MOSCOW. May 4 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has officially thanked members of the presidential council for the advancement of civil society and human rights.

The president's press service reported on Sunday that Putin thanked 30 council members "for their contribution to the development of civil society and the protection of human rights and liberties."

Among others, thanks were expressed to Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Alexander Auzan, Svetlana Gannushkina, Sergei Govorukhin, Sergei Karaganov, Igor Klyamkin, Yaroslav Kuzminov, Sergei Markov, Ella Pamfilova, Vladimir Pozner, Yury Polyakov, Alexei Pushkov, Leonid Roshal, Vitaly Tretyakov and Valery Fadeyev.