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Category: Watchdog

  • Putin Signs Amendments To ‘Foreign Agents’ Law That Critics Say Undermine Democracy

    MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law legislation that human rights watchdogs and opposition politicians have said will undermine democratic processes.

    The legislation, which came into force on December 30, included a series of amendments to the controversial law on “foreign agents” to allow individuals and public entities to be recognized as “foreign agents” if they are considered to be engaged in political activities “in the interests of a foreign state.”

    Among those individuals Russia has for the first time branded as “foreign agents” are three journalists who contribute to RFE/RL. Organizations that have received the label will be required to report their activities and face financial audits.

    Grounds for being recognized as a “foreign agent” could be holding rallies or political debates, providing opinions on state policies, actions promoting a certain outcome in an election or referendum, or participation as an electoral observer or in political parties if they are done in the interest of a foreign entity.

    Amnesty International has slammed the proposed legislation, saying it would “drastically limit and damage the work not only of civil society organizations that receive funds from outside Russia but many other groups as well.”

    Critics say the “foreign agent” law, originally passed in 2012 and since expanded through amendments, has been arbitrarily applied to target Russian civil society organizations, human rights defenders, and political activists.

    Putin also signed a bill allowing media regulator Roskomnadzor to partially or fully restrict or slow access to foreign websites that “discriminate against Russian media.”

    The legislation is expected to affect major social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • COVID-19 Crackdowns, Expanded Authoritarianism, And The Post-Pandemic World

    The approval of COVID-19 vaccines has raised hopes that the “new normal” of a post-pandemic world will start to emerge in 2021.

    But international rights groups say civil society must be able to return to its “normal” pre-pandemic role to prevent a permanent expansion of overreaching government power.

    They argue that civil society must provide checks and balances to ensure the rollback of temporary, emergency public-health measures imposed — and sometimes misused — during 2020.

    Transparency International has long warned about “worrying signs that the pandemic will leave in its wake increased authoritarianism and weakened rule of law.”

    “The COVID-19 crisis has offered corrupt and authoritarian leaders a dangerous combination of public distraction and reduced oversight,” the global anti-corruption group says.

    “Corruption thrives when democratic institutions such as a free press and an independent judiciary are undermined; when citizens’ right to protest, join associations, or engage in initiatives to monitor government spending is limited,” Transparency International says.

    Protesters clash with police in front of Serbia's National Assembly building in Belgrade on July 8 during a demonstration against a weekend curfew announced to combat a resurgence of COVID-19 infections.

    Protesters clash with police in front of Serbia’s National Assembly building in Belgrade on July 8 during a demonstration against a weekend curfew announced to combat a resurgence of COVID-19 infections.

    says authoritarianism in theory, as well as authoritarian regimes in practice, were “already gaining ground” before the pandemic.

    Hamid says some aspects of the post-pandemic era — such as COVID-19 tracing schemes and increased surveillance — can create “authoritarian temptations” for those in charge of governments.

    “During — and after — the pandemic, governments are likely to use long, protracted crises to undermine domestic opposition and curtail civil liberties,” Hamid concludes in a Brookings report called Reopening The World.

    The intent to suppress on the part of the government can provoke an unusually intense desire to expose its mistakes on the part of the press, the legislative branch, and civil society.”

    But despite those dangers, Hamid remains cautiously optimistic about political freedoms recovering in a post-pandemic world.

    In due time, he says, the removal of emergency restrictions will help “political parties, protesters, and grassroots movements to communicate their platforms and grievances to larger audiences.”

    “Democratic governments may try to suppress information and spin or downplay crises as well — as the Trump administration did — but they rarely get away with it,” Hamid concludes.

    “If anything, the intent to suppress on the part of the government can provoke an unusually intense desire to expose its mistakes on the part of the press, the legislative branch, and civil society,” he says.

    In countries from Russia to Turkmenistan, authoritarian tendencies under the guise of pandemic control have included the use of emergency health measures to crack down on political opposition figures and to limit the freedom of the press.

    They also have included attempts by authorities to restrict the ability of civic organizations to scrutinize and constrain the expansion of executive power.

    Crackdown In Baku

    Actions taken by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s government are a case in point.

    In March, Baku imposed tough new punishments for those convicted of “violating anti-epidemic, sanitary-hygienic, or lockdown” rules.

    The new criminal law imposed a fine of about $3,000 and up to three years in prison for violations such as failing to wear a mask in public.

    Those convicted of spreading the virus face up to five years in prison.

    A police officer inspects a woman's documents under the gaze of an Azerbaijani soldier in Baku in July during the coronavirus pandemic. Azerbaijan deployed troops to help police ensure a tight coronavirus lockdown in the capital and several major cities.

    A police officer inspects a woman’s documents under the gaze of an Azerbaijani soldier in Baku in July during the coronavirus pandemic. Azerbaijan deployed troops to help police ensure a tight coronavirus lockdown in the capital and several major cities.

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that Baku’s criminal punishments for spreading COVID are “not a legitimate or proportionate response to the threat posed by the virus.”

    The U.S.-based rights group says it is all too easy for such laws to be misused to “target marginalized populations, minorities, or dissidents.”

    During the summer — amid public dissatisfaction about the lack of a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with neighboring Armenia — Aliyev also faced dissent over rampant corruption, economic mismanagement, and his handling of the pandemic.

    Aliyev’s response was to launch a crackdown in July widely seen as an attempt to eliminate his political rivals and pro-democracy advocates once and for all.

    A Washington Post editorial said Aliyev had “blown a gasket” with a “tantrum” that threatened to “obliterate what remains of independent political forces in Azerbaijan.”

    More than 120 opposition figures and supporters were rounded up in July by Aliyev’s security forces — mostly from the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AXFP).

    Two opposition figures among those arrested were charged with violating Azerbaijan’s emergency COVID measures — Mehdi Ibrahimov, the son of AXFP Deputy Chairman Mammad Ibrahim, and AXFP member Mahammad Imanli.

    HRW says its own review of pretrial court documents concluded that Imanli was “falsely accused” of spreading COVID-19 and endangering lives by not wearing a mask in public.

    Ibrahimov’s arrest was based on a claim by police that he took part in an unauthorized street demonstration while infected with the coronavirus.

    But Ibrahimov’s lawyer says COVID tests taken after his arrest in July show he was not infected.

    In fact, he said, the charges of violating public-health rules were only filed against Ibrahimov after he was detained and authorities discovered he was the son of a prominent opposition leader.

    Belarusian Borders

    Critics accuse Belarus’s authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, of using COVID-19 restrictions to suppress mass demonstrations against his regime.

    To be sure, the use of politically related COVID-19 measures is seen as just one tool in Minsk’s broader strategy of intensified police crackdowns.

    The rights group Vyasna said in December that more than 900 politically motivated criminal cases were opened in 2020 against Belarusian opposition candidates and their teams, activists, and protesters.

    The ongoing, daily demonstrations pose the biggest threat to Lukashenka’s 26-year grasp on power — fueled by allegations of electoral fraud after he was declared the landslide winner of a sixth term in a highly disputed August 9 presidential election.

    While Minsk downplayed the threat posed by COVID-19 for months, Lukashenka has repeatedly accused the opposition and hundreds of thousands of protesters on the streets of being foreign-backed puppets.

    A Belarusian border guard wears a face mask and gloves to protect herself from the coronavirus early in the pandemic. Belarus closed off its borders to foreigners on November 1.

    A Belarusian border guard wears a face mask and gloves to protect herself from the coronavirus early in the pandemic. Belarus closed off its borders to foreigners on November 1.

    On November 1, after months of brutal police crackdowns failed to halt the anti-government demonstrations, Belarus closed off its borders to foreigners.

    The State Border Committee said the restrictions were necessary to “prevent the spread of infection caused by COVID-19.”

    In December, authorities expanded the border ban to prevent Belarusians and permanent residents from leaving the country — ostensibly because of the pandemic.

    Lukashenka’s own behavior on COVID-19 bolstered allegations the border closures are a politically motivated attempt to restrain the domestic opposition.

    In late November, Lukashenka completely disregarded safety protocols during a visit to a COVID-19 hospital ward — wearing neither gloves nor a mask when he shook hands with a medic in full protective gear.

    Opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who left Belarus under pressure after she tried to file a formal complaint about the official election tally, says the border restrictions show Lukashenka is “in a panic.”

    Russia’s Surveillance State

    In Moscow, experts say the pandemic has tested the limitations of Russia’s surveillance state.

    Russia’s State Duma in late March approved legislation allowing Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to declare a state of emergency across the country and establish mandatory public health rules.

    It also approved a penalty of up to five years in prison for those who “knowingly” disseminate false information during “natural and man-made emergencies.”

    The legislation called for those breaking COVID-19 measures to be imprisoned for up to seven years.

    In April, President Vladimir Putin tasked local governments with the responsibility of adopting COVID-19 restrictions.

    Experts say that turned some Russian regions into testing grounds for how much increased surveillance and control Russians will stand for.

    It also protected the Kremlin from political backlash over concerns that expanded government powers to control COVID-19 could become permanent in post-pandemic Russia.

    Meanwhile, Moscow took steps to control the free flow of information about Russia’s response to the pandemic.

    “It is staggering that the Russian authorities appear to fear criticism more than the deadly COVID-19 pandemic,” Amnesty International’s Russia director, Natalia Zviagina, said.

    “They justify the arrest and detention of Anastasia Vasilyeva on the pretext that she and her fellow medics violated travel restrictions,” Zviagina said. “In fact, they were attempting to deliver vital protective equipment to medics at a local hospital.”

    Anastasia Vasilyeva, a Russian doctor who heads a medical workers union, was arrested in April after she exposed shortcomings in the health system’s preparations to fight COVID-19.

    Anastasia Vasilyeva, a Russian doctor who heads a medical workers union, was arrested in April after she exposed shortcomings in the health system’s preparations to fight COVID-19.

    Zviagina concludes that by putting Vasilyeva in jail, Russian authorities exposed “their true motive.”

    “They are willing to punish health professionals who dare contradict the official Russian narrative and expose flaws in the public health system,” she said.

    The State Duma also launched reviews and crackdowns in 2020 on reporting by foreign media organizations — including RFE/RL — about the way Russia has handled COVID.

    Human Rights Watch said police “falsely claimed” protesters violated COVID-19 measures — “yet kept most of the detained protesters in overcrowded, poorly ventilated police vehicles.”

    In July, police in Moscow detained dozens of journalists during a protest against Russia’s growing restrictions on media and freedom of expression.

    In several cases, Human Rights Watch said police “falsely claimed” protesters violated COVID-19 public health measures — “yet kept most of the detained protesters in overcrowded, poorly ventilated police vehicles where they could not practice social distancing.”

    HRW Russia researcher Damelya Aitkozhina says those cases “have taken the repression to a new level.”

    Aitkhozhina says authorities in Moscow “detained peaceful protesters under the abusive and restrictive rules on public assembly and under the guise of protecting public health, while exposing them to risk of infection in custody.”

    Rights activists say local authorities in some Russian regions also used COVID-19 measures as an excuse to crack down on protesters.

    In late April, authorities in North Ossetia detained dozens of demonstrators from a crowd of about 2,000 people who’d gathered in Vladikavkaz to demand the resignation of regional leader Vyacheslav Bitarov.

    Thirteen were charged with defying Russia’s COVID-19 measures and spreading “fake information” about the pandemic.

    In Russia’s Far East city of Khabarovsk, authorities used COVID-19 measures to try to discourage mass protests against the arrest of a popular regional governor on decades-old charges of complicity in murder.

    Demonstrators say the charges were fabricated by the governor’s local political opponents with help from the Kremlin.

    While municipal authorities in Khabarovsk warned about the risks of COVID-19 at the protests, police taped off gathering places for the demonstrations — claiming the move was necessary for COVID-19 disinfection.

    But the crowds gathered anyway — reflecting discontent with Putin’s rule and public anger at what residents say is disrespect from Moscow about their choice for a governor.

    Demo Restrictions In Kazakhstan

    Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev signed legislation in late May that tightened government control over the right of citizens to gather for protests.

    Going into effect during the first wave of the global COVID-19 outbreak, the new law defines how many people can attend a demonstration and where protests can take place.

    Critics say the new restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles include the need for “permission” from authorities before protests can legally take place in Kazakhstan — with officials being given many reasons to refuse permission.

    RFE/RL also has reported on how authorities in Kazakhstan used the coronavirus as an excuse to clamp down on civil rights activists who criticized the new public protest law.

    Kazakh and international human rights activists say the legislation contradicts international standards and contains numerous obstacles to free assembly.

    Information Control In Uzbekistan

    Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has been praised by international rights groups since he came to power in late 2016 for his slight easing of authoritarian restrictions imposed by his predecessor, the late Islam Karimov.

    But the COVID-19 crisis has spawned a battle between emerging independent media outlets and the state body that oversees the press in Uzbekistan — the Agency for Information and Mass Communications (AIMC).

    Officials in Tashkent initially claimed Uzbekistan was doing well in combating COVID-19. But by the summer, some media outlets were questioning that government narrative.

    They began to delve deeply into details about the spread of the pandemic and its human costs within the country.

    AIMC Director Asadjon Khodjaev in late November threatened “serious legal consequences” about such reporting — raising concerns that COVID-19 could be pushing Uzbekistan back toward more authoritarian press controls, much like the conditions that existed under Karimov.

    Kyrgyz Upheaval

    Before the pandemic, Kyrgyzstan was considered by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders as Central Asia’s most open country for the media. But Kyrgyzstan’s relative openness has been eroded by lockdowns and curfews imposed since a state of emergency was declared on March 22.

    Most independent media outlets have had difficulty getting accreditation or permits allowing their journalists to move freely in Bishkek or other areas restricted under the public health emergency.

    Violent political protests erupted after Kyrgyzstan’s controversial parliamentary elections on October 4 — which were carried out despite the complications posed by the COVID-19 control measures.

    The political tensions led to the downfall of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov’s government, plans to hold new elections, and the declaration of a state of emergency in Bishkek that included a ban on public demonstrations.

    Pascaline della Faille, an analyst for the Credendo group of European credit insurance companies, concludes that social tensions contributing to the political upheaval were heightened by the pandemic.

    She says those tensions included complaints about the country’s poor health system, an economy hit hard by COVID-19 containment measures, and a sharp drop in remittances from Kyrgyz citizens who work abroad.

    Turkmenistan Is Ridiculed

    One of the world’s most tightly controlled authoritarian states, Turkmenistan has never had a good record on press freedom or transparency.

    Not surprisingly, then, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov’s claim that he has prevented a single COVID-19 infection from happening in his country has been the target of global ridicule rather than admiration.

    Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov

    Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov

    Ashgabat’s continued insistence that the coronavirus does not exist in Turkmenistan is seen as a sign of Berdymukhammedov’s authoritarian dominance rather than any credible public health policies.

    In early August, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Berdymukhammedov had agreed to give WHO experts access to try to verify his claim about the absence of COVID-19 in his country.

    Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia, said Berdymukhammedov had “agreed” for a WHO team “to sample independently COVID-19 tests in country” and take them to WHO reference laboratories in other countries.

    But after more than four months, Berdymukhammedov has still not kept his promise.

    Meanwhile, Turkmenistan’s state television broadcasts perpetuate Berdymukhammedov’s cult of personality by showing him opening new “state-of the-art” medical facilities in Ashgabat and other big cities.

    Privately, Turkmen citizens tell RFE/RL that they don’t believe the hype.

    They say they avoid hospitals when they become ill because facilities are too expensive for impoverished ordinary citizens and state facilities often have little to offer them.

    Patients at several regional hospitals in Turkmenistan told RFE/RL they’ve had to provide their own food, medicine, and even firewood to heat their hospital rooms.

    Still, in a former Soviet republic known for brutal crackdowns on critics and dissent, nobody openly criticizes Turkmenistan’s health officials about the dire situation in hospitals out of fear of reprisals.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Navalny Associate Sobol Says Criminal Charges Against Her Are Kremlin’s ‘Revenge’

    Lyubov Sobol, a prominent lawyer for outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), has said upon her release from detention that charges filed against her are “revenge” for Navalny’s survival of a recent assassination attempt.

