MAKHACHKALA, January 16 - RAPSI. Magomed Magomedov, a judge at Russia's Republic of Dagestan Supreme Court, has been killed in the republic's capital city of Makhachkala, a spokesman of the Russian Investigative Committee for Dagestan told RIA Novosti.

"The general opinion is that the judge's professional activity is the reason behind the murder," the spokesman said.

Magomedov, who was on the Presidium of Dagestan's Supreme Court, recently presided over cases which involved members of illegal armed groups in the North Caucasus republic. The Islamist insurgency, once confined largely to Chechnya, has spread in recent years across the North Caucasus. Attacks on security forces, police and civilians are reported regularly in the neighboring republics of Dagestan and Ingushetia, as well as in Kabardino-Balkaria.

From 2009 to 2012, 14 judges have been killed in Russia and only nine of these cases have been solved.

The national conference of Russian judges, which met less than a month ago, expressed deep concern over the growing number of these crimes. It was stated that over 250 crimes against members of the judicial community have not been solved, including murder threats, attempted assassinations, armed assault and robbery.