Watchdog

A controversial exhibition has opened at former Czech President Vaclav Havel's library in Prague featuring photos taken during the first and second Chechen wars, when Russia sent in troops to crush an independence drive in the republic.

The exhibition, called "Chechnya: The Final Solution," was organized by Polish rights activist Adam Borowski. It includes many graphic scenes of violence.

Library Director Martin Punta told RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service that each of the photos is covered with a black cloth so that visitors can decide if they want to lift the cloth and see the image.

Borowski tried to hold the exhibit at the European Parliament in Brussels last year but officials prevented it from appearing after declaring that some of the pictures were "repulsive."

(RFE/RL correspondents Claire Bigg and Amina Umarova have written a compelling account of the efforts to identify Chechnya's dead and missing.)

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee is demanding the release of Turkmen dissident Gulgeldy Annaniyazov from prison.

Annaniyazov -- who has refugee status in Norway -- was found guilty of entering Turkmenistan with invalid documents and sentenced to 11 years in jail by an Ashgabat court on October 7.

Norwegian Helsinki Committee spokesman Berit Nising Lindeman told RFE/RL's Turkmen Service today that the committee had asked Turkmen officials to give a detailed explanation of the charges against Annaniyazov, his trial, and his current state of health.

He said no reply has been received.

Annaniyazov had been living in Norway as a refugee since 2002. He flew to Ashgabat this summer to visit his parents and was detained by Turkmen police.