    “I believe that this criminal case against me is, firstly, revenge against Navalny, no matter how absurd it may sound, revenge on him for surviving after being poisoned with chemical weapons, revenge for his anti-corruption activities,” Sobol told TV Dozhd regarding the charges, which stem from her ringing the doorbell of a Federal Security Service (FSB) officer implicated in Navalny’s August poisoning.

    “And since they cannot do anything with him now, they apparently decided to take revenge on me,” said Sobol, who proclaimed her innocence and called the charges “absurd.”

    Sobol was detained by police on December 25 and taken in for questioning by Russia’s main investigative body, the Investigative Committee. She was questioned six times in relation to a criminal probe that was launched after a group of journalists and activists, including Sobol, attempted to speak to the FSB officer at his home on December 21.

    The officer, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, had been identified as the apparent recipient of a recorded phone call from Navalny in which the anti-corruption activist’s poisoning was discussed.

    Navalny had earlier on December 21 published an audio recording of the call, in which Kudryavtsev appears to believe he is speaking with a Russian security official and freely describes the circumstances of Navalny’s poisoning by a Soviet-era nerve agent.

    A criminal investigation into Sobol trespassing “with the use of violence or a threat to use it” was launched following a complaint from Kudryavtsev’s mother.

    Upon questioning, Sobol’s status was changed from a witness to a suspect, and she was charged under Russia’s Criminal Code. She faces two to five years in prison if convicted.

    Speaking to TV Dozhd, Sobol said that the charges against her were also a warning to journalists who have covered Navalny’s poisoning.

    “You — Dozhd television — have approached one of the poisoners [of Navalny], coming to his apartment and trying to take comments from him. I myself went to another apartment. CNN came,” she said.

    “That is why, I think, they are really scared that journalists will now be asking questions of the people who have tried to kill Navalny. Through me, they want to intimidate journalists as well.”

    Sobol posted a video on Twitter of police raiding her apartment on December 25, before going incommunicado. In the video, her 7-year-old daughter can be heard crying as someone pounds on the front door, demanding it be opened.

    “They knock on the door and say the police are here. Apparently, the search will be at my home. I’ve never had a personal search before. Well, everything happens for the first time. Apparently, because I recently went to Navalny’s poisoner, ” Sobol says in the video.

    Police searched Sobol’s apartment and her computers and phones were taken away, according to Navalny supporters.

    Navalny has blamed President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning in Siberia. The fierce Kremlin critic and Putin foe fell ill on August 20 while flying en route from Tomsk to Moscow. After his flight was diverted to Omsk, where Russian doctors said they had found no trace of poisoning and placed Navalny in an induced coma, the he was transferred to a hospital in Germany.

    Laboratory tests in three separate European countries, confirmed by the global chemical-weapons watchdog, have established that Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent of the Novichok class.

    Russia has rejected calls for an investigation into the poisoning, and denies the involvement of state agents in the case, saying it has yet to be shown any evidence. In October, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Navalny of collaborating with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, an allegation Lyubov at the time called “complete gibberish.”

    In a separate case, a Moscow court has ordered Sobol, Navalny, and the FBK to jointly pay a total of 87.6 million rubles ($1.15 million) in relation to a defamation lawsuit filed by a businessman with close ties to Putin.

    Sobol announced earlier this year that she would run in Russia’s 2021 parliamentary elections.

    Navalny remains in Germany, where he is recovering from the poisoning. He has said he plans to return home at an undisclosed date.

    With reporting by TV Dozhd

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Russian Court Bans Four AP Videos From Chechen Conflicts

    A court in the Russian North Caucasus city of Nalchik has banned four archive videos by the AP news agency from the wars in Chechnya in the 1990s and 2000s for allegedly “propagandizing cruelty.”

    One of the videos banned by the Nalchik court on December 27 shows Russian soldiers who were being held prisoner by Chechen fighters in 1995. In the video, which has been viewed nearly 2 million times, a Russian officer says he has been treated “very surprisingly” and criticizes Russian tactics in the war.

    Another video, also from 1995, shows the results of Russian attacks on the Chechen cities of Grozny, Argun, and Shali.

    The court’s decision stated that the videos “facilitate the undertaking of illegal activities,” could provoke “negative social, economic, and other consequences,” and violate “the right of citizens to live in a law-based state as guaranteed by the constitution.”

    Russia fought two wars against separatists in Chechnya. The first began in December 1994 and lasted until August 1996. It ended with a peace agreement that left the republic a considerable degree of autonomy.

    The second Chechen war began in August 1999 and formally came to an end when Russia declared the end of the “counterterrorism operation” in the republic in April 2009.

    The conflicts produced tens of thousands of civilian casualties and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

    Both campaigns have been criticized by domestic and international human rights activists for rights violations and atrocities on both sides.

    With reporting by Meduza

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Iran’s Zam And Other Sons Of The Islamic Republic Who Rebelled Against The Clerical Regime

    Ruhollah Zam’s father, a cleric who served as the head of Iran’s state propaganda agency in the 1980s, named him after the leader of the 1979 revolution and the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

    But as an adult, Zam turned against the clerical establishment that was created by his infamous namesake.

    Zam’s opposition activities — including his popular Amadnews Telegram channel with its more than 1 million followers — cost him his life as Iranian officials accused the channel of fomenting violence during the December 2017-January 2018 mass protests.

    Zam, who chose for himself the name Nima instead of Ruhollah, was hanged on December 12 after being convicted on the vague charge of “corruption on Earth.” The criminal charge is used against dissidents, spies, and for those who attempt to overthrow the Islamic establishment.

    Zam was 42 years old.

    In 2019, Zam was reportedly lured — under unclear circumstances — to Iraq from Paris, where he was living in exile. He was believed to have been captured by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and taken to Iran where he was put on a trial and sentenced to death.

    Zam is just one of a number of sons and daughters of the Islamic republic who have rebelled against the system that was created by their fathers.

    Zam, who openly said he was working to take down the Islamic establishment that he accused of “robbing the country,” is believed to be the only one of those offspring who has been executed recently.

    His father, Mohammad Ali Zam, was not successful in protecting him from authorities or preventing his execution. The cleric wrote on Instagram that his son was even unaware that his death sentence had been upheld on appeal when the father and son met one day before he was hanged.

    Other prominent “rebels” include Khomeini’s oldest grandson, Hossein Khomeini, who used to be a vocal critic of what he considered the repressive system founded by his grandfather.

    In media interviews, he accused Iranian leaders of oppressing the people and violating human rights.

    Khomeini traveled to the U.S. in 2003 where he announced that Iranians want democracy and freedom while adding they have realized that religion should be kept separate from the state.

    He returned to Iran with his family in 2005 and was put under temporary house arrest in the holy city of Qom, according to some reports, but was not prosecuted.

    Media reports later suggested the restrictions had been lifted after his prominent relatives mediated on his behalf. In 2018, a Tehran University professor posted a photo with Hossein Khomeini writing the Islamic republic founder’s grandson was “busy teaching and discussing” in Qom.

    No Chip Off The Old Block

    The eldest son of former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezai was also critical of the Iranian establishment. Ahmad Rezaei moved to the United States in 1988 where he blasted the clerical establishment in media interviews, accusing it of carrying out “terrorist attacks.”

    Ahmad Rezaei (right) with his father, former IRGC cmmander Mohsen Rezaei. (undated file photo)

    Ahmad Rezaei (right) with his father, former IRGC cmmander Mohsen Rezaei. (undated file photo)

    He returned to Iran in 2005 but did not face prosecution. Six years later he was found dead in a Dubai hotel. Some reports suggested that he had died of “an overdose of medicine.”

    Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, the daughter of one of the founders of the Islamic republic, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has also become an outspoken critic of the establishment.

    Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani is the daughter of the late Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. (file photo)

    Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani is the daughter of the late Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. (file photo)

    She has warned that the system her father helped create has been weakened and could face collapse. She has also said Iranian leaders have been “misusing” Islam to push their agenda forward.

    In a 2018 interview, Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani said that “intimidation” and “fear” were the main things propping up the Islamic regime.

    She has been briefly detained a few times. In 2012, she was given a six-month jail term for “spreading propaganda against the system,” a charge often brought against critics and intellectuals.

    In 2016, Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani created controversy when she visited a former cellmate, a leader of the Baha’i community that has faced state persecution since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    The meeting was described by powerful clerics as “despicable” and against norms amid calls for her prosecution. Her father was also critical of the meeting, describing the Baha’i faith that originated in Iran as a “deviant sect.” She later said in an interview that she didn’t regret the meeting.

    The division within families began in the early years of the revolution when some of the sons and relatives of Islamic republic officials joined groups such as the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), which carried out a number of deadly attacks in the 1980s and later sided with Iraq during the bloody 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.

    Among them is Hossein Jannati, one of the sons of the head of the powerful Guardians Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who is also the chairman of the Assembly of Experts. That group is tasked with overseeing the work of the country’s supreme leader and choosing his successor.

    Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of Iran's assembly of experts.(file photo)

    Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of Iran’s assembly of experts.(file photo)

    According to some reports, Hossein Jannati was killed in clashes with security forces in 1981. His brother, former Culture Minister Ali Jannati, said in a 2017 interview that Ayatollah Jannati never expressed any grief over the death of his son, but adding: “he must definitely be very upset” over his fate.

    Another prominent case of a son straying from the views of his father is the son of the former Friday Prayers leader of Orumyeh, Gholam Reza Hassani, a member of the leftist Fedayin Khalq organization.

    In his 2005 memoirs, Hassani described how he helped authorities arrest his son, Rashid, in the 1980s. Rashid was executed shortly after his arrest.

    Hassani said he wasn’t saddened when he heard the news of Rashid’s execution because he felt he had carried out his duty.

    “When it comes to the Islamic Revolution, I will never balk at my duties, even if it comes to my son,” he said.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Several Detained At Trial Of Russian Mathematician Who Claims He Was Tortured

    A mathematician at the center of a high-profile trial in Russia gave a final statement to a Moscow court on December 25 as police detained journalists and activists gathered outside.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarusian Catholic Leader Returns After Forced Exile

    The Catholic archbishop of Minsk is in Belarus for Christmas after authorities lifted a four-month ban on his entry to the country amid massive anti-government protests.

    Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, the leader Belarusian Catholics, was denied entry on August 31 as he returned from a trip to neighboring Poland.

    Timeline: Postelection Developments In Belarus

    Some of the key events that have followed the contested reelection of longtime Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

    The 74-year-old spiritual leader was barred from his homeland after he criticized the crackdown on protests against the contested reelection of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

    The archbishop was allowed to return after an envoy from the Vatican met Lukashenka last week in Minsk.

    “When I crossed the border, I knelt down and prayed, I kissed this land,” Kondrusiewicz said in comments on December 24, adding that “the Fatherland cannot be thrown out of the heart.”

    “This is my land. I grew up here, I want to be here, I want to serve here. And I have never opposed Belarus, I have always defended the interests of Belarus and I will continue to do so,” the metropolitan said.

    Kondrusiewicz was able to lead Christmas Eve mass at Minsk’s main Cathedral.

    Catholicism is the second largest religious denomination in Belarus, after Eastern Orthodoxy.

    With reporting by RFE/RL’s Belarus Service and Catholic.by

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kazakh Activist Receives Sentence For Links With Banned Political Group

    SHYMKENT, Kazakhstan — An activist in Kazakhstan’s southern region of Turkistan has been handed a parole-like sentence for his links with a banned political movement.

    The Keles district court on December 22 sentenced Marat Duisembiev to 3 1/2 years of “freedom limitation” after finding him guilty of involvement in the activities of the banned opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK).

    The trial was held online due to coronavirus restrictions. Duisembiev participated in the process via a video link from a detention center in the regional capital, Shymkent.

    The 44-year-old activist was arrested and charged in August after he openly called for people to take part in an unsanctioned rally organized by the DVK.

    Human rights organizations in Kazakhstan recognized him as a political prisoner last month.

    Duisenbiev’s sentence was handed down two days after another activist, Alibek Moldin, was sentenced to one year of “freedom limitation” for being associated with the DVK-linked unregistered Koshe (Street) Party, also banned in Kazakhstan as an extremist organization.

    DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.

    Several activists have been sentenced to various prison terms and limitations in Kazakhstan in recent months for involvement in the DVK’s activities, including taking part in the DVK-organized unsanctioned rallies.

    Opponents of the Kazakh government have said that the crackdown on the DVK’s supporters has intensified ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for January 10.

    Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarusian Press Club’s Chief Detained; Offices And Homes Searched

    MINSK — The head of the Belarusian Press Club, Yulia Slutskaya, has been detained by police in Minsk. Authorities have also searched the offices of the independent journalistic organization and the homes of some of its members.

    Slutskaya’s relatives said on December 22 that she was detained when she arrived back in Belarus after a holiday abroad where she had spent time with her daughter and grandchildren. The relatives said they do not know Slutskaya’s current whereabouts.

    Meanwhile, the program director of the Belarusian Press Club, Ala Sharko, informed the Belarusian Journalists’ Association that police stormed into her apartment on December 22.

    Sharko’s lawyer, Syarhey Zikratski, says police forced him out when he arrived at the apartment during the search operation.

    The Belarusian Press Club said via its Instagram account that police also searched the apartment of Syarhey Yakupau, the director of the group’s educational programs.

    The moves come just days after the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) listed Belarus as a country where authorities have significantly increased their arrests of reporters in recent months..

    The arrests come as mass protests continue across the country over a disputed presidential election in August.

    Election officials in Minsk say incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka won a landslide victory. Opposition supporters say the results were rigged in Lukashenka’s favor.

    Since August, at least 373 journalists have been arrested in Belarus. At least six remain in custody.

    In October, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry revoked media accreditations from several foreign news organizations in a move widely criticized as an attempt to stifle reporting about ongoing anti-government demonstrations.

    Founded in 2011, the Belarusian Press Club calls itself “a platform for professional development of independent media and journalists.”

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ‘Russian Watergate’: Russian Social Media Reacts After Navalny Dupes FSB Agent On His Poisoning

    Within 24 hours of being posted, Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny’s video report of a conversation in which a Federal Security Agency (FSB) chemist confesses to participating in Navalny’s poisoning with a deadly nerve agent in August racked up nearly 12 million views.

    A video report posted one week earlier that identified the FSB agents who tracked Navalny and purportedly attempted to assassinate him at least three times has been viewed nearly 19 million times.

    The shocking report, in which Navalny tricked FSB military chemist Konstantin Kudryavtsev into confessing that FSB agents smeared a toxin from the Novichok group in the oppositionist’s underwear in a hotel in Tomsk in a bid to kill him, lit up the Russian Internet.

    A full day after the video landed, Navalny’s name was still No. 2 on Twitter’s “Russia Trends” list. And St. Petersburg writer and journalist Tatyana Shorokhova wrote: “This was the day the entire Russian Facebook rumbled.”

    History In The Making

    “What Navalny did to the FSB with his investigations, in terms of the extent of the demoralization and humiliation of the employees of this ‘new aristocracy’ is comparable only to the historical moment when the monument to [Soviet secret police founder Feliks] Dzerzhinsky was dragged along the Lubyanka like a market girl by the hair “wrote the humorous Stalingulag account on Twitter, referring to the August 1991 toppling of the colossal Dzerzhinsky statue in front of Moscow’s KGB headquarters at Lubyanka.

    Moscow photographer Yevgeny Feldman also highlighted the potentially historic significance of the episode, writing on Twitter: “Russia’s Watergate: senseless and pitiless.”

    Russian politician Gennady Gudkov (file photo)

    Russian politician Gennady Gudkov (file photo)

    Former State Duma Deputy Gennady Gudkov wrote on Facebook that Navalny’s investigations mean Russia “has entered a new phase in the recognition of the criminal character and complete amorality of the Putin regime…. Russia is ruled by a criminal band that has seized power and that in order to continue its usurpation is prepared to undertake openly monstrous crimes.”

    Time To Investigate?

    Other observers noted that the revelations would seem to put significant pressure on the government of President Vladimir Putin to open a criminal investigation into Navalny’s poisoning. Previously, the government had said there was no evidence of a crime and had insinuated that Navalny either poisoned himself or was poisoned after he was medically evacuated to Germany by Western security agents.

