Iran Human Rights (IHR) says at least 142 people were executed in Iran in May, the highest monthly total in eight years, amid a brutal crackdown on dissent that the Norway-based watchdog says is aimed at spreading "societal fear."

The group added in a statement released on June 1 that so far this year, the death penalty has been administered at least 307 times, a 76 percent rise compared with the same period last year.

"The purpose of the Islamic republic’s intensification of arbitrary executions is to spread societal fear to prevent protests and prolong its rule," IHR DIrector Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in the statement.

Amid a wave of unrest -- which has posed the biggest threat to the country's leadership since the Islamic revolution in 1979 -- sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in September while in police custody for an alleged infraction of the country's mandatory-head-scarf law, officials have launched a brutal crackdown.

Iran's judiciary, at the urging of senior leaders, has taken a hard-line stance against demonstrators, executing at least seven protesters, including three on May 19. Several others are currently waiting on death row for their sentences to be carried out.

But IHR said the judiciary is using the death penalty in many areas, especially with regard to people convicted of drugs charges, 180 of whom were executed in the first five months of the year.

The wave of executions has sparked outrage among rights activists and many Western governments who have called the legal proceedings against the accused "sham" trials where proper representation is not always granted and decisions are rushed behind closed doors.

Officials have staunchly defended the use of the death penalty, with Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, the head of the judiciary of the Islamic republic, saying on May 30 that those who, in his view, "should be executed" will have their sentences "executed."

"If the international community doesn’t show a stronger reaction to the current wave of executions, hundreds more will fall victims to their killing machine in the coming months," IHR's Amiry-Moghaddam said.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claims thousands of iPhones belonging to the country's diplomats have suffered a massive hacking attack.

The FSB said in a statement on June 1 that hackers allegedly targeted the iPhones of diplomats working at Russian embassies and consulates in countries that are members of NATO, former Soviet republics, as well as in China, Israel, and Syria.

The statement did not give any details or evidence of the alleged cyberattack, just saying that an "unknown" app that targets vulnerable parts of the iOS operational system was used by the hackers.

"The information obtained by Russian special services indicates close cooperation between the U.S. company Apple with the national security community, namely with the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), and confirms that the declared policy of providing confidentiality for the personal data of the users of Apple devices does not correspond to the reality," the FSB statement said, without giving any information to back up the allegation.

Apple and the U.S. National Security Agency have yet to comment on the FSB statement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that the FSB's statement "deserves attention," though "we do not have the authority" to restrict the usage of iPhones by officials.

Peskov added that while some of Kremlin officials use iPhones, others have also started replacing iPhones with other brands.

Russian media reported in March that some Russian officials allegedly were told to ditch their iPhones over security fears.

Apple and the NSA have previously clashed over securing a so-called back door to allow access to user data. The company has strenuously refused.

In 2021, a mass break-in to Apple products via the Pegasus spying program created by an Israeli company, the NSO Group, was registered. The program was used by intelligence of other countries.

Apple has sued the NSO Group.

Apple stopped direct sales of iPhones in Russia last year over the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine. However, legalized import programs still exist to bring the phones into the country and sell them without the company's permission.

With reporting by TASS, Interfax, and Reuters

A court in Belarus's western city of Baranavichy has sentenced activist Ihar Shumilau to 4 1/2 years in prison for posting online caricatures of several officials, including the country’s authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights group said on June 1 that the Baranavichy City Court sentenced Shumilau, who lost a leg in a traffic accident 10 years ago and has an 11-year-old son, on May 30 after finding him guilty of insulting and libeling Lukashenka and several top officials.

Shumilau was initially detained in late February and sentenced to 15 days in jail on a charge of "distributing extremist materials."

He was not released after he served his term and instead immediately sent to pretrial detention on the new charges that he was found guilty of and sentenced for on May 30.

Vyasna also said on June 1 that the central district court in Minsk on May 30 handed a two-year parole-like sentence to children's author Yana Tsegla.

Tsegla was found guilty of the "organization and preparation of actions that blatantly disrupt social order," a charge many Belarusians have faced for protesting against Lukashenka after he claimed victory in a 2020 presidential election that the opposition says was rigged.

Hundreds of people have been handed prison terms in Belarus following the unprecedented anti-Lukashenka rallies sparked by the election results.

Thousands of others have been detained, and there have been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by security forces. Several people have died during the crackdown.

