News
Belarus Police Detain More Than 160 As Protests Against Lukashenka's Rule Continue
Police in Belarus detained more than 160 people during demonstrations on January 31 calling for longtime strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka to step down.
Video showed police dressed in black grabbing protesters from the sidewalk and putting them in minibuses. Another video shows police chasing demonstrators across a courtyard.
Luzia Tschirky, a Swiss journalist, was among those arrested. She was released after several hours of detention when the Swiss Embassy intervened.
Belarusians have taken to the streets to protest against Lukahsenka since the nation held presidential elections on August 9 that they say were rigged in his favor.
As many as 100,000 people joined the weekly demonstrations last year in the biggest challenge to Lukashenka’s rule in 26 years.
He has managed to cling to power by unleashing a brutal police crackdown on his own citizens, including detaining tens of thousands.
Based on reporting by dpa and AP
Ukrainian Security Service Raids Aeronautics Firm's Board Meeting After Kyiv Sanctions Potential Investors
Ukraine's state security service (SBU) is investigating a shareholder meeting of Motor Sich, the maker of jet engines for the defense industry, after the government imposed sanctions against Chinese investors seeking to purchase a stake in the company.
Law enforcement raided Motor Sich on January 31 in the southern industrial city of Zaporizhzhya, where the board meeting was scheduled and where the company’s massive production plant is based.
Ukraine on January 29 slapped sanctions on four Chinese companies seeking to buy a controlling stake in Motor Sich after the United States added one of them -- Beijing Skyrizon Aviation -- to its own sanctions list two weeks earlier.
The United States has been pressuring Kyiv to block the sale of the defense company to companies in China, which Washington sees as its primary global competitor.
Vyacheslav Bohuslayev, the 82-year-old owner of Motor Sich has backed the Chinese investors saying his company desperately needs new capital to modernize and stay competitive.
However, some officials in Ukraine and the United States worry the investors will steal the company’s technology, hurting the Ukrainian company in the long term.
Defense and aviation firms in the United States have looked at Motor Sich, but none have officially announced an interest in buying a stake in the company to counter the Chinese offer.
Based on reporting by Bloomberg and Reuters
Hungarians Protest Against Lockdown Measures, Despite Ban On Gatherings
Hundreds of people have protested in Budapest against coronavirus lockdown measures.
The protesters wore masks but defied rules that ban public gatherings. Police were asking for documents from those attending the rally on January 31.
Meanwhile, at least 100 restaurants in the Hungarian capital vowed to reopen for business beginning on February 1 -- despite government warnings that would face fines of up to $17,000 for doing so.
Current lockdown measures include a nighttime curfew and the closure of secondary schools, as well as the closure of all restaurants and cafes except for takeaway orders.
"We have had enough of the mass destruction of businesses," protest organizers said on Facebook.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has said it could only start easing the measures if the number of coronavirus cases declines sharply, or if large numbers of Hungarians are inoculated.
On January 29, Orban said on state radio that "people could die if we do not bear with the restrictions for a few more weeks ... It is not a solution if people go out and violate the rules."
Hungary during the past week became the first European Union member state to sign a deal for Russia's Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccine and China's SinoPharm's vaccine.
With a population of about 10 million, Hungary had reported a total of 367,586 COVID cases as of January 31, including 12,524 deaths.
New infections have recently been dropping. But more than 3,500 COVID-19 patients remain in hospitals.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
- By RFE/RL
Swiss Journalist Detained By Police In Minsk Is Released After Questioning
The Vyasna human rights center in Belarus says police in Minsk have released a Swiss journalist from custody who was detained earlier on January 31 in the Belarusian capital.
The rights group said it received information from the Swiss Embassy in Minsk at about 5 p.m. local time that journalist Luzia Tschirky had been released from a police station.
Tschirky is a correspondent for the Swiss public broadcaster SRF who covers Russia, Belarus, and other former Soviet republics.
In a Twitter statement, SRF News quoted Tschirky as saying: “Masked men dragged me into a minibus” in central Minsk on the afternoon of January 31, taking her to a police station in the Belarusian capital where she was questioned.
Vyasna says authorities are still holding 28 people who were detained at anti-government protests.
Since August 9, Belarus has seen almost daily protests against the country's official presidential election tally.
Election officials declared Alyaksandr Lukashenka as the winner in a landslide with about 80 percent of the vote.
But opposition leaders and demonstrators say the results were rigged in favor of Lukashenka -- who has been in office since 1994.
