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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.

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.

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 The case was withdrawn on January 27, 2006 due to lack of corpus delicti.

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 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 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.

The problem of mass infection of children with unknown disease in Shelkovskoy District of Chechnya gets to the level of the Council of Europe. Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner of the Council of Europe for Human Rights, told the "Interfax" on Saturday evening that he "plans to raise the point at a high level."

Today in the evening, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., opponents of war in Chechnya held a picket in the Pushkin Square in Moscow dated to the 62nd anniversary of deportation under Stalin's order in 1944 of Chechen and Ingush nationals to Middle Asia. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Dmitry Brodsky, one of the organizers of the action, that about 40 persons took part in the action.

At today's meeting with Louise Arbur, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Russia is concerned of violations of human rights in Chechnya. As the President's press service reports that the agenda of the meeting included many "painful Russian issues", including the situation in Chechnya. "Russia is worried, not less that its foreign partners, with human rights violations in Chechnya, but those who put an equality sign between terrorists and Russian militaries are not right," said Russian leader in his talk with Ms Arbur.

Abdurakhim Magomedov, a resident of the Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, who is co-chairman of the human rights organization "Civil Alternative", detained last October, is accused of complicity to militants. This was reported by a source of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent in law enforcement bodies of Chechnya. According to the source, a criminal case was initiated against Mr Magomedov.

As of today, the whereabouts of two residents of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, brothers Adam and Umar Dautovs, who are 15 years old, is still unknown. The teenagers disappeared on January 28, 2006, states the press release of the Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship that has arrived to the "Caucasian Knot" editorial board.

Participation in training seminars on judicial defence, organized by the Regional Public Movement "Chechen Committee for National Salvation" (ChCNS) has helped local lawyers in preparation and subsequent submission of more than 10 "Chechen cases" to the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights.