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- By RFE/RL
Provincial Mayor Set To Challenge Hungary's Orban In Elections Next Year
A provincial mayor with no party affiliation looks set to challenge Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in elections next year after taking the lead in an opposition primary vote on October 17, according to partial results.
Peter Marki-Zay, the 49-year-old conservative mayor of Hodmezovasarhely, was leading in the polls against challenger Klara Dobrev, a parliamentarian with the leftist Democratic Coalition party.
The primary was organized by a six-party opposition alliance formed last year in an effort to put forth a single candidate that could defeat Orban. Five candidates took part in the first round of the primary last month.
Marki-Zay made it into the second round ballot after Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony, who took second in the first round of voting, withdrew from the race.
During the campaign, Marki-Zay, a practicing Catholic and father of seven, argued that only he can appeal to both leftist voters and conservatives tired of Orban's often divisive policies.
Orban has served as prime minister since 2010.
An economist and engineer who lived in the United States and Canada for five years, Marki-Zay grabbed national attention in 2018 when he won the race to become the mayor of Hodmezovasarhely.
Located almost 200 kilometers southeast of the capital, Budapest, Hodmezovasarhely has a population of about 40,000.
With reporting by AP and AFP
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Defense Secretary To Visit Black Sea Region To Reassure Allies, Partners
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Black Sea littoral states this week to reassure allies and partners as Russia flexes its military might in the strategic region.
Austin will visit Georgia, Ukraine, and Romania before attending the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in Brussels on October 21-22.
Romania is a member of the U.S.-led Western military alliance, while Georgia and Ukraine seek to join NATO, something the Kremlin has described as a redline.
"We are reassuring and reinforcing the sovereignty of countries that are on the front lines of Russian aggression," the Defense Department’s news agency cited a senior official as saying on October 17.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has expressed growing concern about Russia’s intentions in the Black Sea region following the Kremlin’s military buildup near its border and in the annexed region of Crimea earlier this year.
During a visit to the White House in September, Zelenskiy pressed the United States to give it more military support, including helping it rebuild its naval forces.
Ukraine lost most of its navy when Russia forcibly annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
The West has refused to recognize Russia’s annexation or its claim to Crimea’s territorial waters, resulting in close naval encounters near the peninsula.
Russian troops also occupy about 20 percent of Georgia following a brief war in 2008.
In Security Debacle, Ukraine Says It Mistakenly Sanctioned More Than 100 People
KYIV -- Ukraine said it mistakenly sanctioned more than 100 people earlier this year on suspicion of being crime bosses in a debacle for its security services.
Mikhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodoymyr Zelenskiy, told the media on October 16 that the government is investigating whether the mistake was intentional.
Ukraine freezes the assets, including the bank accounts, of individuals who are sanctioned by the government, something that could be devastating for a legitimate businessman.
In May, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) imposed sanctions on 568 crime bosses -- most of whom did not reside in the country -- as the government took steps to improve the rule of law and clean up the nation’s investment climate.
The sanctions followed a series of similar actions earlier in the year against the nation’s biggest smugglers. However, NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov announced on October 15 that nearly one-fifth of those sanctioned -- 108 people -- had been done so mistakenly.
The list was drawn up by the Interior Ministry, which was run at the time by Arsen Avakov, one of the most powerful people in the country.
Avakov, the longest-serving minister in the government, announced his resignation in July. Political analysts said Avakov was forced out after he failed to back some of the president’s policies.
Oleksandra Ustinova, a Ukrainian lawmaker representing the 20-member Voice faction, said she believed the mistake was intentional and blamed Avakov. The former minister has yet to respond to the accusations.
Ukraine’s security services are considered to be corrupt and a huge impediment to the nation’s business environment.
Viktor Trepak, former deputy head of Ukraine’s Security Service, said the mistake points to “huge problems in the functioning of the state, as well as the political, arbitrary decision making that becomes the new normal.”
“It is an extraordinary event that must have serious legal and political consequences,” Trepak wrote on Facebook.