With additional reporting by Interfax and TASS
Thousands Detained In Moscow While Protesting For Opposition Leader Navalny's Release
Russian riot police were out in large numbers across the country on January 31 to prevent and break up unsanctioned rallies called for by anti-corruption activist Aleksei Navalny and his team. Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, was among more than 840 people detained in Moscow, where the opposition leader has been jailed for 30 days on charges he says are fabricated. (RFE/RL's Russian service)
Arrests In Ufa And Samara Amid Mass Detentions Of Protesters Across Russia
Police in Russia used heavy force in detaining more than 3,000 people nationwide as demonstrators took to the streets for a second-straight weekend to demand the release of jailed opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Aleksei Navalny. This is how events played out in the cities of Ufa and Samara. (Current Times TV and RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir service)
RFE/RL Freelance Correspondent Detained Ahead Of Navalny Rallies In Far East
Andrei Afanasyev, a freelance correspondent for RFE/RL's Russian Service, has been detained as he traveled to cover anti-government protests in Russia's Far East city of Blagoveshchensk.
The journalist was stopped by traffic police on January 31 ahead of nationwide protests against the jailing of prominent activist and Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny.
Afansyev, who was in possession of a press pass and proof that he was on assignment, was taken to a local police station.
On January 24, when an estimated 4,000 people were arrested for participating in anti-government demonstrations across the country, Afansyev was briefly detained and members of his family were subsequently questioned about his activities.
Several RFE/RL freelancers were approached by police in the lead-up to demonstrations in 142 cities planned for January 31.
On the day itself, the independent monitor OVD-Info reported that multiple journalists were detained around the country ahead of the scheduled rallies.
- By RFE/RL
COVID-19: Ukraine, Georgia, And Iran Make Progress In Acquiring Vaccines
COVID-19 vaccination programs in Ukraine, Georgia, and Iran were given a boost over the weekend as health officials announced progress in getting their populations inoculated.
Ukraine's deputy health minister, Viktor Lyashko, said on January 30 that his country will receive 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot in February via COVAX, a facility coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to support lower-income countries in accessing vaccines.
The vaccine will be immediately distributed to inoculate employees of hospitals who provide care to patients with COVID-19, Lyashko said on Facebook.
Ukraine will also receive between 2.2 and 3.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the first half of 2021.
Georgia, meanwhile, will receive the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the end of February, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on Facebook on January 30..
Gakharia did not specify how many doses would arrive, but he said the vaccination of medical personnel would begin immediately after the first doses arrive.
Gakharia's announcement came on the same day that several dozen restaurateurs, owners of hospitality businesses, and fitness centers demonstrated in Tbilisi to demand the lifting of COVID-19 measures, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reported.
The Georgian government has said the regulations will stay in place until the situation improves.
Elsewhere, Iran expects to receive the first batch of Russia's Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine by February 4, the IRNA state news agency reported.
"A contract for the purchase and joint production was signed yesterday between Iran and Russia," said Tehran's ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, according to IRNA on January 30.
Two more batches are to be delivered later in February, he added.
Despite criticism of the way trials of the vaccine were conducted, Sputnik-V has also been registered in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, the U.A.E., and the Republic of Guinea.
It has also been cleared for emergency use in European Union member Hungary even though it has yet to be greenlighted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the EU's drug regulator.
The latest vaccine announcements come as governments in Europe and elsewhere move to curb international travel amid already tight restrictions as virus mutations show signs of spreading to dozens of countries around the globe.
Health officials have expressed concerns over whether vaccines will provide sufficient protection, particularly against virus mutations originally detected in South Africa and Brazil.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, dpa, and AP
- By RFE/RL
Russian Police Deploy Batons, Tasers As More Than 5,000 Detained Amid Nationwide Protests
MOSCOW -- Russian police used batons and tasers on peaceful protesters after tens of thousands of citizens took to the streets for a second straight weekend to demand the release of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and voice their discontent with the government.
Riot police left some protesters bloody and badly beaten on January 31 as they detained more than 5,000 participants in unsanctioned rallies across the country organized by Navalny and his team.
The United States, the European Union, and human rights organizations condemned the violence by Russian police against their own citizens as well as the detention of reporters.
By late evening in Moscow, the number of people detained across Russia had reached 5,135, surpassing the total of the previous weekend, according to the independent monitoring group OVD-Info.
The detentions were the largest since the group began keeping tallies a decade ago.
The Kremlin is trying “to increase the price tag for participating in unsanctioned oppositional rallies and scare potential protesters off by beatings, fines, and short jail prison sentences,” Aleksandr Gabuyev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said in a post following the demonstrations.
Amnesty International said so many people were arrested in Moscow that detention centers in the capital had "run out of space" and people were being held in deportation facilities.
"Trying to lock up every critic in the country is a losing game -- the Russian authorities should instead recognize how much the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression mean to a growing number of Russians, and allow people to express their opinions without fear of retaliation," the rights watchdog said in a statement following the protest.
Similar to last weekend, tens of thousands of citizens braved freezing weather and possible arrest to defend Navalny and voice their discontent with the Russian president and his government over a host of issues ranging from corruption to falling living standards.
As the number of detentions rose, Navalny's team warned supporters on Telegram not to touch police and avoid getting "fooled by provocations."
