Human Rights Council
Mikhail Fedotov, a secretary of the Union of Journalists of Russia, was appointed (12/10) chair of the Presidential Council on Civil Society and Human Rights. (Kommersant, 13/10)

North Caucasus
On 12/10 FSB director Aleksandr Bortnikov said the FSB has killed 301 Islamist militants in the North Caucasus this year and arrested 468 others. (The Moscow Times, 12/10)

The Courts
In the trial of former Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partner Platon Lebedev at Moscow's Khamovnichesky District Court, on 14/10 prosecutors said they would request a milder sentence for the accused. (The Moscow Times, 15/10)

On 15/10 Moscow region court quashed an earlier decision by Khimki court to prolong the pretrial detention of Aleksei Gaskarov. The court returned the case to Khimki court. On 8/10 Moscow region court had taken a similar decision in relation to Maksim Solopov. (hro.org, 15/10)

Irkutsk Regional Court on 14/10 ordered a retrial in the case of a local election official’s daughter who was convicted of killing a pedestrian in a traffic accident in December but had her sentence postponed for 14 years. (Moscow Times, 15/10)

Police Abuse
A 28-year-old in St Petersburg died in a city hospital after he had alleged tortured in a police station on 1/10. (Grani.ru, 15/10)

Right of Assembly
Dozens of protestors were arrested during a Day of Anger demonstration on 12/10 in central Moscow including organizers Sergei Udaltsov and Lev Ponomarev. (Grani.ru, 12/10)

Corruption
The size of the average bribe in Russia has surged by a third this year, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said on 13/10. (The Moscow Times 14/10)

Prominent lawyer and anti-corruption activist, Aleksei Navalny, posted details on his blog of a tender by the Health and Social Development Ministry seeking bids to build a networking website for doctors within 16 days costing no more than 55 million rubles ($1.8 million). (The Moscow Times, 12/10)

Elections
The number of voting violations reported by observers in the regional and local elections that took place in 77 Russian regions on 10/10 far exceeded those reported during the elections last March. (Kommersant, 11/10)