With reporting by the Kyiv Post
Kosovo Holds Municipal Elections Amid COVID-19 Surge, Ethnic Tensions
More than 1.8 million voters in Kosovo are eligible to vote on October 17 in municipal elections that will be the first test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti, following a landslide victory of his Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) movement in parliamentary elections earlier this year. Voters will choose 38 mayors and more than 1,000 local officials. The elections are taking place amid a spike in coronavirus infections and after incidents in northern Kosovo in which ethnic Serb villagers blocked roads and clashed with police after authorities cracked down on cross-border smuggling.
Russia Faces Sustained Rise In COVID-19 Cases
Russian authorities said on October 17 that 34,303 new COVID-19 infections and 999 deaths were recorded on the previous day, as the country faces a sustained rise in coronavirus cases.
Despite the mounting toll, however, the Kremlin has ruled out a new nationwide lockdown like the one early on in the pandemic that badly hurt the economy. Instead, it has delegated the power to enforce coronavirus restrictions to regional authorities.
The climbing COVID-19 statistics in Russia come as the nation's vaccination drive is at a standstill and many people remain vaccine skeptic.
Russian authorities have tried to speed up the pace of vaccinations with lotteries, bonuses, and other incentives, but independent polls show more than half of Russians do not plan to get a shot.
The government said this week that only about 43 million Russians -- or some 29 percent of the country’s nearly 146 million people -- are fully vaccinated.
Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Uzbekistan Holds Talks With Taliban On Trade, Energy, Railway Projects
Uzbek officials have met with representatives of Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government to discuss cooperation in trade, border security, and humanitarian aid, Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry said.
The Taliban delegation -- led by the hard-line Islamist group's acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi -- arrived for the talks in the Uzbek border town of Termez on October 16. The Uzbek delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister Sardor Umurzakov, who also is the Central Asian country’s investments and foreign trade minister.
The discussions included "issues of trade and economic interaction, ensuring border security, cooperation in the field of energy, international cargo transportation, and transit,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The construction of a railway connecting Termez to the Pakistani city of Peshawar via Afghanistan’s Mazar-e Sharif and the capital, Kabul, was also high on the agenda of the meeting, the statement said.
The TOLOnews agency quoted Hanafi as saying that the Taliban delegation included officials from the ministries of economy, trade, higher education, public health, and the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority, as well as a number of businessmen.
The delegation returned to Kabul on the same day.
The meeting comes as the new rulers of Afghanistan are seeking diplomatic recognition as well as assistance to avoid a humanitarian disaster, after they returned to power in August following the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Last month, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev told the UN General Assembly in New York that his country has resumed the supply of oil and electricity to Afghanistan.
“It is impossible to isolate Afghanistan and leave it within the range of its problems,” Mirziyoev said.
Based on reporting by AFP and TOLOnews.com
Kosovo Voting In Municipal Elections Amid Pandemic, Ethnic Tensions
Citizens in Kosovo are casting votes in municipal elections as Prime Minister Albin Kurti seeks to capitalize on his February parliamentary victory by pushing his party to victory in key cities.
About a half million voters -- or slightly more than one-quarter of the eligible population -- had cast ballots by 3 p.m., the Central Election Commission reported on October 17.
Serb-majority municipalities had the highest turnout in the local elections with anywhere from one-third to more than half of eligible voters casting ballots.
Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, with preliminary results expected by midnight.
Kurti’s Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) movement scored a resounding victory in early parliamentary elections in February on promises to battle endemic corruption and take a tougher stance on peace talks with Serbia.
However, it faces a tougher challenge in municipal elections, where local personalities are often more influential than national parties. His party won only 3 municipal elections in 2017.
Voters will choose 38 mayors and more than 1,000 local officials representing municipalities. A total of 166 candidates are running for mayors, and 5,198 candidates are running for the 1,002 seats in the municipal assemblies.
Preliminary results are expected by midnight.