The protests took place in more than 100 cities in what some are calling the largest anti-government rallies by geography since Russian President Vladimir Putin took power at the end of 1999.
“This is the biggest protest phenomenon in the entire time of Putin's presidency, in all 20 years. It will be difficult to estimate its size, but its geography -- the number of cities -- is unprecedented. We see a different generation of protesters who are not afraid,” Kirill Rogov, a political analyst, told the Ekho Moskvy radio station.
Large-scale protests took place in Moscow over several months following parliamentary elections in December 2011 that were deemed fraudulent. Additional mass demonstrations took place in the capital in 2015 following the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov and again in 2019 following Moscow parliamentary elections.
While the number of people protesting in Moscow over the past two weekends may have been smaller than those earlier protests, participation in Russia’s regions was greater.
Analysts say the spread of rallies around the country underscores the growing dissatisfaction with the government ahead of key parliamentary elections later this year.
Protesters in the Far East and Siberia braved subfreezing temperatures and a heavy riot-police presence to start the day's demonstrations.
Video clips from Vladivostok, where hundreds of demonstrators were denied access to the city center, showed participants linking hands and chanting "Putin is a thief!" and "My Russia is in prison!" on the ice of Amur Bay. The demonstrations there ended after about two hours.
In Irkutsk, where 24 people were reportedly arrested, protesters were filmed being detained after police moved in to break up a rally in the city center.
Live footage from Current Time showed a heavy police presence in the Urals city of Perm before the demonstration there ended.
Protesters in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, were shown on social media clashing with riot police. Video later showed several detainees in Kazan lying cuffed in the snow.
In Moscow, hundreds of people, including Navalny’s wife Yulia Navalnaya, were arrested. Some were detained as they made their way to the detention center where the activist is being held
One protester in Moscow told Current Time that he attended the rally despite the threat of arrest and beatings because he wanted to see an improvement of life inside Russia.
Protesting "is like work for each citizen who wants his country to become better. I don’t want to attend, but I will because it is necessary," he said.
The police crackdown did not leave reporters unscathed.
Video posted on social media showed police beating a journalist wearing a press vest in the northern city. The journalist, Georgy Markov, reportedly claimed he was tased by police.
An accredited freelance correspondent working for RFE/RL's Russian Service, Andrei Afanasyev, was detained in the Far East city of Blagoveshchensk as he was heading to cover protests there.
Overall, dozens of journalists were detained nationwide, with eight in St. Petersburg, according to the Center For Monitoring Violations Of The Rights Of Russian Journalists And Media.
Carnegie’s Gabuyev said the arrests of journalists covering the protests is part of the Kremlin’s plan to “destroy the infrastructure” that Navalny and his team utilize to get their message across the country.
“If there are many detainees, this infrastructure will be stretched thin and [become] dysfunctional,” he said, adding there are “very high chances” it will work in deflating the movement.
In a tweet, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that he deplored the "widespread detentions and disproportionate use of force" against protesters and journalists in Russia and that the country "needs to comply with its international commitments."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, said that the United States "condemns the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by Russian authorities for the second week straight. We renew our call for Russia to release those detained for exercising their human rights, including Aleksei Navalny."
In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the United States of "gross interference" in Russia's affairs and accused Washington of promoting calls for what Moscow considers illegal rallies by unspecified "online platforms controlled by Washington."
The severity of the Russian police tactics -- which also included leaving some detainees lying in the snow -- drew parallels for many analysts to the actions over the past six months by law enforcement in Belarus, where protesters against the continued rule of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka have been harshly beaten.
Russian authorities had braced for large protests after Navalny and his team called on supporters to repeat action taken on January 23, when tens of thousands of people in more than 110 cities heeded the activist’s call to demonstrate against his arrest. Police detained almost 4,000 people that day.
Ahead of the January 31 protest, police issued warnings that participants at "illegal" rallies would face criminal charges for violating coronavirus-related health restrictions.
Authorities then moved swiftly against Navalny’s closest allies, the media, and common supporters in a bid to quell an outpouring of dissent through a wave of detentions and acts of intimidation.
Police also partially shut down transport in the nation's two largest cities in an attempt to dampen the number of participants and foil their plans.
Protesters in the capital had been called upon to gather in Lubyanka Square outside the headquarters of the FSB security agency and Staraya Square, where the presidential administration has its offices.
However, after police cordoned off the area the protest was moved further from the center.
A Current Time correspondent reported live that she had never seen such a large number of police in the center of the capital, and that they were "even blocking entrances to courtyards."
Outside Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina detention center, where Navalny is being held, large numbers of police stood guard as buses delivering demonstrators arrived.
The 44-year-old anti-corruption crusader and Kremlin critic was detained on January 17 upon his returned from Germany, where he had been recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he and supporters say was carried out by the FSB on the orders of President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin has dismissed extensive evidence that FSB agents poisoned Navalny and rejected calls for his release.