    Mikhail Khodorkovsky (file photo)

    Mikhail Khodorkovsky (file photo)

    “This is a serious business, but I was laughing my head off,” wrote former Russian oligarch and Putin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Twitter, addressing Putin by his first name and patronymic. “It looks like a criminal case will have to be opened after all, eh, Vladimir Vladimirovich?”

    On Facebook, journalist Roman Dobrokhotov, of The Insider, wrote: “Earlier we said: ‘Well, what more proof do you need? Do you insist that they personally confess to everything?’ Now look – they have confessed.”

    Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov (file photo)

    Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov (file photo)

    Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who also is a vocal critic of Putin, compared the Navalny case to the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in a post on Twitter: “Doing business as usual with Putin after this, like ignoring the Saudi murder of Khashoggi, just encourages more murders. It doesn’t matter if they get caught if they get to keep killing critics with impunity.”

    Politics Is All In The Timing

    Still other commentators noted that Navalny’s revelations come just days after Putin’s end-of-the-year marathon press conference. During the December 17 event, Putin denied that Russian agents had poisoned Navalny and dismissed the accusations as disinformation from the CIA.

    The humorous Twitter account Prof. Preobrazhensky noted that many more people have watched Navalny’s video than tuned in for Putin’s much-hyped Q-and-A session.

    Activist Mikhail Svetov praised the political acumen of Navalny’s timing in a post on Twitter: “The way that Navalny knows how to pick his moment deserves particular respect. He could have rushed and published the recording before Putin’s press conference. But he held on until afterward in order to give the Kremlin the chance to dig itself in still deeper. This is real politics.”

    Political commentator and former head of Gazprom-Media Alfred Kokh wrote on Facebook: “Putin was dissected like a complete sucker. A real professional should have assumed that his opponent had a trump card in reserve.”

    In a post on Facebook, Voronezh lawyer Vasily Shlykov was even more direct: “According to the codes of the Russian-speaking world, any officer and soldier who has sworn an oath to the Fatherland must, after such a thing, shoot himself. Putin is an officer! Russia has never seen such a shameful thing!!”

    Journalist Roman Super voiced the general surprise at the low level of professionalism the FSB agents allegedly involved in the case seemed to show: “In just 20 years, [Putin] destroyed all state institutions in general, not even sparing the State Security Committee [KGB] that pushed him to the zenith of this beautiful Russian chaos. But still he understands nothing. That is talent.”

    Meanwhile…

    The day after the Navalny video appeared, Russia’s state news agency TASS cited a survey from the Kremlin-friendly All-Russia Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) in which a plurality of Russians named Vladimir Putin “2020’s politician of the year.”

    Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Ivan Belyayev.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kazakh Activist Placed In Psychiatric Clinic, Lawyer Warns Of Opposition Sweep Ahead Of Vote

    AQTOBE, Kazakhstan — Authorities in the northwestern Kazakh city of Aqtobe have forcibly placed a wheelchair-bound activist in a psychiatric clinic after he allegedly tore down a poster of the ruling Nur Otan party.

    Dana Zhanai, the chairwoman of the Qaharman human rights center, said on December 22 that activist Asanali Suyubaev had been taken to a psychiatric clinic a day earlier, a move she says is likely part of a campaign by the ruling party to sideline activists ahead of January 10 parliamentary elections.

    The clinic’s deputy chief physician, Esenaman Nysanov, confirmed to RFE/RL that Suyubaev had been brought to the facility by medical personnel and police.

    “The patient has mental changes. But he does not accept it. He behaved in a strange way, namely, while outside, he was tearing election posters, which can be defined in a medical term as addictive behavior,” Nysanov said, adding that Suyubaev had been under “psychiatric control” since 2012.

    Aqtobe police refused to comment on Suyubaev’s situation.

    Zhanai told RFE/RL that Suyubaev was forcibly placed in a psychiatric clinic for 20 days in April after he distributed leaflets for the unregistered and banned Koshe (Street) party.

    “The authorities isolated him intentionally right before the [January 10] parliamentary elections. Activists have started a campaign to prove that the ruling Nur Otan party’s ratings are fictitious and that votes will be stolen during the poll. Because of that, many activists across Kazakhstan are being persecuted now. Many are under house arrest, in detention centers, and in this case, they put Suyubaev in a psychiatric clinic,” Zhanai said.

    Rights activists in Kazakhstan have criticized authorities for using a Soviet-era method of stifling dissent by placing opponents in psychiatric clinics..

    Earlier in November, another government critic, journalist Aigul Otepova, was placed in a psychiatric clinic for 18 days. She was released on December 11 and remains under house arrest over posting an article on Facebook criticizing official efforts to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

    Investigators have charged her with having links with banned opposition movement Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, which Otepova denies.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • U.S. Senate Approves Law Expanding Scope Of Sanctions To Use Against Belarus

    The U.S. Senate has approved the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act, expanding the scope of who can be subjected to U.S. sanctions and providing support to independent media.

    U.S. Senator Jim Risch (Republican-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hailed the passage of the act late on December 21 as a sign that U.S. support for a democratic Belarus remains strong.

    “The violent and ongoing crackdown against peaceful citizens protesting [Alyaksandr] Lukashenka’s dictatorial rule in Belarus is unconscionable. The legislation passed today reaffirms U.S. support for the Belarusian people and their desire for a more free and democratic future,” Risch said in the statement.

    The act was approved by the House of Representatives in November and takes force once President Donald Trump signs it.

    According to the document, “the United States should increase its assistance to promote civil society in Belarus” and “appropriations of $11 million each year in 2021 and 2022” will be allocated for that purpose.

    The act also expands the U.S. president’s authority to impose sanctions to include activities surrounding the disputed 2020 Belarusian presidential election and a subsequent government crackdown.

    Belarus has been roiled by nearly daily protests since early August when Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, was declared victor of a presidential election that opposition leaders say was rigged.

    Police have violently cracked down on the demonstrators, with more than 27,000 detentions, according to the United Nations. There have also been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment, and several people have died.

    Protesters continue to call for Lukashenka to resign, an end to the crackdown, the release of political prisoners, and new elections.

    Many of Belarus’s opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, while Lukashenka has refused to negotiate with the opposition.

    The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote and imposed sanctions on Lukashenka and his allies, citing election irregularities and the police crackdown.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • RFE/RL Investigation: Nazarbaev Relatives Have Invested $785 Million In Luxury Properties In Six Countries

    An RFE/RL investigation shows the relatives of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev have invested nearly $785 million in luxury properties in at least six countries over a 20-year time span.

    The investigation, published on December 22, is not a comprehensive accounting of all the real estate investments made by Nazarbaev’s children, grandchildren, in-laws, or other politically connected Kazakh elite, but for the first time attempts to document and value those investments, some of which have drawn media and legal scrutiny over the years or been the source of controversy.

    SPECIAL REPORT: Big Houses, Deep Pockets

    A luxury hillside villa in Cannes, France, figured into a bitter, multiyear lawsuit between Nazarbaev’s brother, Bolat, and his ex-wife Maira Kurmangalieva, as did posh apartments on New York City’s Wall Street and overlooking Central Park.

    A palatial, ocean-side estate on Spain’s Costa Brava owned by Timur Kulibaev, the husband of Nazarbaev’s second daughter, Dinara, has been a regular source of controversy, as local environmentalists have fought the estate’s efforts to close an access road. Nazarbaev has reportedly visited the property, known as Can Juncadella.

    Several U.K. properties linked to Nazarbaev’s eldest daughter, Darigha, and her son Nurali have been the target of Britain’s National Crime Agency, which charged that the funds used to purchase the properties may have come from illicit sources. A court in April, however, dismissed those allegations.

    Darigha also owns part of a block of townhouses on London’s famous Baker Street, whose acquisition was made using anonymous shell companies.

    The father-in-law of Darigha’s other son, Aisultan, owns a luxury estate southwest of London, near a famous golf course, and hotels in the Czech Republic.

    And Kulibaev’s purchase and renovations of the U.K. mansion once owned by Prince Andrew have drawn scrutiny from British newspapers.

    In Switzerland, Nazarbaev’s second daughter, Dinara, owns two chateau-type mansions on the shores of Lake Geneva.

    And Kulibaev has also been tied to a historic property in Lugano, in southern Switzerland, and a semi-dilapidated spa on a hilltop overlooking the historic Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary.

