Domestic violence
On 27/1 the State Duma gave final approval to a bill sharply reducing penalties for many cases of domestic abuse. The bill had been approved in 2nd reading on 25/1 (RFE/RL, 27/1)

Right of assembly
On 27/1 Moscow city banned a rally in support of Ildar Dadin on the grounds that the actions of the justice system are inherently legal, thereby making it illegal to protest in public against them. (The Moscow Times, 27/1)

Right of association
On 27/1 the Prosecutor General’s Office condemned a legislative proposal by the Human Rights Council as an attempt to get round the so-called ‘foreign agent’ law. (The Moscow Times, 27/1)

Freedom of conscience
On 24/1 Education Minister Olga Vasilyeva defended schools’ right to ban teachers and students from wearing Muslim headscarves. (The Moscow Times, 24/1)

On 25/1 chair of the Jehovah’s Witnesses branch in Dzerzhinsk was fined 4,000 roubles for ‘extremist’ literature. (RAPSI , 25/1)

Corruption
On 25/1 Transparency International ranked Russia 131 out of 176 countries in its anti-corruption index. (RAPSI, 25/1)

North Caucasus
On 21/1 two alleged militants were killed in the Kizlyar district, Dagestan, by law enforcement officers. (Caucasian Knot, 21/1)

On 21/1 reports said Rashid Selderkhanov, who had been given a suspended sentence for inciting religious hatred, disappeared after reporting to a police station on 17/1. (Caucasian Knot, 21/1)

On 24/1 Ramzan Kadyrov said law enforcement officers need to be able to shoot without warning. (Caucasian Knot, 25/1)

On 25/1 reports said relatives of those detained in Grozny after the December attacks on Grozny still cannot get information about their whereabouts. (Caucasian Knot, 25/1)

On 26/1 the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Dagestani Imam Magomednabi Magomedov, cutting his 5-year sentence for justifying terrorism by 6 months. (26/1, RAPSI; Caucasian Knot)

Crimea
On 25/1 the FSB detained for two hours lawyer Nikolai Polozov, who is defending a Crimean Tatar activist. (RFE/RL, 25/1)

On 26/1 Crimean Tatar rights lawyer Emil Kurbedinov was jailed for 10 days on administrative charges linked to a video posted quite legally in 2013. He was detained by armed officers and his premises searched. (Human Rights in Ukraine, 27/1)