TODAY: Opposition leaders to appeal over Putin lawsuit; new police law might make shutting down websites simpler; environmental activists detained; jailed Belarusian opposition member’s prison torture claims.  Lavrov meets with Clinton; Russia-Syria arms deal to go ahead; Medvedev picks region chiefs; hex put on A Just Russia deputy; Voina artists released thanks to Banksy; mascot troubles continue

Opposition leaders Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Milov and Vladimir Ryzhkov have appealed against a Moscow court’s rejection of the lawsuit they brought against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.  On the subject of said lawsuit, Vladimir Ryzhkov has penned an op-ed in the Moscow Times, highlighting the questionable legal grounds for rejecting their suit.  The new police law which takes effect today will apparently furnish officers with the right to shut down web sites without a court order, though some industry representatives have said that this is already, regrettably, the case.  The Justice Ministry has reportedly pledged to clarify registration rules for nongovernmental organizations to facilitate their activities.  Radio talk show host Dmitry Gubin, who lost his job on state radio after comparing St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko to Adolf Hitler, has stood by his comments, telling the Moscow Times that popular support for him demonstrates that the public has lost patience with the authorities.  Four environmental activists have been sentenced to seven and ten days behind bars after being detained near what they claim to be an illegally built residence for Krasnodar region’s governor.  A Belarusian opposition politician claims to have been tortured whilst being held in a KGB jail in Minsk during the post-election crackdown; see a video of his account here.  At the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has expressed his belief that human rights should not be employed as a tool for political pressure.