Law & order improves in Chechnya -- deputy prosecutor general

The law enforcement situation in Chechnya is improving, Russia's deputy prosecutor general Sergei Fridinsky announced on Tuesday. He was testifying at a hearing of the State Duma lower house of parliament's commission for assistance in political settlement and human rights observance in the Chechen Republic. Fridinsky said more than half the crimes committed in the republic are eventually solved.

He noted that a single database had been created in Chechnya on all persons who went missing in the republic.

For his part, first deputy chief military prosecutor Anatoly Ponomarenko said in a statement that military prosecutors were taking measures to prevent offenses by federal troops operating in the North Caucasus. He said prosecutors immediately monitored every single infraction.

He testified that by May 23, military prosecutors had accepted 177 criminal cases during the counter-terrorism operation. 68 of these have been sent to courts.

Ponomarenko said action by the office of the chief military prosecutor facilitated regaining the trust of local communities in the republic.