NALCHIK, Kabardino-Balkaria -- The head of a detention center in Nalchik, the capital of Russia's Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, has been assassinated, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Attackers shot dead Vitaly Bogatyrev as he returned home from work on May 14.
There are currently 58 people accused of taking part in a 2005 rebel attack in Nalchik being held in the detention center.
Officials said that Bogatyrev's murder could be related to his professional activities.
Kabardino-Balkaria's Supreme Court has begun holding hearings on the cases of the detainees and investigators from Russia's Prosecutor-General's Office in Moscow arrived in Nalchik on May 15.
Kabardino-Balkaria is a republic of more than 900,000 people in the volatile North Caucasus.