A day after his return to Russia a makeshift court at a police station ordered Navalny to remain in jail for 30 days pending trial, set to start on February 2.
Prosecutors claim he broke the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence in an embezzlement case the European Court for Human Rights ruled was "arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable."
The February 2 court hearing will consider converting the suspended sentence into a 3 1/2 year prison term because of the alleged parole violation while Navalny was recovering in Germany.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Current Time, AP, AFP, Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Belarus Opposition Leader Thanks Lithuanian President For Nobel Peace Prize Nomination
Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has thanked Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda for nominating her and "all the people of Belarus" for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Tsikhanouskaya expressed her gratitude on January 30 on Twitter, calling the nomination "a great expression of solidarity with Belarus & acknowledgment of our peaceful fight for freedom that has been inspiring the whole world since last August."
The tweet included four photos taken at mass protests in Belarus since a widely disputed presidential election in August that strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka claims he won over Tsikhanouskaya by a landslide.
Nauseda nominated Tsikhanouskaya to show his support for the Belarusian democratic movement and its demand for free elections, a source with knowledge of the matter said, according to Reuters.
Tsikhanouskaya relocated to Lithuania for security reasons after the election, which she and her supporters say she won.
The trained English teacher and wife of jailed vlogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski has kept up her campaign from Vilnius, encouraging Belarusians to continue demanding Lukashenka stand down, free jailed protesters, and hold free elections.
Tens of thousands have taken part in the protests despite a crackdown, including thousands of arrests and the expulsion of most top opposition figures. Several protesters have been killed in the violence and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture against some of those detained.
Lukashenka, meanwhile, has denied any wrongdoing and refuses to negotiate with the opposition.
The European Union, the United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize him as the legitimate leader of Belarus and imposed sanctions on him and senior officials.
Last week, Tsikhanouskaya urged the European Union and the United States to be "braver and stronger" in their actions to help end Lukashenka's rule.
Nominations for this year's Nobel Peace Prize are due to close on January 31. The winner is scheduled to be announced in November.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
Iran Says Nuclear Deal 'Nonnegotiable,' Rejects Adding Participants
Iran's Foreign Ministry has rejected any new negotiations or changes to the participants in Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh was quoted by Iranian state media on January 30 as saying the nuclear deal "is nonnegotiable and parties to it are clear and unchangeable."
The comment comes a day after after French President Emmanuel Macron said any new talks should include Saudi Arabia.
Macron told a media briefing that a very short time remained to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon and said any new talks on the nuclear deal with Iran would be very "strict," according to a report on Al Arabiya television on January 29.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have said that Gulf Arab states should be involved. They also say the talks should also address Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for proxies around the Middle East.
Iran began breaching the deal's limits on uranium enrichment activity after Washington withdrew from the pact in 2018 and reimposed sanctions as part of a "maximum pressure" campaign aimed at forcing Tehran to negotiate a new agreement.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes, has vowed to produce 120 kilograms of 20-percent enriched uranium per year, or 12 kilograms per month on average.
U.S. President Joe Biden's new administration named veteran diplomat Rob Malley on January 29 as the U.S. special envoy for Iran. Malley was a top national-security aide to former President Barack Obama and a key member of the team that negotiated the nuclear deal.
Malley brings "a track record of success negotiating constraints on Iran's nuclear program," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Based on reporting by Reuters
- By Current Time
Kremlin Insider Says He's Owner Of 'Putin Palace' At Center Of Corruption Scandal
A childhood friend of President Vladimir Putin and one of Russia's wealthiest oligarchs has said in an interview that he owns the lavish Black Sea mansion spotlighted in a recent anti-corruption video describing it as "a palace for Putin."
Arkady Rotenberg, who co-owns a sprawling infrastructure-construction company with his brother and has been under Western sanctions for the past five years, made the claim in an interview published on the Telegram channel Mash on January 30.
"Now it will no longer be a secret, I am the beneficiary [owner]," Rotenberg said. "It was quite a complex property. There were many creditors, [and] I managed to become the beneficiary. This is a godsend. The place is gorgeous."
He said he acquired it "several years ago," without offering specifics. Rotenberg did not appear to provide any evidence of ownership.
Rotenberg said he has plans to turn it into an apartment-hotel facility because there is "quite a large number of rooms."
Mash's editor, Maksim Iksanov, had posted a six-minute video the day before in which he appears on the sprawling property, which overlooks the exclusive Gelendzhik Bay region of the Black Sea from Cape Idokopas.
It is not clear how Iksanov got there or who he was with.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation of jailed Putin critic Aleksei Navalny issued a new investigation on January 19 that shone a spotlight on the mansion as allegedly built for Putin.
Inside 'Putin's Palace'
One day earlier, Navalny had been ordered to remain in custody for 30 days pending trial following his dramatic return to Russia from Germany, where he went for medical care after a nearly fatal poisoning in Russia with a toxin from the Novichok family of Soviet-era nerve agents.