The 68-year-old Lukashenka has leaned heavily on Russian support amid Western sanctions while punishing the opposition and arresting or forcing many of its leaders out of the country.

Lukashenka denies voter fraud and has refused to negotiate with the opposition, led by Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who supporters say actually won the vote.

The European Union, United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the “falsification” of the vote and postelection crackdown.

Kyrgyzstan's State Committee of National Security (UKMK) said on June 1 that a group allegedly involved in organizing illegal travel to European countries via Kyrgyzstan by using forged Schengen visas has been uncovered. "More than 40 foreign nationals who became victims of the activities of the organizers of the illegal migration via Kyrgyzstan have been identified," the UKMK said, without giving any other details. It remains unclear if the alleged perpetrators were apprehended. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

ASTANA -- Lawmakers in Kazakhstan are poised to scrap an article in the Criminal Code that envisions prosecution for insulting former President Nursultan Nazarbaev as President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev continues to distance himself from his predecessor.

Kazakh lawmaker Snezhanna Imasheva said on June 1 that Criminal Code Article 373, according to which the public insulting or any other encroachment of the "honor and dignity" of the first president of Kazakhstan, can be punishable by up to five years in prison, will be canceled. The Justice Ministry later confirmed Imasheva's statement.

Toqaev has made a series of moves since January 2022 to push Nazarbaev, who ruled the tightly controlled former Soviet republic with an iron fist for almost three decades, further into the background following his resignation in 2019.

Though he officially stepped down as president, Nazarbaev retained sweeping powers as the head of the country's powerful Security Council. He also enjoyed substantial powers by holding the title of "elbasy."

The announcement on deleting Article 373 comes more than four months after Kazakh lawmakers annulled the Law on the First President -- the Leader of the Nation (Elbasy).

Although the law was canceled, Nazarbaev himself continues to have immunity from prosecution in accordance with the law on presidents.

Even after Nazarbaev's resignation, many Kazakhs remained bitter over the oppression felt during his reign.

Those feelings came to a head in January last year when unprecedented antigovernment nationwide protests were sparked by a fuel price hike.

The demonstrations unexpectedly exploded into deadly countrywide unrest over perceived corruption under the Nazarbaev regime and the cronyism that allowed his family and close friends to enrich themselves while ordinary citizens failed to share in the oil-rich nation's wealth.

Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of his Security Council role, taking it over himself. Since then, several of Nazarbaev’s relatives and allies have been pushed out of their positions or resigned. Some have been arrested on corruption charges, of whom some were handed prison terms.

European Council President Charles Michel said he will have a "very important meeting" on June 1 with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Moldova. "I had the opportunity to talk with the two leaders a few weeks ago in Brussels. We have made some progress and we hope to confirm today the political will to normalize relations between the two countries," Michel said. Azerbaijan's ambassador to France suggested last week that Baku and Yerevan could sign a peace agreement during the summit regarding their decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. To read the original stories by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, click here.

A court in Russia's Urals city of Yekaterinburg on June 1 fined a local branch of the Memorial human rights group 300,000 rubles ($3,700) for allegedly discrediting Russia's armed forces involved in Moscow's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The charge stemmed from the group's placing of materials online that were critical of the war in February as the group marked the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion. Memorial branch chief Aleksei Mosin said the court ruling will be appealed. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

A hacking group has released a batch of what it claims are classified Iranian government documents, some of which revealed new details of an attack early this year on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tehran.

The hackers, known as Uprising Until Overthrow and affiliated with the exiled opposition Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), posted some of the documents on the Telegram messaging app on May 30. The MKO is considered a terrorist group by Tehran.

RFE/RL could not immediately verify the authenticity of the materials, some of which were undated and marked "very confidential," indicating they could be drafts.

Iran’s Presidential Office has dismissed reports of a cyberattack on its website, but it said there was some temporary downtime on it due to ongoing maintenance and the unveiling of an upgraded version of the site.

Azerbaijan has not officially commented on the reports.

Relations between Tehran and Baku have become increasingly strained in recent months, particularly after an armed attack on Baku's embassy in Tehran in January.

Azerbaijan halted the operation of its embassy in Iran after a security guard was killed and two others were wounded when a gunman opened fire on its grounds. Baku blamed the January 27 attack on the Iranian secret service and called it an "act of terrorism."