All eyes will be on the race for the mayor of Pristina, the nation’s capital and largest city. Kurti’s party tapped former Health Minister Arben Vitia, who stepped down just weeks before the election, as its candidate.
Municipal elections in big cities are dominated by such issues as investments in infrastructure and health care, access to clear water, beautification -- including creation of green spaces -- and addressing sewage problems.
The municipal elections come amid efforts to vaccinate the population against the coronavirus and after a series of incidents in Serb-dominated regions of northern Kosovo that captured the nation’s attention.
Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. with strict anti-COVID rules in place, including mandatory face masks and social-distancing. Some 3,400 police officers have been deployed to maintain law and order.
The elections are taking place after a spike in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks that prompted the Public Health Institute to recommend a postponement of the vote.
President Vjosa Osmani said earlier this week that the elections will go ahead as planned after the leaders of Kosovo’s political parties failed to agree on a new date.
“Despite the recommendation, the prevailing opinion was that the election process should not be postponed," Osmani said. "I respect the right of the parties.”
Election teams are taking ballot boxes to the homes of people who are currently positive for the virus.
The elections are also taking place amid rising tensions in the nation’s northern regions that border Serbia.
Earlier this month, ethnic Serb villagers in northern Kosovo blocked roads and clashed with police after Kosovar authorities conducted sweeps aimed at cracking down on cross-border smuggling.
The October 13 violence injured at least 20 people, including police officers, and renewed fears of wider violence and tension between Kosovo and Serbia. It also prompted a new warning from the European Union.
Serbia and Kosovo fought a war in 1998-99 that ended when NATO bombed Serbian forces.
Kosovo declared its independence from Belgrade in 2008, resulting in some ethnic Serb villages becoming part of the new nation. Serbia has refused to recognize its former province as a sovereign nation.
Kurti, who won office pledging a tougher stance on peace talks with Belgrade, promised officials would continue cracking down on the smuggling of goods -- such as beverages, food, and cigarettes -- from Serbia into Kosovo.
The violence came just weeks after the resolution of another dispute between Kosovo and Serbia over license-plate requirements that were imposed by Kosovo.
Ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo balked at the new rules and blocked parts of the border. At one point, Serbia sent fighter jets and helicopters flying along the border, and Kosovo sent riot police to the region.
EU officials ultimately brokered an agreement, and troops from the NATO-led peacekeeping forces in the country, known as KFOR, deployed to the region.
With reporting by AP
Russian Spacecraft Carrying Actress, Director Returns To Earth After Filming On ISS
A space capsule carrying a cosmonaut and two Russian filmmakers has landed in Kazakhstan, ending their 12-day trip to the International Space Station (ISS), according to the Russian space agency Roskosmos.
The Soyuz capsule returned to Earth on October 17 just hours after separating from the ISS with Oleg Novitskiy, Yulia Peresild, and Klim Shipenko aboard.
Peresild, a famous Russian actress, and Shipenko, an award-winning film director, arrived at the ISS on October 5 for a 12-day stay to film segments of a drama titled Challenge.
Peresild said she felt a touch of melancholy as she left the ISS.
“I’m feeling a bit sad today. It seemed that 12 days would be a lot, but I did not want to leave when everything was over,” Peresild said on state TV. "Clearly, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
The transfer to the medical tent was delayed for about 10 minutes while crews filmed Peresild and Novitskiy in their seats, scenes that are to be included in the movie.
In the movie, a surgeon played by Peresild rushes to the space station to save a crew member who needs an urgent operation in orbit. Novitskiy, who plays the ailing cosmonaut in the movie, is returning to Earth after six months aboard the ISS.
The film is a joint project of the Russian space agency Roskosmos, Russia’s Channel One, and the Yellow, Black and White studio. Overall, about 35 to 40 minutes of the film’s screen time were to be filmed in orbit.
Roskosmos has said the aim of the movie is to make the industry more appealing to young people. Critics, however, say the project was expensive and that the money would have been better spent on research.