The investigation -- A Palace for Putin -- alleges the luxurious estate cost at least 100 billion rubles ($1.35 billion).
The report says the site includes a church, a 2,500-square-meter greenhouse, an amphitheater, several residential buildings, and a “special tunnel” that leads to the shore.
The palace itself is 17,691 square meters and is said to include a home theater, a lobby with a bar, a hookah bar, a casino and a hall with slot machines, and a swimming pool.
Putin has said the property does not belong to him or his family.
Ivan Zhdanov of the Anti-Corruption Foundation said on January 28 that the group's video with images and apparent design plans of the lavish property had been viewed by more than 100 million people.
The video alleges that Putin's closest friends participated in the mansion's construction, and that the Federal Security Service (FSB) is involved in its protection.
Documents leaked last year from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to BuzzFeed showed that Rotenberg had moved millions of dollars through one of Europe’s largest banks after U.S. and EU sanctions were imposed on him in 2014.
Rotenberg is among the oligarchs mentioned by Navalny in November when he urged the European Union to target the "bunch of criminals" surrounding Putin with sanctions.
"I understood that this is a rather scandalous and difficult building, but look, mark my word, it will take one and a half or two years, and I will invite you, and you will look at this beauty that will be there," Rotenberg told Mash.
He accused media of publishing "innuendo."
The so-called Putin Palace was built between 2005 and 2010.
In 2010, Russian businessman Sergei Kolesnikov fled Russia after publishing an open letter to then-President Dmitry Medvedev revealing the construction of the lavish Black Sea palace commissioned by Putin and funded with a billion dollars in illegally diverted funds.
The Navalny group's investigation says the estate is now owned by a firm called Binom, and is managed by people allegedly linked to Putin’s nephew Mikhail Shelomov. The real owner of the property, however, the investigation claims, is Putin himself.
- By RFE/RL
Iran Hangs Ethnic Baluchi At Center Of UN Pleas For 'Review'
Iranian authorities have executed an ethnic Baluchi who was convicted of killing Iranian security forces despite a plea by the United Nations to halt his and other judicial killings after a spate of recent hangings.
The Iranian judiciary's official website reported that Javid Dehghan, 31, was hanged on January 30 for killing two members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) five years ago in southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province.
It described him as a leader of a Sunni militant group known as Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice).
The United Nations had implored Iran to halt Dehghan's "imminent" execution and "to review his and other death penalty cases in line with human rights law," the Geneva-based Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) tweeted on January 29.
"We strongly condemn the series of executions -- at least 28 -- since mid-December, including of people from minority groups," it added.
The UN said Dehghan had been sentenced to death in 2017 for “taking up arms to take lives or property and to create fear."
Iran is the world's second most active executioner after China, according to Amnesty International.
Amnesty International has accused the Iranian court of convicting Dehghan based on "torture-tainted 'confessions'" and abuses of the prosecutorial process.
"Amnesty International urges the Iranian authorities not to compound the shocking catalogue of human rights violations already committed against Javid Dehghan by carrying out his execution," the rights group had said before he was put to death.
The Jaish al-Adl group has reportedly carried out several high-profile bombings and abductions in Iran in recent years.
Activists outside Iran have in past weeks expressed concern over the numbers of ethnic Baluchis being executed or facing capital punishment in Iran.
Abdollah Aref, the director of the Europe-based Campaign of Baluch Activists, said this week that his group has documented the execution of 16 members of the Baluch minority in the past two months.
Iran launched a crackdown on minorities in mid-December that has seemingly been targeting "in particular Kurdish, Ahwazi Arab, and Baluch communities," OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
- By RFE/RL
Turkish-Russian Center Begins Monitoring Nagorno-Karabakh Truce
A joint Turkish and Russian observation center to monitor a cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region started operations after an opening ceremony with senior defense officials in attendance on January 30.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov and deputy defense ministers from regional powers Turkey and Russia were there to launch the center, in the Agdam region, according to Azerbaijan's state news agency Azertac.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced on January 29 that one Turkish general and 38 personnel would be stationed at the center.
Turkish officials had already said the observation center would be located in Agdam, which was captured from ethnic Armenian forces occupying it for decades during a six-week flare-up of the conflict. Monitoring of the cease-fire will be aided by drones.
"Our activities will intensify with the work of this joint Turkish-Russian center and we will fulfill our duty to defend the rights of our Azerbaijani brothers," Akar said in a statement posted on the Defense Ministry’s website.
Turkey and Russia agreed to form a joint observation center shortly after Moscow in November brokered a cease-fire agreement that ended fierce fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey was a major backer of Azerbaijan in the conflict.
Turkish Major General Abdullah Katirci and Russian Major General Viktor Fyodorenko will reportedly command their respective contingents at the center.