Some of the documents released by the hacking group offer previously unknown details of the embassy attack, including specifics about the identity and history of the attacker, his "ideological relations" with "Chechens," his interrogation, and some of his family members.

The leaks also said a police patrol left the scene of the embassy shooting after it took place. According to the documents, there was a 20-minute delay in law enforcement arriving at the scene.

In the aftermath of the attack, Azerbaijani diplomats and their families were quickly evacuated from Iran, sparking a severe diplomatic dispute. The leaked document suggests that the attack not only closed "windows of hope for improving relations" but pushed the trajectory of the bilateral relationship toward further escalation.

Tensions were further heightened following a failed assassination attempt in Baku on an Azerbaijani parliamentarian who has been critical of Iran.

Some of the leaked documents indicated an urgent need for a re-evaluation of Iran's diplomatic ties with Azerbaijan. The confidential document was purportedly dispatched to several top officials, including the foreign minister and the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

The documents also give advice on strategic communication tactics, including attempts to distance Azerbaijani society from its government, sensitizing Russia to Azerbaijan's movements, and attributing Azerbaijan's policies from Iran to "Zionist" influences.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at the start of the European Political Community summit on June 1 in Moldova that Chisinau has a clear journey to joining the European Union and "must work toward reforms to fulfill the path to integration." Asked if the Russian-backed breakaway Transdniester region would be an obstacle to Moldova's EU membership, Borrell said, "Moldova's path is independent of what's happening with Transdniester. Cyprus has become an EU member despite having a territorial dispute [with Turkey]. Moldova can do the same." Moldova and Ukraine were invited to start membership negotiations with the EU last year. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, click here.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has asked NATO for a "clear" decision on Ukraine's future with the Western military alliance as another wave of air strikes on Kyiv killed at least three people, including one child, who were shut out of an air-raid shelter.

Speaking at a summit of the European Political Community (EPC) in neighboring Moldova, Zelenskiy said Ukraine is "ready to join NATO" and the group needs to make a decision at it summit in Vilnius next month.

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"In the summer in Vilnius at the NATO summit a clear invitation from the members of Ukraine is needed," he said, adding that "security guarantees on the way to NATO membership" are needed as well.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Oslo that all NATO allies agree and are "moving" toward the country becoming a member, though German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned that while the alliance's door remains open for new members, it cannot be joined by a country that is at war.

"NATO's open-door policy remains in place, but at the same time it is clear that we cannot talk about accepting new members (who are) in the midst of a war," she told reporters in Oslo.

The diplomatic push came after the capital was rocked by another attack that forced Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko to cancel all scheduled events to celebrate June 1, when many former communist countries celebrate International Children's Day.

Klitschko said debris fell on a medical clinic, a kindergarten, a school, and a police station in the capital's Desnyansk district during the first Russian attack of the month that also damaged apartment buildings, a water pipeline, and cars.

At first, Klitschko and the Kyiv military administration reported two children were among the three dead, but then revised the number to one. The child killed in the attack is thought to have been 10 or 11 years old.

• RFE/RL
• Reuters
• AP

An overnight Russian missile attack on Kyiv killed at least three people, including a 9-year-old girl and her mother, and wounded 10 others, city officials said on June 1. The casualty toll was the highest from one attack on the nation's capital in the past month.

Sixteen other people were wounded and seven of them were hospitalized, authorities said.

Yaroslav Ryabchuk, the 34-year-old husband of one of the women killed, told RFE/RL that his wife died on the street when she and their daughter were going to a shelter in the nearby medical clinic, which, he said, was locked.

Ryabchuk's 9-year-old daughter was unharmed in the attack.

Residents told RFE/RL it was not the first time that people in the district were unable to get into the shelter. Many expressed outrage at Klitschko, who visited the site and said an investigation was opened into why the shelter was locked.

He added that he had ordered an additional check of access to all shelters in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian capital has been targeted by 18 waves of Russian air strikes in the past month.

SEE ALSO:

Unlawful Transfer: Inside The Russian System To Take Ukraine's Children

The Ukrainian military said Russia used Iskander missiles in the June 1 attack that targeted infrastructure in the Kyiv region.

"Preliminarily, [it was established that] 10 out of 10 missiles were destroyed by the Ukrainian air defense," the military said in its morning report.

