Watchdog

Two Belarusian journalists have been fined the equivalent of $360 each for posing with a teddy bear in a photo session.

Iryna Kozlik and Yulia Darashkevich were arrested on August 8 in Minsk when posing and taking pictures of themselves with a teddy bear, expressing their solidarity with blogger Anton Surapin and businessman Syarhey Basharymau.

Surapin and Basharymau were arrested last month for their alleged involvement in the parachuting of teddy bears from a Swedish plane on the Minsk area accompanied by texts supporting Belarusian dissidents and the country’s opposition.

Belarus expelled the Swedish ambassador last week and announced on August 8 that it was withdrawing all staff at the Belarusian Embassy in Stockholm.

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka stated August 9 that the current Minsk-Stockholm row has nothing to do with the teddy bear air drop.

Based on reporting by Reuters, RFE/RL's Belarus Service, and Interfax

ASTANA -- The independent Kazakh media-rights organization Adil Soz says an opposition Kazakh journalist has been severely beaten by unknown assailants in Astana.

The group said Ularbek Baitailaq was attacked near his house early on August 8.

It said Baitailaq sustained severe injuries and was currently being treated in a hospital.

Baitailaq, who is a Kazakh National Archive employee, has contributed articles to the opposition "Dat" weekly, the "Chetvyortaya vlast" newspaper, and the "Altyn Tamyr" magazine.

The city police department has so far been unavailable for comment.

Opposition and independent journalists are often targeted by unknown attackers in Kazakhstan.

Four months ago, Lukpan Akhmedyarov, a journalist in the western city of Oral, survived an attack by unknown assailants who stabbed him and shot him with a pneumatic pistol.

With reporting by Interfax