Under the cease-fire agreement, a chunk of the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years under the control of ethnic Armenians.
Around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers are also deployed along frontline areas and to protect a land link connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian Service, Azertag, and dpa
- By RFE/RL
UN Calls On Iran To Halt 'Imminent' Execution Of Ethnic Baluchi
The United Nations has urged Iran to halt the "imminent" execution of a member of the Baluch ethnic minority as it rebuked Tehran for a number of recent hangings, including members of the country’s ethnic minorities.
“We urge the authorities to halt the execution of Javid Dehghan, to review his and other death penalty cases in line with human rights law,” the Geneva-based Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Twitter on January 29.
"We strongly condemn the series of executions -- at least 28 -- since mid-December, including of people from minority groups," the UN added.
The UN said Dehghan had been sentenced to death in 2017 for “taking up arms to take lives or property and to create fear."
Amnesty International said on January 28 that Dehghan, 31, is scheduled to be executed on January 31.
The London-based rights group said Dehghan was sentenced to death in connection with his alleged membership in the extremist group Jaish Al-Adl (Army of Justice) and his alleged role in an ambush that killed two members of Iran’ Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Jaish Al-Adl has reportedly carried out several high-profile bombings and abductions in Iran in recent years.
Amnesty said his trial was "grossly unfair" with the court relying on "torture-tainted confessions" and ignoring abuses committed during the investigation.
"Amnesty International urges the Iranian authorities not to compound the shocking catalogue of human rights violations already committed against Javid Dehghan by carrying out his execution," the rights group said.
Activists outside Iran have in past weeks expressed concern over the numbers of ethnic Baluchi being executed or facing capital punishment in Iran.
Abdollah Aref, the director of the Europe-based Campaign of Baluch Activists, told the BBC earlier this week that in the past two months his group has documented the execution of 16 members of the Baluch minority.
The UN said Iran has launched a crackdown on minorities since mid-December.
"This has included a series of executions of members of ethnic and religious minority groups -- in particular Kurdish, Ahwazi Arab, and Baluch communities," OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said.
Iran is one of the world's leading executioners.
With reporting by AFP
Turkmen Buy Foreign Currency On Black Market As Manat Falls Sharply
ASHGABAT -- The Turkmen national currency, the manat, has lost some 10 percent of its value on the black market as citizens scramble to buy what little foreign currency is available.
RFE/RL correspondents reported on January 29 that the currency was trading at about 32 manats to the dollar on the black market, compared with 27-28 manats a week earlier.
Sources close to financial institutions told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that the situation was likely caused by a decrease in remittances sent by Turkmen migrant workers from Turkey to their families, exacerbating an already existing shortage of foreign currency.
The central bank established an official rate of 3.5 manats per dollar in 2015 and has not changed it since, while all currency exchange in cash has been banned since January 2016.
Officials at several local municipalities and the central bank did not respond to RFE/RL requests to comment on the situation.
The shortage began last March when the government tightened control over foreign currency after China, the main buyer of the country's natural gas, slashed imports and global energy prices plunged.
At the time, the central bank ordered banks to pay salaries of employees of foreign companies, organizations, and entities operating in the country, only in the Turkmen national currency.
Turkmenistan's tightly controlled economy has been struggling for some time, with government revenues depleted partly due to unsuccessful energy deals and low global prices for natural gas, the Central Asian country's main export.
- By RFE/RL
Putin Signs Bill Extending New START Nuclear Arms-Control Treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill approving the extension of the New START nuclear arms-control treaty.
The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, voted unanimously on January 27 to extend the New START for five years. It was then approved quickly in the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council.
The pact, signed in 2010, was set to expire on February 5.
New START, the last remaining arms-control pact between Washington and Moscow, limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550, deployed strategic delivery systems at 700, and provides for a verification regime.
In a statement on January 29, the Kremlin said the extension of the treaty "allows to preserve the transparency and predictability of strategic relations between Russia and the United States.”
On January 27, Putin hailed the extension of the treaty as a positive development in reducing global tensions, saying “no doubt it is a step in the right direction."
Former President Donald Trump's administration made a late attempt to negotiate limits on other categories of nuclear weapons and add China to the treaty, stalling negotiations. A bid to agree to a shorter extension also ran into complications, leaving the fate of the treaty to the incoming administration of President Joe Biden.
Biden had long advocated for extending the treaty even if it could not be strengthened and expanded. Biden and Putin confirmed an agreement on the extension during a January 26 phone call -- their first direct communication since Biden took office six days earlier.
Speaking on January 29, U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said there is still more to do on arms control with Russia, including its latest weapons that are not covered by the agreement.
The deal “is not the end of the story, it is the beginning of the story on what is going to have to be serious sustained negotiations around a whole set of nuclear challenges and threats that fall outside of the New START agreement, as well as other emerging security challenges as well,” Sullivan said at a virtual conference organized by the U.S. Institute for Peace.
