A press conference summing up the trip of Moscow Helsinki Group Chairwoman Lyudmila Alekseyeva and Moscow Helsinki Group Chief Executive Tatyana Lokshina to the Chechen Republic for monitoring the Chechen presidential elections is to be held at the Institute of Press Development (Tverskoy Bulvar, 20) on October 8, 2003, at 10 a.m.

Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia Artur Bagdasarian said the accusations of his belonging to some Masonic organizations, which had been heard recently for him from representatives of the social and political organization Armenian-Aryan Order, were slander.

A vocational school in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, where election polling districts Nos. 398 and 400 were located, was hit on the night of October 5.

The statement reads: "We decidedly condemn the actions of destructive forces in Kabardino-Balkaria aimed at kindling interethnic strife and intolerance between the Chechens and brotherly Kabardian nation."

80.66% of the voting papers have been processed by now.

The interview with Chechen election commission chairman Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov was conducted via phone by Roman Rostov, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Members of the Human Rights Center "Memorial" encountered problems with Russian military men on October 3. According to available information, the military men threatened the "Memorial" members and made a number of illegal demands.

The fourth number of the MHG Bulletin proceeds with the theme of the human rights monitoring of the presidential elections in Chechnya.

A mass action of protest in Grozny is planned for October 4 and 5. According to the words of the meeting organizers, the main goal of the action is to demonstrate protest against the presidential elections in Chechnya appointed for October 5.

Specialists of the Moscow representative office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation prepared a seminar devoted to human rights.

The day before the elections has started quietly. No shot was heard at night in Chechnya.

Human rights activists stress that, after the referendum of March 23, which paved the way for presidential elections, crimes against civil population have become more frequent in Chechnya, especially cases of taking people hostage and kidnapping.

On Sunday, October 5, 2003, the elections of the republic's president are to be held in Chechnya. Seven candidates are running for the presidency.

The interview with the candidate for the Chechen presidency was conducted via phone by Roman Rostov, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"The precautions will help to prevent provocations by rebels on election day," a source at the Chechen Interior Ministry said.

Russian Minister for Chechnya's Affairs Stanislav Ilyasov believes the refugees' unwillingness to leave Georgia is caused in many respects by the purpose-full work on spreading misinformation among them.

The Antiwar Club and the Committee for Antiwar Actions made a decision to conduct a literary and publicistic contest of short narratives and essays "Chechen War in My Life" (by Rashid Polukhin's project).

Unidentified gunmen fired automatic weapons at a Volga car carrying the administration head and his son.

The interview with the Chechen presidential contender Ovukhat Khanchukayev was conducted by Ruslan Umarov, a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

On October 30, Chechen refugees living in the center of temporary accommodation "LogoVAZ" in the town of Nazran were offered to leave the territory of the camp, the offer having the nature of an ultimatum.