Separately, four civilians were killed and another 11 were wounded by Russian shelling over the past day in Donetsk, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions, regional military administrations said.

In the east, Ukrainian defenders repelled 21 Russian assaults in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions, the General Staff reported in its daily bulletin on June 1.

Two of the unsuccessful attacks targeted Ukrainian positions in the area of Bakhmut, the Donetsk city that has been the focal point of the war in the Donbas for the past several months, the military said.

Amid an uptick of cross-border attacks on Russian territory, the Russian Defense Ministry said on June 1 that said it had repelled three Ukrainian attacks on the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

The ministry said its troops had prevented Ukrainian units from crossing the border into Belgorod and that Kyiv's forces had been driven back, state-owned news agency TASS reported.

• RFE/RL

Local authorities have pointed the finger at Ukraine as rocket artillery strikes in Russia's western border region leave charred vehicles and claims of injured civilians.

Earlier, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said "uninterrupted shelling" hit a town and wounded eight people overnight.

"Shebekino is facing uninterrupted shelling" with rocket launchers, Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram, adding that no one was killed.

The reports could not be independently verified.

On May 31, the governor of Russia's Krasnodar region, Venyamin Kondratyev, said an alleged drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery. There were no casualties in the attack.

On May 31, the United States announced an aid package for Ukraine that includes Patriot air-defense batteries, ammunition, and other defense equipment as Ukrainian authorities said attacks by Russian troops killed one person in Ukraine's Donetsk region and one person in the Kherson region.

The security assistance package worth up to $300 million was announced by White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. It represents the 39th drawdown of equipment from the Department of Defense inventories, the Pentagon said.

In addition to the Patriots, the package includes Stinger antiaircraft systems, missiles for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), tank ammunition, and other equipment.

With reporting by Aleksander Palikot in Kyiv, Reuters, AFP, and AP

Ethnic Serb protesters gathered again on June 1 in three northern Kosovo towns, but in smaller numbers than in previous days after violent clashes earlier in the week over the forced installation of ethnic Albanian mayors in municipalities with ethnic Serb majorities following elections boycotted by Serbs.

An apparent social-media organized counterprotest by Albanian citizens was also reported in the divided city of Mitrovica, in ethnic-Serb- dominated northern Kosovo.

Meanwhile, European Union leaders gathered for a summit in Moldova were discussing the situation in Kosovo on June 1 as part of international efforts to end the standoff, while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged "immediate de-escalation" by both Serbia and Kosovo.

The crisis started when ethnic Albanian mayors were installed with the help of Kosovar police in three towns with an overwhelming ethnic Serbian majority -- Zvecan, Leposaviq, and Zubin Potok -- following by-elections in April with a turnout of under 3.5 percent amid a Serb boycott.

Violence that broke out on May 29 between ethnic Serbs trying to prevent the mayors having access to municipal offices and Kosovar police continued after the intervention of KFOR international troops, who suffered dozens of injuries.

A tense calm has since followed the clashes as KFOR installed razor-wire barricades around municipal buildings to keep protesters at bay.

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Despite appeals by the United States and the EU to return to dialogue, Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti has insisted that the ethnic Albanian mayors have the legal right to take over municipal buildings in the towns where they were elected even as their legitimacy was being contested by the Serbs.

The United States has proposed allowing the mayors to work from locations other than the municipal buildings, but Kurti told RFE/RL on May 31 that such an order would be regarded as proof of a parallel structure being created within Kosovo.

During a summit of EU leaders and their partners that is taking place in Moldova, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was due to meet there with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani.

Borrell who had met Kurti in Bratislava on May 31, reiterated on the sidelines of the summit in Moldova that violence in Kosovo had to be condemned.

Borrell said he had urged Kurti to play his part in defusing the crisis, adding he hoped to convey the same message to Vucic.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the summit in Moldova, Osmani said Kosovo does not want to harm its relationship with Washington, and will continue to coordinate steps with the United States. But she accused Serbia of destabilizing Kosovo.

"The challenge comes from Serbia, a country that still needs to come to terms with its past," Osmani told Reuters.

SEE ALSO:

'Z' Marks The Trouble Spot: Russia's Symbol Of War Appears In Northern Kosovo

The leaders of France and Germany have also announced plans to meet top Serbian and Kosovar officials at the summit in Moldova.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 1 that the alliance, which announced it was supplementing its Kosovo contingent with 700 more troops, is ready to send even more forces to calm the situation. Stoltenberg was speaking at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo.