Seven astronauts remain aboard the space station: Shkaplerov and fellow Russian Pyotr Dubrov; Americans Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough, and Megan McArthur; Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency; and Aki Hoshide of Japan.
Based on reporting by AP
Local Elections In North Macedonia Test Ruling Social Democrats
SKOPJE -- Voters across North Macedonia are casting ballots on October 17 for local elections that mark the first test for Prime Minister Zoran Zaev's ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) since it narrowly won parliamentary elections in July 2020.
North Macedonia has some 1.8 million voters who will elect local officials in 80 municipalities, plus the 10 municipalities that make up the capital, Skopje.
According to figures published by the State Election Commission, over 41 percent of eligible voters cast ballots by 5 p.m.
Voting is likely to continue beyond 7 p.m. -- when polls were expected to close -- due to delays caused by the use of new fingerprint technology to combat ballot fraud. Preliminary results are not expected until late in the evening.
Altogether, more than 11,000 candidates are running for local offices. They include about 300 mayoral candidates as well as 546 lists of candidates for municipal councils.
According to figures published by the State Election Commission, over 32 percent of eligible voters had visited the polls by 3 p.m. local time.
The four parties that form Zaev's governing coalition endorse liberal-democratic principles as well as integration into the European Union and NATO.
Those parties are all running candidates separately. Together, the four coalition parties controlled 70 municipal mayors’ offices going into the October 17 vote.
The SDSM currently holds 57 municipal mayoral offices.
Its main coalition partner, the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), is the largest ethnic Albanian party in the country and the country's third-largest political party. It currently controls 10 mayoral offices.
The other parties in the governing coalition are the right-leaning Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), which holds two mayoral offices, and the Besa Movement, a center-right ethnic Albanian political party with one mayor in office.
The main rivals of the governing coalition are nationalist candidates from the opposition Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian Unity (VMRO-DPMNE).
The VMRO-DPMNE is the second-largest party in the country. Its members held five municipal mayoral offices going into the elections.
But the VMRO-DPMNE also is running in collaboration with the opposition Alliance for Albanians and the Alternative. Under their cooperative deal, only one opposition party is fielding a candidate for mayor in some municipalities while the other has vowed to support them.
Several independent lists of activists from nongovernmental organizations also are running for local offices on October 17. Voters in most cities and some rural municipalities will see them on the ballot as part of newly established independent lists.
Political analysts say the growth of independent lists could test the strength of the main parties and bring a new dimension to municipal councils.
The vote on October 17 also marks the introduction of a new system and terminals that will use fingerprints to identify voters.
There were some delays at polling stations as voters and officials adjusted to using the new technology. Polling stations are expected to remain open past 7 p.m. to account for the delays.
Authorities in North Macedonia said they had arrested five people for bribing voters the day before the elections.
Four people were arrested in Dracevo, near Skopje, after North Macedonia police said they tried to give money to people in exchange for their votes. A fifth person was arrested in the village of Milino after being caught giving money to voters.
In another incident, a man from Prilep was remanded in custody for allegedly threatening the city's mayoral candidate, the Prosecutor-General's Office said.
A judge ordered an eight-day detention for the 27-year-old man after one of the mayoral candidates was threatened on Facebook. He faces prosecution on the criminal offense of endangering security.
- By RFE/RL
British-Iranian Woman Fears Return To Prison In Iran After Extra Year Added To Sentence
The husband of a British-Iranian woman says his wife is “traumatized” by the possibility that she could be sent back to prison in Iran after an Iranian appeals court upheld a ruling that adds another year to her sentence.
Richard Ratcliffe said concerns have been raised that his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, may now be sent back to prison, telling the BBC on October 16 that his wife is "waiting for the call to summon her back" and said that she was "traumatized at the thought of having to go back to jail."
Ratcliffe, who has been campaigning for his wife's return to Britain since her original incarceration in 2016, said he was surprised to learn of the ruling upholding the additional year to her sentence.