Extending the treaty to allow time for Moscow and Washington to negotiate a new verifiable arms-control arrangement will be welcomed by the United States’ European allies, which were already concerned after Trump withdrew from two other arms-control pacts.
With reporting by AP and AFP
- By Current Time
Russian Court Rules To Detain Navalny's Brother Until March 23
A court in Russia has ordered Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny's brother, Oleg, to be held in pretrial detention until March 23.
The Tverskoi district court announced the ruling on January 29, a day after Oleg Navalny had been arrested by police on a charge of breaking coronavirus restrictions.
"A preventive measure was chosen in a criminal case on violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules (Article 236 of the Criminal Code), which was brought after the actions on January 23," when mass rallies in support of Aleksei Navalny were held, the court said in its ruling.
Ukrainian Parliament Bans Approval Of Russian COVID-19 Vaccines
Lawmakers in Ukraine's parliament have overwhelmingly voted to ban the approval of vaccines made in Russia.
At the same time, the parliament on January 29 eased the process for registering vaccines from the United States, the European Union, China, India, and Mexico.
Ukraine has so far not started vaccinating its citizens.
The government has said it expects to receive 100,000 to 200,000 doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer Inc and Germany's BioNTech under the global COVAX initiative in February.
Authorities have repeatedly said Kyiv will not approve or use vaccines from Russia, with which the country’s ties are strained over the illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and its ongoing support to separatists in eastern Ukraine. The conflict has killed more than 14,000 people.
"One political force just created some hysteria over the registration of the Russian vaccine," Ukraine's Health Minister Maksym Stepanov told a televised briefing.
"I'll say this once: You can be hysterical for a very long time, no one will register the Russian vaccine in the country."
The Health Ministry has recorded a steady decline in new infections, deaths, and hospitalizations in recent weeks.
More than 1.2 million coronavirus cases have been recorded since last March. More than 22,000 people have died from the virus.
Based on reporting by dpa and Reuters
Case Of Deadly 2019 Kazakh Ammo Blasts Returned To Investigators
SHYMKENT, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan’s southern city of Shymkent has returned to investigators the case of a series of deadly ammunition warehouse blasts in 2019 citing "irregularities."
Ghani Oteuliev, a spokesman for the Shymkent Garrison military court, told RFE/RL on January 29 that the decision was made due to "inconsistencies found in the materials of the case and some facts proving that more individuals must be held accountable for the incident."
Sixteen Kazakh military officers and Defense Ministry officials went on trial in June 2020 over blasts which claimed four lives and injured dozens of residents in the town of Arys, 67 kilometers west of Shymkent, the third-largest city in the Central Asian nation.
The charges against the defendants include negligence and violating safety regulations while storing arms and ammunition.
Some 35,000 residents of the town fled their homes for Shymkent and nearby towns, returning days later after authorities lifted a state of emergency.
Kazakh officials said that 85 percent of the town's buildings, mainly private houses, had been damaged by heavy smoke, shock waves, and flying debris from the blasts.
The government has promised to rebuild the houses, but many residents have complained that the rebuilding efforts have been too slow.
After the blasts, hundreds of people rallied in Shymkent and blocked a major road demanding to be relocated permanently because they were afraid to go back as the June blasts were just the latest in a series of explosions to hit the depot since 2009.
Kazakh Court Upholds Parole Restrictions On Activist
ATYRAU, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan has upheld a three-year parole restriction on Kazakh activist Maks Boqaev upon his expected release from prison on February 4.
The Atyrau City Court in the country's west on January 29 rejected Boqaev's appeal, saying "the hearing did not find grounds to consider that Maks Boqaev's rights and interests had been violated by the lower court's decision."
Boqaev disputed the lower court's January 22 decision to impose restrictions on him after his release next week, calling the move politically motivated.
The 48-year-old activist was arrested and sentenced to five years on extremism charges in 2016 after he organized unsanctioned protests against land reform in Atyrau.
The United States, European Union, and the United Nations have urged Kazakh authorities to release Boqaev.
Human rights organizations in Kazakhstan have recognized Boqaev as a political prisoner. Kazakhstan's government has insisted that there are no political prisoners in the country.
Oil Workers On Strike In Kazakhstan's Northwest
AQTOBE, Kazakhstan -- More than 60 oil workers have gone on strike in Kazakhstan's northwestern region of Aqtobe as they seek a salary increase.
The workers of the AMK-Munai company's Bashenkol field walked out on January 29 saying that their monthly salaries of about $160 should be doubled as they currently fail to allow them to provide for their families.
One of the strikers told RFE/RL that the workers have been demanding a salary increase since March last year, but nothing has been done.
"The management kept saying that salaries had been defined in individual work contracts and did nothing. That is why we decided to start the strike," the worker said.
AMK-Munai Director Erzhan Qoldasov confirmed to RFE/RL that workers have made demands but said that the operations at the oil field were not disrupted.