He added that the first 700 troops were already on their way to Kosovo.

The Belgrade-backed Serbian List (Srpska Lista) said the protests will stop only when their demands for the removal of Kosovar Albanian mayors and the withdrawal of special police units from the north are met.

Meanwhile, several hundred citizens gathered in ethnic-Albanian-dominated southern Mitrovica, despite a request by the Kosovar police not to respond to a call on social media for a protest.

RFE/RL correspondents on the ground reported that the protesters also include citizens from Albania.

Police forces have cordoned off the southern part of the bridge over the Ibar River that separates the two Mitrovica communities -- ethnic Serbs in the north and ethnic Albanians in the south.

Kosovo police warned earlier that protest calls on social media came from suspicious profiles and may be malicious.

SEE ALSO:

Kosovo 'Tactical Game' Is A Strategic Blunder, Security Expert Charles Kupchan Warns Amid Balkan Violence

On June 1, Blinken urged Kosovar and Serbian leaders to ease tensions, warning that they were putting their aspirations of European integration at risk.

"We call on the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions," Blinken told reporters at the NATO talks in Oslo.

"We support the process of Euro-Atlantic integration for Kosovo and Serbia. But the current escalation hinders rather than helps the efforts to move in that direction," he said.

Kurti and his government "should ensure that elected mayors perform their interim duties from alternative locations, outside municipal buildings, and withdraw police forces from there," Blinken said in a statement.

Blinken also said Vucic and the Serbian government "should downgrade the security status of the Serbian Armed Forces and call on the Kosovo Serbs to stop defying KFOR and refrain from further violence."

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, dpa, and AP

NATO will monitor the skies over Moldova as more than 40 European leaders attend a summit close to Ukraine's borders to show support for both countries as Kyiv prepares a counteroffensive against Russia's invasion. The gathering of the EU's 27 member states and 20 other European countries at a castle just 20 kilometers from Ukrainian territory poses a security and organizational challenge for a country of 2.6 million people wedged between Ukraine and NATO member state Romania. NATO Airborne Warning and Control Systems surveillance aircraft will watch the skies over the summit venue through June 2, NATO said in a statement. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. lawmakers and a top U.S. diplomat expressed support on May 31 for the creation of an international tribunal separate from the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try crimes of aggression that have taken place during the war in Ukraine.

Both French President Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have recently called for the creation of such an independent, international tribunal.

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U.S. senators and the top U.S. diplomat for global criminal justice, Beth Van Schaack, discussed the current U.S. efforts to make the tribunal a reality at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing about holding Russia accountable for crimes of aggression.

Senators debated the plans for the tribunal, acknowledging that many details still remain to be worked out. The current plan calls for the tribunal to be based on the Ukrainian justice system, but hearings would be held outside of Ukraine as long as the war is still going on. They would move to a venue inside the country after the war ends.

The tribunal would target crimes of aggression rather than crimes against humanity currently being prosecuted by the ICC.

Van Schaack stressed the large impact this tribunal, as well as the current efforts of the ICC, would have, stating these efforts would lead to "potentially the most consequential trial in history since Nuremburg," a reference to the war crimes trials held after World War II resulting in sentences for many Nazi war criminals.

Van Schaack also detailed international implications, saying that an international tribunal for crimes of aggression would likely implicate Belarus for assisting in Russian acts of aggression. Additionally, by specifically looking at crimes of aggression, the diplomat said the tribunal could prosecute Russian aggression from as early as the 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea.

The State Department also hopes the establishment of a tribunal against aggression would send an international message against "similar blatant violations of state sovereignty," Van Schaack said.

Because the current proposal is based in the Ukrainian courts, the committee agreed that there would need to be significant oversight and capacity assistance from international partners.

Additional challenges exist in the current prosecution of atrocities as the war rages on. Van Schaak emphasized that the tribunal, as well as similar efforts from the ICC and the European Council, would likely take decades to serve justice.

All members of the committee affirmed their commitment to Russian accountability, with one senator stating "impunity is not an option."

With reporting by Shelby Rayer in Washington

The White House on May 31 announced another aid package for Ukraine that includes up to $300 million worth of air-defense systems, ammunition, and other defense equipment. The security assistance package represents the 39th drawdown of equipment from the Defense Department inventories, the Pentagon said. The package includes Patriot air-defense batteries, Stinger antiaircraft systems, tank ammunition, and other equipment. In total, the United States has committed more than $37.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.

The Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General's Office on May 31 formally asked lawmakers to allow the prosecution of the leader of the opposition Butun (United) Kyrgyzstan party over alleged attempts to seize power. The chairman of the Kyrgyz parliament said that the Prosecutor-General's Office has received a proposal to bring Adakhan Madumarov, who is also a member of parliament, to criminal responsibility. A parliamentary commission of inquiry was formed following a vote by lawmakers. Possible charges include abuse of power and preparing to seize power by force. Madumarov, 58, said the move was politically motivated and punishment for his criticism of authorities. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

The head of Iran’s judiciary has staunchly defended issuing death sentences for several demonstrators involved in nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini soon after she was detained by morality police for allegedly violating the mandatory hijab law.

In a speech delivered on May 30, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei stated that the sentences for those who "should be executed" will be carried out without exception "while maintaining legal standards and fairness."

Iran has so far executed at least seven protesters, sparking outrage among rights activists and many Western governments who have called the legal proceedings against the accused "sham" trials where proper representation is not always granted and decisions are rushed behind closed doors.

Amnesty International in a recent report warned about the imminent execution risk of seven more detainees from the protests. The human rights group named the seven as Ebrahim Naroui, Kambiz Kharot, Manochehr Mehmannavaz, Mansoreh Dehmardeh, Mohammad Ghabadlo, Mujahed (Abbas) Korkor, and Shoaib Mirbaluchzehi Rigi.

Mohseni-Ejei characterized the civil resistance against mandatory hijab, which has been led by Iranian women, as a "challenge of chastity and hijab" while claiming that such resistance has been influenced by the "hand of the enemy."

He did not elaborate, but Iranian officials have consistently blamed the West for the demonstrations -- the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution -- and have vowed to continue to crack down hard on protesters.

Last November, Mohseni-Ejei's defense of the execution of Mohsen Shekari, a young protester accused of waging war against God for "closing a street and injuring a Basij paramilitary member," has been met with fierce criticism.

Legal experts have decried the imposition of the death penalty for the charge of "waging war against God," a crime often applied to political dissidents.

Responding to the worrying trend, six prominent legal scholars and an Iranian human rights lawyer penned a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to express their grave concern over the escalating number of executions in Iran.

The signatories cited the abuse of national sovereignty principles by the Islamic republic to justify widespread executions, resulting in limited global capacity to prevent these inhuman actions effectively.

Human rights activists say authorities in Iran are using the executions to try to instill fear in society rather than to combat crime.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

A court in Russia's southwestern city of Rostov-on-Don has sentenced four Crimean Tatar activists to lengthy prison sentences for organizing and participating in the activities of the Islamic political organization Hizb ut-Tahrir.

One of the four men, Dzhebbar Bekirov, received a 17-year prison sentence for his work with Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has been banned by Russia as a terrorist organization since 2003 but remains legal in Ukraine, and for preparing for the seizure of power.

The other three -- Zaur Abdullayev, Rustem Murasov, and Rustem Tairov -- received 12 years each on the same charges, according to the Crimean Solidarity group on May 31.

All four will spend the first four years of their sentences in prison and the remainder in a maximum-security penal colony. The court also added a year and a half of restrictions to Bekirov to be served after his release and a year of restrictions for the others, also to be served after their release, Crimean Solidarity said.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said the "falsified and worthless" sentences show that Russia is resorting to all kinds of crimes in the temporarily occupied territories with the aim of destroying centers of freedom of thought and religion that are not under the control of its punitive bodies.

"Violence and repression cannot be the answer to the right to express one's beliefs and protect one's identity," the ministry said on its website.

The sentences were announced one week after the same court sentenced Crimean Tatar activist Ernes Seytosmanov to 18 years in prison on terrorism charges for his involvement in the Hizb ut-Tahrir movement. Seytosmanov was also found guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization and preparing for a violent seizure of power. His lawyer, Aleksei Ladin, said the court's ruling will be appealed.

Bekirov, Tairov, Murasov, and Abdullayev were detained in August 2021 in Russian-controlled Crimea after their homes were searched.