Lawyer Hojjat Kermani said on October 16 that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was "concerned" when he informed her about the appeals court decision at a closed-door hearing. He said that she had been in touch with her family about the decision.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was first jailed in 2016 after being accused of plotting against the regime -- charges that she, her supporters, and rights groups deny.
She was sentenced to another year of confinement in April on charges of "spreading propaganda against the system” while participating in a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in London in 2009.
She spent the final year of her initial sentence on parole at her parents' home in Tehran as Iran temporarily released thousands of inmates in response to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The initial court ruling against Zaghari-Ratcliffe was five years plus a one-year travel ban abroad. The extra year added to her sentence means Zaghari-Ratcliffe cannot leave Iran to join her husband and 7-year-old daughter in London for nearly two more years.
Ratcliffe said he held a strategy meeting with the British Foreign Office on October 15 anticipating something would happen to his wife's appeal during the autumn.
He said he had urged the government to take quicker action to get his wife out and criticized it for failing to deal with problems until they become crises.
“This is Iran threatening a crisis. One hopes that the government takes it seriously," he said.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement on October 16 that Iran’s decision to proceed with the "baseless" charges against Zaghari-Ratcliffe was an "appalling continuation of the cruel ordeal she is going through."
She added: "We are doing all we can to help Nazanin get home to her young daughter and family and I will continue to press Iran on this point."
Employed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the Reuters news agency, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken into custody at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in April 2016 when she tried to return to Britain after visiting family in Iran.
Rights groups accuse Iran of holding dual nationals as bargaining chips for money or influence in negotiations with the West. Tehran denies the accusation.
With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and the BBC
Two Arrested After 18 Die From Alcohol Poisoning In Russia
Russian authorities have arrested two people as part of an investigation into the fatal poisoning of 18 people who died after they drank bootleg alcohol in the city of Yekaterinburg during the past week.
The Russian Investigative Committee’s branch for the Sverdlovsk Region confirmed on October 16 that the criminal case is focusing on the sale of alcohol that had been bottled at a city market and did not meet safety standards.
The investigation is looking into charges of selling substandard goods and death by negligence, which could result in prison sentences of up to 10 years, the committee said in a statement.
Investigators said several individuals sold people “an alcohol liquid that was dangerous for their health" over the past two weeks in Yekaterinburg. "Eighteen people died after drinking the liquid," the statement said.
Dmitry Chukreyev, a coordinator of the People's Control project of the ruling United Russia party, told TASS that an "entrepreneur who worked at the Botanichesky Market in Yekaterinburg had been selling bottled alcohol" that was thought to have caused the deaths.
Chukreyev said the victims' deaths have been recorded over several days since October 11.
The incident follows the opening of an inquiry earlier this month into a suspected poisoning linked to illegal alcohol in southwestern Russia in which more than 30 died after drinking bootleg alcohol containing methanol, which is highly toxic.
As a result of that incident, there were checks on sales of alcohol at outlets in the Orenburg region, about 1,200 kilometers southeast of Moscow on the border with Kazakhstan. The police arrested several people.
In 2016, more than 60 people died in Irkutsk in Siberia after drinking contraband bath oil that contained methanol.
Based on reporting by TASS, AFP, Reuters, and dpa
Iranian Court Upholds Extra Year In Prison for Iranian-British Woman
An Iranian appeals court has upheld a ruling that adds another year to the prison sentence of an Iranian-British woman who has already served a five-year prison sentence in Tehran, according to her lawyer.
The initial court ruling against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe also included a one-year-travel ban abroad, meaning Zaghari-Ratcliffe cannot leave Iran to join her husband and now 7-year-old daughter in London for nearly two more years.
In April, the court sentenced Zaghari-Ratcliffe on charges that she had spread “propaganda against the system” when she participated in a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in London in 2009.
Lawyer Hojjat Kermani said on October 16 that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was "concerned" when he informed her about the appeals court decision at a closed-door hearing. He said that she was in touch with her family about the decision.
Employed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the Reuters news agency, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken into custody at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport in April 2016 when she tried to return to her home in Britain after visiting family in Iran.