    Between 1991 and 2019, Nazarbaev was Kazakhstan’s singular political leader, holding an iron grip over the country’s political life and stamping out any rival attempts to challenge him.

    The country’s prosperity grew substantially during that period, fueled by its large oil and gas reserves, but corruption and nepotism in the country became entrenched.

    Anti-corruption activists and Central Asian researchers have said a clan-type system benefiting a narrowing group of elites poses a long-term danger.

    Kazakhstan ranked 113th of 198 countries on Transparency International’s corruption index in 2019 and was 157th on Reporters Without Borders 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ‘Very Grim Existence’: Ex-U.S. Marine Whelan Speaks Of Life In Russian Labor Camp

    A former U.S. Marine convicted earlier this year by Russia as a spy has told the BBC of his “very, very grim existence” as he prepares to spend Christmas alongside murderers and thieves in a labor camp.

    “I get up in the morning and try to be as positive as I can,” Paul Whelan told the BBC from Correctional Colony No. 17 in the region of Mordovia, some 350 kilometers east of Moscow.

    The 50-year-old Whelan, giving his first detailed interview since his arrest in December 2018, said he was spending his days sewing prison uniforms in the camp “workhouse” and is taking “one day at a time” — not focusing on his 16-year sentence on espionage charges that he has always rejected.

    Prison guards are waking him at night every two hours to take his photograph, he said.

    Part of the camp has also been quarantined for a suspected coronavirus outbreak.

    “I’m being patient and waiting. I’m not the only pebble on the beach, I know. But I also don’t want to be here too long,” Whelan said. “They’ve abducted a tourist. And I want to come home, see my family, and live my life.”

    Whelan, who also holds British, Canadian, and Irish passports, is a former U.S. Marine who worked global security at a U.S.-based supplier of automotive parts and components.

    He was arrested in Moscow and sentenced in June after prosecutors claimed that a flash memory stick found in his possession contained classified information.

    Whelan has insisted he had come to Russia to attend a wedding and that he was framed when he took the memory stick from an acquaintance, thinking it contained holiday photos.

    The United States has rejected the spy case as “outrageous.”

    Whelan told the BBC that the entire “ludicrous” case against him was based on the testimony of a Russian friend.

    “The story was that the [U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency] sent me to Moscow to pick up a flash drive with the names and photos of students from the border guard school,” Whelan said.

    He had supposedly paid for the secret data by wire transfer four months earlier, but Whelan said that money was a loan so his friend could buy his wife a new phone.

    Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) “just came up with a random story that doesn’t make any sense,” Whelan said, adding that no concrete evidence was ever presented.

    The court hearings in Whelan’s case were closed, and defense lawyers here have to sign a nondisclosure agreement in spy trials.

    With reporting by the BBC

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Reprisal Murders Targeting Journalists Doubled In 2020, New Report Finds

    The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says 21 journalists worldwide were singled out for murder in reprisal for their work in 2020, more than double the previous year’s figure of 10.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Demonstrators Rally In Belarus Demanding Lukashenka Step Down

    Demonstrators marched in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on December 20, calling on strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka to step down.

    Belarus has been roiled by nearly daily protests since early August when Lukashenka was declared victor of a presidential election that opposition leaders said was flawed.

    Crisis In Belarus

    Read our coverage as Belarusians take to the streets to demand the resignation of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and call for new elections after official results from the August 9 presidential poll gave Lukashenka a landslide victory.

    Police have violently cracked down on the postelection protests, with more than 27,000 detentions, according to the United Nations. There have also been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment, and several people have died.

    Many of Belarus’s opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, while Lukashenka, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for almost three decades, has refused to negotiate with the opposition.

    The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote, and imposed sanctions on Lukashenka and his allies, citing election rigging and the police crackdown.

    Crowd numbers at protests in Minsk and elsewhere have dropped amid fatigue, repression, and the cold weather. Protests organizers have also switched tactics, calling for smaller gatherings to evade arrest and stretch the riot police.

    On December 20, small marches were reported in several districts of Minsk, according to RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, with many carrying the opposition’s red-and-white flag or banners.

    So far, there have been no reports of demonstrators being detained by riot police.

    Small marches and rallies were also reported on December 19 in Minsk and elsewhere, including the western city of Hrodna.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Protests Continue In Belarus Demanding End To Authoritarian Lukashenka Rule

    People marched and rallied in Minsk and elsewhere in Belarus on December 19 as demonstrations demanding that Alyaksandr Lukashenka step down entered day 133.

    Belarus has been rocked by protests since August 9 when Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared the winner of the country’s presidential election, a vote many Belarusians and others charge was rigged and actually won by opposition challenger Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

    Since then, some 28,000 Belarusians have been detained, hundreds beaten on the streets and in detention — with many cases considered torture — and several killed in the regime’s crackdown.

    The United States and European Union refuse to recognize Lukashenka, 66, as the legitimate ruler and have slapped sanctions on him and other officials held responsible for the voter fraud and post-election crackdown.

    Crisis In Belarus

    Read our coverage as Belarusians take to the streets to demand the resignation of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and call for new elections after official results from the August 9 presidential poll gave Lukashenka a landslide victory.

    Tsikhanouskaya, who left for Lithuania shortly after the election amid threats to her and her family, has become the face of the Belarusian protests abroad.

    Crowd numbers at protests in Minsk and elsewhere have dropped amid fatigue, repression, and the cold weather. Protests organizers have also switched tactics, calling for smaller gatherings to evade arrest and stretch the riot police.

    On December 19, small marches were reported in several districts of Minsk, RFE/RL’s Belarus Service reported, with many carrying the opposition’s red-and-white flag or banners.

    Small marches and rallies were also reported elsewhere, including the western city of Hrodna.

    So far, there have been no reports of demonstrators being detained by riot police.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Media Watchdog Calls For Release Of Turkmen Reportedly Jailed For Online Photo Post

    Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on December 18 urged the OSCE’s new representative on freedom of the media to press for the release of a journalist jailed in Turkmenistan for posting a photo on a news website.

    Nurgeldy Halikov’s conviction “exemplifies the absurdity of the trumped-up charges used by the authorities to gag the free press’s few remaining representatives. He risks being tortured in prison,” Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said in a statement on December 18.

    Turkmen.news, a website based in the Netherlands for which Halikov works, reported earlier this week that its editors had learned that the journalist was found guilty of fraud and handed the prison sentence in mid-September.

    The 26-year-old Halikov has been in custody since July 13, a day after he reposted a photo of a visiting World Health Organization delegation on Turkmen.news, which specializes in covering human rights in Turkmenistan.

    The delegation was in Turkmenistan to evaluate the possible spread of COVID-19 in the country, where officials have insisted that there are no coronavirus cases.

    Turkmenistan is led by authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, who heads one of the world’s most oppressive governments.

    Halikov’s family had been reluctant to talk about the case amid hopes — ultimately dashed — that he would be amnestied on International Day of Neutrality, which is celebrated on December 12.

    “Turkmenistan is a black hole for news and information. The media are completely controlled by the state and few journalists take the risk of doing independent reporting,” according to Cavelier.

    “We urge the authorities to free him at once and we ask Teresa Ribeiro, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s representative on freedom of the media, to firmly condemn his arbitrary detention,” he said.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Moscow Court Upholds Scientist’s Detention To Await ‘High Treason’ Trial

    A court in Moscow on December 17 upheld pretrial detention for a Russian physicist specializing in hypersonic aircraft who was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of high treason.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Chairman Of Belarusian Journalists’ Association Summoned For Questioning

    Police in Minsk have summoned the chairman of the Belarusian Journalists’ Association (BAZh) for questioning in a probe related to activities “directed at causing damage to the national security” of the country.

    BAZh said on December 15 that Andrey Bastunets was ordered during a phone call to visit the Central Office of the Investigative Committee in Minsk on December 16.

    The move comes as the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published a report listing Belarus among countries where the number of imprisoned journalists rose significantly in recent months amid mass protests after incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed victory in a disputed presidential election in August.
    .
    Since August, at least 373 journalists have been arrested, six of whom are currently detained, the UN said earlier this month.