Since Russia illegally seized Crimea in 2014, Russian authorities have prosecuted dozens of Crimean Tatars on various charges that rights organizations have called trumped up.

Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they describe as a campaign of repression by the Russian-imposed authorities in Crimea who are targeting members of the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar community and those who have spoken out against Moscow's takeover of the peninsula.

Russia claimed control of Crimea in March 2014 after sending in troops, seizing key facilities, and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries.

Since January 2015, criminal cases related to the Hizb ut-Tahrir have been initiated in Crimea under the de facto control of Russia. In Ukraine, the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir are not prohibited.

Human rights activists say members of the organization are being persecuted not for preparing to seize power but for public actions against political repression in Crimea, criticism of Russian authorities, and for mass disloyalty in response to the events of 2014 as well as to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022.

BRATISLAVA -- Ahead of a looming counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield, French President Emmanuel Macron has called for advancing peace negotiations on the war in Ukraine on Kyiv’s terms.

Speaking at the GLOBSEC security conference in Bratislava on May 31, Macron said there should be no compromises in terms of Ukraine's territorial integrity and that Kyiv has battlefield momentum on its side.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensives, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

"This is a very important moment," the French president said about the expected military moves by Kyiv. "Whatever happens, I do believe they [the Ukrainians] will deliver."

Macron, however, cautioned against expecting that the military push would create a breakthrough in terms of diplomatic negotiations with Moscow to end the war.

The counteroffensive "will not create de facto acceptance from the Russians to negotiate," Macron said.

Despite expressing caution toward diplomatic talks with the Kremlin, Macron said "a new energy" to engage in diplomacy from countries in the Global South is under way and that it could lead to a "conclusive" peace process that is "not a cease-fire" in the coming months.

"If we accept a cease-fire or a frozen conflict [in Ukraine], time will be on Russia's side," Macron said.

The comments come after The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine and its allies are planning a summit of global leaders that would exclude Russia and would be aimed at garnering support for Kyiv's terms for ending the war.

The report, which cited senior Ukrainian officials and European diplomats, said plans for the summit were in the preliminary stages and Macron had lobbied to also include countries that have sided with Russia or declined to take a position on the war such as China, India, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia.

In response to a question from the audience while on stage at the GLOBSEC conference, Macron said Europe needed to "provide clear and tangible security guarantees" to Ukraine and progress could be achieved at the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius in June, although he cautioned that he does not expect the meeting to reach a consensus.

"I think this debate will happen in Vilnius, and this is what we will discuss with [German] Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz next week and other players," Macron said. "But we need a path toward [NATO] membership" for Ukraine.

Gunmen killed one soldier and wounded another on May 31 when they opened fire on security forces escorting a team of polio workers during a door-to-door inoculation campaign in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. It came days after the government launched the latest polio eradication campaign, said Aslam Riaz, a police officer in the region. He said the polio workers escaped unharmed and the attackers fled the scene. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic.

Germany said on May 31 it would shut down four out of five Russian consulates by revoking their licenses, a tit-for-tat move after Moscow's decision to limit the number of German officials in Russia to 350. The move represents a sharp downgrading of bilateral ties amid a collapse in relations since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Russian government would still be allowed to operate its embassy in Berlin and one general consulate. Germany expects the rest to cease operations by the end of the year. Russia denounced the proposed closures as ill-conceived and provocative and said it would respond. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

A panel of United Nations judges on May 31 have rejected the appeals by two former Serbian intelligence officers against their convictions two years ago for murder, crimes against humanity, and other offenses in western Bosnia during the 1992-95 war there, and expanded their sentences in the process.

Jovan Stanisic and Franko Simatovic were each sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2021 in a retrial that followed acquittals in 2013. They were convicted of crimes that included murder, deportation, forcible transfer, and persecution in what prosecutors called brutal "ethnic cleansing" at Bosanski Samac in 1992.

Prosecutors asked that Stanisic and Simatovic be convicted of crimes of which they were previously acquitted in addition to additional actions in Croatia.

They also say both men oversaw the establishment of training centers throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, and that the brutal crimes of Bosanski Samac reflected a pattern used for months at other locations.

The judges on the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (UNIRMCT), the successor to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), agreed with the prosecutors, lengthening the sentences to 15 years in the final case the panel will hear concerning the regime of the late Yugoslav and Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

"The Appeals Chamber granted part of the Prosecution’s appeal, finding that the Trial Chamber erred in not convicting Mr. Stanisic and Mr. Simatovic under the mode of joint criminal enterprise liability," the panel said in a statement.