"We will discuss the issue. We will meet with them,” Qoldasov said.
Five days earlier, dozens of oil workers at the nearby Kokzhide oil field also started a strike based on the same demands.
Strikes by oil workers are a sensitive topic in the oil-rich Central Asian nation after police used firearms and killed at least 16 people while dispersing protesting oil workers in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen in December 2011.
Hungary's Drug Regulator Approves Chinese Coronavirus Vaccine
BUDAPEST -- Hungary has become the first EU member to give initial approval to the Chinese-made Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban saying he would personally choose to be inoculated with the jab because he trusts it the most.
"Today the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition gave its approval for the Sinopharm vaccine," Chief Medical Officer Cecilia Muller announced on January 29, a day after a government decree allowing any vaccine that had been administered to at least 1 million people anywhere in the world to be used in Hungary.
EU-member Hungary also broke ranks with the bloc last week by issuing a provisional license to Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and ordering doses to treat 1 million people over the next three months.
“So after Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and the Russian Sputnik vaccine, we can also count on the Sinopharm shot," Muller told a briefing.
Earlier on January 29, Orban told state media a deal to purchase the Chinese vaccine could be concluded "today or tomorrow” and that the first shipment to Hungary could comprise up to 1 million doses.
"The Chinese have known this virus for the longest, and I'll presume that they probably know the most about it. So I'll wait my turn, and if I can choose, I'll ask for the Chinese vaccine," the prime minister said.
Orban, who has been critical of the EU’s vaccine procurement program, said that Serbia provided the “most inspiring example.” The neighboring, non-EU country this month became the first European country to start a mass inoculation program with Sinopharm’s vaccine.
More than 360,000 coronavirus infections have been reported in Hungary and over 12,000 people have died of COVID-19. More than 3,600 people are still in hospital, straining the country’s health-care system.
The government on January 28 extended a state of emergency for 90 days and partial lockdown measures until March 1. The measures include a night curfew, a ban on gatherings, mandatory mask-wearing in public, and online tuition for high schools and universities.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP
Kyrgyz Ex-President Jeenbekov Summoned As Witness In Corruption Case
BISHKEK -- Former Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, who resigned in October amid anti-government rallies protesting the results of parliamentary elections, has been summoned as a witness in the corruption case of former Deputy Prime Minister Duishenbek Zilaliev.
Zilaliev's lawyer, Taalaigul Toktakunova, told RFE/RL on January 29 that Jeenbekov was initially ordered to come to the Bishkek City Court on January 28, which he did not do, as he was attending the inauguration of his successor, Sadyr Japarov, that day.
According to Toktakunova, the court now wants Jeenbekov to testify at a hearing into her client's appeal on February 3.
Zilaliev was arrested in late 2018 and sentenced to nine years in prison in October 2020 after he was found guilty of illegal enrichment. Investigators have said that they found $1 million in cash in Zilaliev's safety deposit box in a Bishkek bank.
"Zilaliev told investigators that the cash was not his but belonged to Jeenbekov's election campaign before he was elected as president in December 2017. Because Jeenbekov was the president at the time, he was not questioned. Now, because he is an ordinary citizen, he can be summoned," Toktakunova said.
Neither Jeenbekov nor his lawyers have commented on the allegations.
Tajik Journalist Convicted In 'Absurd' Extremism Case Released From Prison
DUSHANBE -- Tajik journalist Daler Sharifov, who was sentenced to one year in prison in a case media watchdogs labelled "absurd," has been released after serving his time.
Sharifov's relatives told RFE/RL that the independent journalist was released on January 29 and was currently with his family in his native city of Vahdat.
Sharifov, who writes about domestic politics and religious issues, was sentenced in April 2020.
He was arrested on January 28, 2020, on charges of inciting ethnic, racial, and religious hatred and spreading "propaganda" on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Prosecutor-General's Office said at the time that the case was based on "more than 200 articles and commentaries containing extremist content" aimed at "inciting religious intolerance" that had been published on social media between 2013 and 2019.
The charges centered on a dissertation Sharifov published in 2019 which examined Islamic theology and included quotes from Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
Similar to several authoritarian countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Tajikistan considers the Muslim Brotherhood an extremist organization and banned it in 2006.
Sharifov's relatives, human rights organizations, and media-freedom groups rejected the accusations against the journalist as unfounded and demanded his release.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists called the incitement charges "absurd," stressing that Sharifov's arrest was aimed at silencing a critical journalist ahead of parliamentary elections in March 2020 that were won, as expected, by President Emomali Rahmon's ruling party.
Writing for the independent news website Ozodagon from 2013 until its closure in 2019 following "years of harassment," Sharifov often commented on violations of human rights and religious freedoms, according to RSF.
Nine years ago, the journalist spent several days in the hospital after being assaulted in a still-unsolved attack.
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
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