She was then sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly plotting the overthrow of Iran’s government -- a charge that she, her supporters, and rights groups deny.
Rights groups accuse Iran of holding dual nationals as bargaining chips for money or influence in negotiations with the West.
Tehran denies that it jails dual nationals to use as bargaining chips.
Iran does not recognize dual nationalities, so detainees like Zaghari-Ratcliffe cannot receive consular assistance.
Authorities recently furloughed Zaghari-Ratcliffe from prison because of the surging coronavirus pandemic. She has been restricted to her parents’ home in Tehran since.
Based on reporting by AP and AFP
Former Iranian Central Bank Chief Handed 10-Year Prison Sentence
A court in Iran sentence the former governor of the country’s central bank to 10 years in prison for violating Iran’s currency system, a judiciary spokesperson said on October 16.
Besides violating the currency system, Valiollah Seif also had a role in smuggling foreign currency, judiciary spokesman Zabihollah Khodaeian told state TV.
Ahmad Araqchi, a then-deputy to Seif, was sentenced to eight years on the same charges, Khodaeian said.
Eight others were also sentenced to various prison terms, he said. All of the defendants have the right to appeal.
Seif was governor of Iran's central bank for five years, until 2018, under former President Hassan Rohani. Araqchi was his deputy from 2017-18.
State TV said they were involved in violations of the currency market in 2016, a time when the Iranian rial dropped sharply in value against major foreign currencies.
The defendants illegally injected $160 million and 20 million euros into the market, state TV said.
The rial exchange rate was at 39,000 to $1 in 2017 at the beginning of Araqchi's time in office, but it reached more than 110,000 to $1 by the time he was dismissed in 2018. The change partly coincided with severe U.S. sanctions imposed on Tehran.
The rial has tumbled from a rate of around 32,000 rials to $1 at the time of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to around 27,000 rials to $1 in recent months.
The currency unexpectedly rallied for some time after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the nuclear deal and reimpose crippling trade sanctions on Iran in 2018.
The sanctions have caused Iran’s oil exports, the country’s main source of income, to fall sharply.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP
Source Of Russian Prison-Abuse Videos Flees To France To Seek Asylum
The source of a massive leak of information, including videos, of alleged torture and sexual assaults in Russia's penitentiary system has fled to France, where he plans to seek political asylum.
The news was confirmed on October 16 by Vladimir Osechkin, a prominent Russian human rights defender, who runs the anti-torture project Gulagu.net, which has released much of the video.
Osechkin had described his source for the massive leak only as a Belarusian IT engineer who had been incarcerated in a prison in Saratov where he faced abuse, calling him only "Syarhey."
According to Gulagu.net, Syarhey arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris on October 16 on a flight from an unspecified country in northern Africa. It said he had immediately turned to police at the airport in the French capital for help on seeking asylum.
It also included a photo on its Telegram channel depicting someone it said was Syarhey at the airport.
Gulagu.net on October 4 began publishing the first batch of videos that it claimed show prison inmates being tortured by agents of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).
Osechkin wrote on Facebook on October 4 that the videos "prove" that FSB and FSIN members are using rape and other forms of torture to force inmates to cooperate with them and that they "themselves become part of the torture machine" by snitching on other inmates or by signing false testimonies prepared by investigators.
Russian prosecutors said on October 5 that they had launched a preliminary investigation into the videos already released by Osechkin’s Gulagu.net, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov promised a "serious" probe if the incidents depicted in the clips turn out to be genuine.
One of the videos posted on the Vot-tak.tv website shows several people using a large stick to rape a naked man who is tied to a bed.
According to Osechkin, that video was shot in a Russian prison in February 2020.
The Mediazona website published three other videos purportedly showing inmates being tortured in a prison hospital in the city of Saratov.
According to Osechkin, Syarhey had access to videos stored in the prison's computers that were shot in several penitentiaries in the Vladimir, Saratov, and Irkutsk regions between 2018 and 2020.
