigation must provide a direct answer on the guilt or innocence of Anatoly Kiarov, chief of KBR MIA directorate of combating organized crime, of Rasul Tsakoev's, death.

Thanks to the coordinated joint work of the prosecutor's office, FSB and MIA of Adygea, the developments, similar to the scenario tried by extremists in Nalchik, have been precluded. This has been stated by Mikhail Prikhlenko, prosecutor of Adugea, on February 21 during the expanded coordination meeting of law enforcement agencies on the results of joint activity in 2005 and targets for 2006. As an example confirming the above statement, the prosecutor sited the dismissal of Nedzhmedin Abazii, imam of Adygeisk mosque.

Yesterday, February 28, human rights activists of the "Memorial" society stated that Moscow Prosecutor's Office suspected them of popularizing Islamic extremism. The reason for the official warning of the prosecutor's office was the publication on the "Memorial" site of an expert opinion on the ideology of the movement "Khizb ut-Takhrir" prohibited in Russia. The human rights activists call the act of the prosecutor's office "a new stage of pressure on NCOs by the authorities" and announced their intention to appeal against it in court, writes "Kommersant."

Yesterday, February 28, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov had a press-conference in Moscow. Apart from the information on the resignation of Prime-Minister Sergey Abramov, the Republic's leader made a few more statements. First, Alkhanov virtually confirmed the recent statement of Louise Arbur and Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissars of the United Nations and the Council of Europe on Human Rights, to the effect that torture is applied to detainees in Chechnya, reports the "Nezavisimaya Gazeta."

On February 22, 2006, at about 8:00 p.m., Andzhaev, Boris Mikhailovich, was severely beaten by four unknown persons right near his house. On that day, the Elista City Court started hearing the case about cancellation of the outcomes of electing the Mayor of the city of Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, and the deputies of the Elista City Assembly, where advocate Andzhaev represented the interests of the claimant.

On February 27, 2006, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ingushetia held the last sitting of the jury on the case of Muslim Lechievich Gutseriev, born in 1982, a resident of the Chechen Republic, who was accused under Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Banditism"). Having heard the defendant's last plea, the jurymen retired for consultation and then passed their verdict: Muslim Gutseriev should be acquitted for absence of proofs of his guilt. Gutseriev was set free right in the courtroom.

Last week, Alvaro Gil-Robles, head of the Office of the Council of Europe for Human Rights, and his future successor Thomas Hammarberg finished their visit to Chechnya. In Grozny, they had meetings with Chechen leadership and local MPs, and visited the State University and investigatory isolation facility (SIZO) "Chernokozovo".

The Basmanny Court of Moscow has postponed consideration of the claim of "Rosregistratsia" (Federal Registration Service) demanding liquidation of the Russian Human Rights Research Centre (RHRRC), because of the claimant's failure to appear at the courtroom. "The court has postponed consideration of the claim of 'Rosregistratsia' on liquidation of the Centre till April 10 for absence of the claimants," Lyubov Vinogradova, director of the RHRRC, said on Monday.

The Danish Board on Refugees' Matters can resume its operation in Chechnya within the nearest two-three days. This was stated to journalists in Grozny by Ramzan Kadyrov, acting prime-minister of the Chechen Republic, after his meeting with Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner of the Council of Europe for Human Rights.

Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner of the Council of Europe for Human Rights, has called Chechen militants to lay down arms. He made this statement in Grozny after meeting President of Chechnya Alu Alkhanov, the "Echo Moskvy" Radio reports.