    In October, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry revoked the media accreditations of several foreign media outlets in an attempt to stifle reporting.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hearing Postponed Into Lawsuit Against Tashkent Decision Giving Land To Firm Controlled By President’s Son-in-Law

    TASHKENT — A court in Tashkent has postponed a hearing into a lawsuit filed by dozens of entrepreneurs against a decision by the Uzbek capital’s mayor, Jahongir Ortiqhojaev, which will hand city land to a company affiliated with the president’s son-in-law.

    The Chilonzor district court on December 14 put back the hearing to December 22 after the plaintiffs’ motion to remove Judge Dostmurod Toshev from the process was rejected.

    The case concerns a December 2019 decision by Ortiqhojaev that would give more than six hectares of land in Yunusobod, one of Tashkent’s most-expensive districts, to the Urban Developers construction company.

    Urban Developers, which plans to develop a trade and entertainment complex in Yunusobod, appears to be associated with Oibek Tursunov, the husband of President Shavkat Mirziyoev’s elder daughter Saida. The company was established a month before the mayor announced his decision.

    Ansor Naberaev, who is officially listed as the owner of Urban Developers, has rejected any connection between his company and Tursunov.

    According to some 100 business-owners and entrepreneurs in Yunusobod, the plan to develop the area will harm their business, while many regulations and laws have been violated since the land, worth at least $11.5 million, was placed under the control of the investor.

    According to official registration and taxation documents, 97 percent of Urban Developers’ shares are owned by a company called Odoratus Business LLP registered in the United Kingdom and operated by B2B Consultants Limited, a company in Belize.

    The company’s assets are officially shown as having a value of 100 British pounds ($130).

    According to the documents obtained by RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Odoratus Business LLP also co-owns shares in several other companies operating in Uzbekistan, including more than 60 percent of shares in the Milk House company, which is co-owned by a firm called Pro Milk Technology.

    More than 95 percent of Pro Milk Technology’s shares are controlled by Promadik Invest, which is owned by Mirziyoev’s son-in-law Tursunov.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarusian Blogger Starts Hunger Strike To Protest New Criminal Charge

    MINSK — Belarusian blogger Ihar Losik, who has been recognized by rights organizations as a political prisoner, has started a hunger strike to protest a new charge against him.

    Losik’s colleague, blogger Anton Matolka said that Losik was additonally charged on December 15 with helping prepare mass disorder. Losik was initially charged with helping prepare for violations of public order, which has a maximum punishment of three years in prison.

    If found guilty of the latest charge, Losik, an RFE/RL consultant for new media technologies, faces up to eight years in prison.

    According to Matolka, Losik started the hunger strike immediately after learning of the additional charge against him.

    Losik’s wife, Darya Losik, confirmed to RFE/RL that her husband was on hunger strike, adding that she was also now on hunger strike to support her husband.

    Crisis In Belarus

    Read our coverage as Belarusians take to the streets to demand the resignation of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and call for new elections after official results from the August 9 presidential poll gave Lukashenka a landslide victory.

    Police arrested Losik in late June as he was actively covering preparations for the country’s August 9 presidential election in his blog.

    Incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has run the country for almost 30 years, was announced the winner in the election, sparking nationwide protests amid cries of electoral fraud.

    Police have violently cracked down on the postelection protests, and many of Belarus’s opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country as the demonstrations continue.

    Western governments have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote, and imposed sanctions on him and his allies, citing election rigging and the police crackdown.

    Lukashenka has refused to step down and says he will not negotiate with the opposition.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • More Than 100 Detained In Minsk At Anti-Lukashenka Retirees’ Rally

    MINSK — A Belarusian human rights group says more than 100 people were detained in Minsk during the weekly rally of retirees calling on strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka to step down.

    Up to 150 protesters gathered at Independence Square in the center of the capital Minsk on December 14 for their customary Monday march, but security forces prevented them from moving along Independence Avenue.

    The demonstrators then started rallying on the square itself, waving white-and-red flags, a symbol of the opposition, and shouting slogans such as “Get out!” and “Long live Belarus!” before the gathering was dispersed by police.

    Some of the demonstrators hid in the nearby Church of Saints Symon and Alena, but at least 106 others were detained, according to the human rights group Vyasna.

    The crackdown came a day after a total of 271 people were held at protests around the country, according to the Interior Ministry. Most of the arrests were reported in the capital.

    Belarus has been roiled by nearly daily protests since early August when Lukashenka was declared victor of a presidential election that opposition leaders said was flawed.

    Police have violently cracked down on the postelection protests, with more than 27,000 detentions, according to the UN. There have also been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment, and several people have died.

    Many of Belarus’s opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, while Lukashenka, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for almost three decades, has refused to negotiate with the opposition.

    The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote, and imposed sanctions on Lukashenka and his allies, citing election rigging and the police crackdown.

    On December 14 in Berlin, Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged Germany to lift its visa requirement for Belarusian citizens and called for the expansion of EU sanctions.

    “The punitive measures look ridiculous when we see how many people have been arrested so far: more than 30,000 since August,” Tsikhanovskaya, who left Belarus for neighboring Lithuania fearing for the safety of her family, told Der Spiegel magazine during her visit to the German capital.

    “We need action,” she said.

    Tsikhanovskaya met in Berlin with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who praised the Belarusian people’s “bravery and persistence,” and the president of Germany’s parliament.

    From Germany, Tsikhanouskaya is set to travel to Brussels for talks with EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell and members of the EU Parliament, before receiving the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov Human Rights Prize on December 16.

    With reporting by AP and dpa

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Azerbaijani Soldiers Arrested For Desecration, Vandalism During Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

    BAKU – Azerbaijani authorities say they have arrested four servicemen suspected of desecrating the bodies of dead Armenian soldiers and of vandalizing gravestones at Armenian cemeteries during recent fighting over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

    The arrests were made after investigators studied videos that circulated on the Internet during the six weeks of fighting that ended last month, the Prosecutor-General’s Office said in a statement on December 14.

    According to the statement, two sergeants, Rasad Aliyev and Qardasxan Abisov, are suspected of desecrating the corpses of Armenian soldiers killed during battles in the district of Zangilan.

    Two privates, Arzu Huseynov and Umid Agayev, are accused of vandalizing gravestones at a cemetery in the village of Madatli.

    “Other videos with possible similar contents are being investigated… Such criminal acts committed by the servicemen of the Republic of Azerbaijan are inadmissible… and individuals who have committed similar violations will be brought to justice, in accordance with law,” the Prosecutor-General’s Office said.

    The office said in November that it had launched a probe into videos showing the possible torture of captured Armenian soldiers and the desecration of corpses.

    International human rights groups have urged both Azerbaijan and Armenia to immediately conduct investigations into war crimes allegedly committed by both sides during the latest fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh that ended with a Russia-brokered truce on November 10.

    Under the truce deal, some parts in and around the region were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces.

    Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the region’s population reject Azerbaijani rule.

    They have been governing their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan’s troops and Azeri civilians were pushed out of the region and the seven adjacent districts in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Azerbaijani Soldiers Arrested For Desecration, Vandalism During Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

    BAKU – Azerbaijani authorities say they have arrested four servicemen suspected of desecrating the bodies of dead Armenian soldiers and of vandalizing gravestones at Armenian cemeteries during recent fighting over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

    The arrests were made after investigators studied videos that circulated on the Internet during the six weeks of fighting that ended last month, the Prosecutor-General’s Office said in a statement on December 14.

    According to the statement, two sergeants, Rasad Aliyev and Qardasxan Abisov, are suspected of desecrating the corpses of Armenian soldiers killed during battles in the district of Zangilan.

    Two privates, Arzu Huseynov and Umid Agayev, are accused of vandalizing gravestones at a cemetery in the village of Madatli.

    “Other videos with possible similar contents are being investigated… Such criminal acts committed by the servicemen of the Republic of Azerbaijan are inadmissible… and individuals who have committed similar violations will be brought to justice, in accordance with law,” the Prosecutor-General’s Office said.

    The office said in November that it had launched a probe into videos showing the possible torture of captured Armenian soldiers and the desecration of corpses.

    International human rights groups have urged both Azerbaijan and Armenia to immediately conduct investigations into war crimes allegedly committed by both sides during the latest fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh that ended with a Russia-brokered truce on November 10.