"The Appeals Chamber determined that the Trial Chamber erred in assessing Mr. Stanisic’s and Mr. Simatovic’s other contributions to the common criminal purpose. The Appeals Chamber also found that they shared the intent to further the common criminal purpose," it added in an explanation for the decision.

Stanisic was head of the Serbian Interior Ministry's State Security Service in 1992-98.

Simatovic commanded an elite special forces unit within the Yugoslav State Security Service in 1991-98.

Stanisic's defense lawyers argued that he became "a key peacemaker" who contributed to ending conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

Stanisic and Simatovic were detained in 2003 and their initial trial lasted from June 2009 until January 2013.

The European Union has announced sanctions on seven individuals accused of destabilizing actions against Moldova and that it was doubling its grant of macroeconomic support to 290 million euros ($310 million).

Among those hit with EU sanctions are Moldovan oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, seen as the main organizer of a $1 billion fraud in 2014-2015; and Moscow-backed tycoon Ilan Shor, the head of the Shor Party now in Israel; and Marina Tauber, a vice president of the Shor Party who has been behind mass anti-government protests in the capital, Chisinau.

Shor was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Moldovan court last month.

The others are fugitive former acting police chief Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, wanted in Moldova for aiding Shor in organizing the violent Chisinau protests; Grigore Caramalac and Aleksandr Kalinin, accused of actions against Ukraine; Russian businessman Igor Chaika, the son of Russian Prosecutor-General Igor Chaika, accused as acting as a "piggy bank" for Russia's Federal Security Service actions against Moldova.

Chaika is the only non-Moldovan citizen on the list.

Shor, Plahotniuc, and Chaika have already been put under sanctions by the United States and Britain.

The EU assets of those on the sanctions list were frozen and they are banned from traveling to and through the bloc.

The announcement was hailed by Moldova's pro-Western president, Maia Sandu.

"Moldova is not alone in its effort to keep the country safe & stable. I welcome the EU’s decision to sanction those who endanger our democracy, stability & security. Together, we will ensure a strong & prosperous future for Moldova, Sandu wrote on Twitter.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement that the seven were "responsible for actions aimed at destabilizing, undermining, or threatening the sovereignty and independence" of Moldova and Ukraine.

"Moldova is one of the countries most affected by the consequences of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. There are serious, intensified, and persistent attempts to destabilize the country," Borrell said.

Moldova, a country of 2.6 million that is among the poorest in Europe, has received hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees after Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The EU announcement about the sanctions came two days ahead of Moldova's hosting the second summit of the European Political Community, where Sandu wants to secure promises that Moldova will soon start membership negotiations with the 27-member bloc.

Moldova was invited together with Ukraine to open accession negotiations with the EU in June last year, just months after Russia invaded.

The 44-member European Political Community, the creation of which was the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron, is meant to improve cooperation between the EU and nonmembers, including aspiring countries in the Western Balkans and the Caucasus region.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and dpa

The EU agriculture commissioner says it is necessary to extend Ukraine grain-import restrictions until at least the end of October, despite fierce opposition from Kyiv. The restrictions followed complaints from EU countries that surplus Ukrainian grain was driving down local prices and impacting local farmers. The EU made an agreement with the five states involved -- Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia -- to allow them to block the import of grain from Ukraine. Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said at a press briefing May 31 that "we need to prolong, best to the end of the year but minimum to the end of October."

A court in the Russian city of Tomsk has fined a retired police lieutenant colonel 1 million rubles ($12,350) in a case of alleged military "fakes" for anti-war posts he made on social media. The Oktyabrsky district court fined 60-year-old Viktor Lavrentyev and barred him from speaking publicly, including posting on social networks, for one year. Lavrentyev has repeatedly criticized the actions of the Russian army and Russian authorities over the invasion of neighboring Ukraine. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Activists in Kazakhstan have cancelled a planned parade on May 31 to mark the Day of Remembrance of Political Persecution, saying police had detained several of their colleagues and created other impediments to holding the event. Organizers said they would try again on September 27. Police did not comment but the Prosecutor-General's Office had warned people not to attend the rally, saying those who violated the law on peaceful assembly would face up to 25 days in jail. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.