    Under the truce deal, some parts in and around the region were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces.

    Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the region’s population reject Azerbaijani rule.

    They have been governing their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan’s troops and Azeri civilians were pushed out of the region and the seven adjacent districts in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Turkey Detains 11 Suspected Of Abducting Iranian Dissident

    Turkish authorities say they have detained 11 people suspected of spying and abducting an exiled Iranian political dissident on behalf of Tehran.

    Agents from Turkey’s MIT intelligence service arrested the Turkish nationals two weeks ago following Habib Chaab’s disappearance in Istanbul, the Turkish police said on December 14.

    Chaab, the former leader of the separatist group the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), lived in Sweden and visited Turkey in October.

    Turkish police said the suspects grabbed Chaab in Istanbul and smuggled him to the Iranian border region of Van before giving him up to Iranian officials.

    A senior official was quoted as saying he was drugged and kidnapped by a network working “on behalf of Iran’s intelligence service” after being lured into flying to Turkey by an Iranian intelligence operative.

    There was no immediate public comment from Iran.

    Iran’s state media reported Chaab’s arrest in November by Iranian intelligence officers.

    ASMLA said Tehran had kidnapped Chaab, also known as Habib Asyud, after “luring” him to Turkey.

    The group, which has an armed branch and seeks a separate state for ethnic Arabs in Iran’s oil-producing southwestern province of Khuzestan, was named by Tehran as being behind a deadly 2018 terror attack on a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz that left at least 25 dead, including civilians.

    In recent years, a number of Iranian opposition activists have ended up in Iran under mysterious circumstances.

    They include opposition journalist and activist Ruhollah Zam, a former exile in France who was seized while he was traveling in Iraq in 2019.

    He was convicted of “corruption on Earth” and sentenced to death in June before being hanged last week, triggering international condemnation.

    The announcement by the Turkish authorities follows a rare public spat between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and top Iranian officials.

    During a visit to Baku on December 10 to attend a parade celebrating Azerbaijan’s resumption of control over parts of its Nagorno-Karabakh region and adjacent districts following a military conflict with neighboring Armenia, Erdogan read parts of an Azeri-Iranian poem that Iranian officials said supported separatism among Iran’s large ethnic Azeri minority.

    Iranian authorities summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Tehran to complain about Erdogan’s “interventionist and unacceptable remarks.”

    Turkey replied by summoning Iran’s ambassador to Ankara to protest the “baseless” claims.

    Turkey and Iran have close political and trade relations but find themselves on opposite sides of the Syrian conflict and have other regional disputes.

    Ankara is a close ally of Azerbaijan.

    With reporting by Reuters and AFP

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: How Far Has Tashkent Gone In Greater Respect For Religious Rights?

    Under President Shavkat Mirziyoev, who was elected on December 4, 2016, Uzbekistan has made some progress addressing the long list of rights violations that came to characterize the Uzbek government under Mirziyoev’s predecessor, Islam Karimov. But how much?

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Current Time Journalist Held At Minsk Airport, Belongings Seized

    Belarusian security agents have seized the computer and documents of a journalist at Minsk’s airport after briefly holding him upon arrival from Ukraine.

    Roman Vasyukovich, a correspondent for Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, said some of his possessions were seized at the airport without explanation.

    After being held for about an hour, Vasyukovich said he was released but his laptop was seized for examination of “extremist” content.

    Vasyukovich has been covering the near-daily protests in Belarus against strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka in the wake of August’s disputed presidential election.

    Security forces have violently cracked down on the protest movement, with more than 27,000 detentions, according to the United Nations. There have also been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment, and several people have died.

    Since August, at least 373 journalists have been arrested, six of whom are currently detained, the UN said earlier this month.

    In October, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry revoked media accreditation from Current Time and other foreign media in an attempt to stifle reporting.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Probe Sought Into Nagorno-Karabakh ‘Decapitations,’ Other ‘War Crimes’

    International human rights groups are urging both Azerbaijan and Armenia to urgently conduct investigations into war crimes allegedly committed by both sides during weeks of recent fighting over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

    Amnesty International has analyzed 22 videos depicting “extrajudicial executions, the mistreatment of prisoners of war and other captives, and desecration of the dead bodies of enemy soldiers,” the London-based human rights watchdog said in a statement on December 10.

    Two of the clips show “extrajudicial executions by decapitation” by members of Azerbaijan’s military while another video shows the cutting of an Azerbaijani border guard’s throat that led to his death, it said.

    “The depravity and lack of humanity captured in these videos shows the deliberate intention to cause ultimate harm and humiliation to victims, in clear violation of international humanitarian law,” according to Denis Krivosheyev, the rights group’s research director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

    “Both Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities must immediately conduct independent, impartial investigations and identify all those responsible,” Krivosheyev said.

    Louis Charbonneau, the United Nations director at New-York based Human Rights Watch, said the abuses described by Amnesty were “war crimes” that should be investigated.

    “Azerbaijan and Armenia authorities [should] investigate, identify [people] responsible & hold them accountable,” Charbonneau said on Twitter.

    Amnesty International “authenticated the footage as genuine, and technical tests conducted on the videos indicate that the files have not been manipulated,” the statement said, adding that a forensic pathologist verified the details of the injuries.

    International humanitarian law prohibits acts of violence against prisoners of war and any other detained person, the mutilation of dead bodies, and the filming of confessions or denunciations for propaganda purposes.

    Amnesty International’s call comes one month after a Moscow-brokered cease-fire deal brought an end to six weeks of fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh — the worst clashes over the disputed region in three decades.

    The latest fighting left more than 5,000 people dead, including many civilians, and resulted in Azerbaijani forces retaking much of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

    Both sides have accused each other of violating international law during the war.

    The region, populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, declared independence from Azerbaijan amid a 1988-94 war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

    Internationally mediated negotiations have failed to result in a resolution.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarus To Close Land Borders Over COVID-19, Opposition Says Move Aimed At Activists

    MINSK — Belarus will close several land-border crossings as of December 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic, a move that will limit the movement of people at a time when the country is being rocked by protests over authoritarian Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s claim of victory in a disputed presidential election.

    The national Internet portal for legal information on December 10 published a government resolution adopted earlier in the week, saying the measures, which include a ban on Belarusians travelling unless their trip is related to work or study, will take force 10 days after publication of the notice.

    It is not clear how long the restrictions will be in place.

    Belarus has since been hit by near-daily protests demanding Lukashenka resign, the release of all political prisoners, and a new election.

    Security forces have violently cracked down on the protest movement, with more than 27,000 detentions, according to the United Nations. There have also been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment, and several people have died.

    Opposition leaders, who say the August 9 election was rigged, immediately accused Lukashenka of using the COVID-19 measures as an excuse to impose restrictions on the movements of activists.

    “Lukashenka closes inner borders of #Belarus because of Covid. Let’s be honest: the dictator just terrorizes the country & violates human rights on [a] daily basis,” opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who says she won the presidential poll, wrote on Twitter on December 10.

    “He didn’t care about covid before. Now repressed Belarusians cannot flee and seek asylum abroad.”

    The resolution orders “temporarily suspending the crossing of the state border of the Republic of Belarus for departure from the Republic of Belarus of citizens of the Republic of Belarus, as well as foreigners who have a permit for permanent or temporary residence in the Republic of Belarus.”

    Restrictions will apply at all road, railway, and river checkpoints along the country’s borders. The ban does not apply to people with diplomatic and service passports, members of official delegations, drivers of international road transportation units, crews of aircraft and ships, train crews, individuals on business trips and some other categories of people.

    Departure from the country will be also allowed once every six months for Belarusian citizens who are permanent residents of foreign countries or need to leave the country due to illness or the death of a close relative abroad, as well as for educational, employment, or medical purposes.

    According to the resolution, when entering the country, foreign nationals will have to present test results proving that they are not infected with the coronavirus.

    Lukashenka, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has denied the accusations of election fraud and refuses to negotiate with the opposition.

    The United States and European Union have both rejected the election results and have imposed sanctions on Belarus, as well as Lukashenka, over the issue.

    As of December 10, the number of registered coronavirus cases in Belarus was 152,453, including 1,230 deaths and 129,950 recovered patients.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.