Osechkin alleged that some 200 inmates have been tortured and raped by FSB and FSIN agents in these penitentiaries during that period, and that the videos he has obtained document the ill-treatment of 40 of them.
A spokesman for the Prosecutor-General's Office, Andrei Ivanov, told reporters on October 5 that all correctional facilities in Saratov will be checked as part of a preliminary investigation to see if inmates there were being abused.
A day later, on October 6, the FSIN said it had fired five senior prison officials, including the director of the prison where the alleged abuse took place and the head of the regional prison service.
- By RFE/RL
Russia's Daily COVID-19 Deaths Pass 1,000 For First Time
Russia on October 16 reported 1,002 deaths linked to COVID-19, the highest such figure since the pandemic began.
New COVID-19 cases, confirmed in the past 24 hours, also hit a record high at 33,208, the Russian coronavirus task force said.
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Overall, Russia’s coronavirus task force has reported more than 7.9 million confirmed cases and 222,315 deaths -- the highest death toll in Europe and the fifth hardest-hit nation in the world.
The state statistics agency Rosstat, which also counts deaths where the virus wasn’t considered the main cause, has reported a much higher toll of pandemic deaths -- about 418,000 deaths of people with COVID-19 as of August. If that higher number is used, Russia would be the fourth hardest-hit nation in the world, surging past Mexico.
The Kremlin has blamed the rising death toll on Russia's slow vaccination campaign and has appealed to people to get the shot. Take-up has been slow, with many Russians citing distrust of the authorities and fear of new medical products.
Russia was fast to develop and launch its Sputnik vaccine when the pandemic struck last year and has since approved four vaccines for use.
Despite the surge in infections and deaths, the Kremlin has ruled out a nationwide lockdown, delegating the power to make decisions on toughening coronavirus restrictions to regional authorities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized on October 12 the importance of broad vaccination and urged lawmakers to help encourage the population to get the shots.
“We must patiently and persistently work with people and explain all the advantages of prophylactics against this dangerous disease,” Putin told a meeting with newly elected Russian lawmakers.
Around one-third of the population -- 43 million -- has been inoculated, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on October 12.
With reporting by Interfax and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Iran Again Reportedly Postpones Execution Of Man Who Was Minor At Time Of Alleged Crime
Iranian media reports say the planned execution of a man who was arrested for murder at the age of 17 has been postponed after international appeals for his life to be spared.
Arman Abdolali, now aged 25, was scheduled to be executed on October 16 for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, who went missing in 2014.
The body of the alleged murder victim has never been found.
Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Abdolali confessed to the murder at the time of his arrest, but later withdrew his confession.
Amnesty International has called his trial "grossly unfair" by a court that "relied on torture-tainted 'confessions.'"
Rights groups also say his execution would violate international conventions that Iran has signed that prohibit the execution of minors.
The postponement marks the second time within a week that Abdolali's execution has been delayed, according to Iranian media.
"Arman Abdolali's sentence which was to be carried out this morning...has been stopped again, and the young man was sent back to prison last night," the Etemad newspaper reported on its website, without elaborating.
The Hamshahri newspaper had said this week that the death sentence had been postponed until October 16, adding that Abdolali would "probably be executed soon."
Amnesty International says Abdolali was being held in solitary confinement at a prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, in preparation for his execution there.
"The Iranian authorities must immediately halt all plans to execute Arman Abdolali," Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.
UN human rights experts also appealed to Iran to halt the execution.
"International human rights law unequivocally forbids imposition of the death sentence on anyone under 18 years of age," said the Geneva-based UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Iran has denied that its use of the death penalty for crimes committed as minors should be taken as a sign that it violates human rights.
Iran executed at least 246 people during 2020 -- retaining its place as the most prolific user of capital punishment in the region and the second worldwide after China, according to Amnesty International.
IHR, which monitors the use of the death penalty in Iran, said at least 64 juvenile offenders have been executed in Iran over the past 10 years.
In a sign of the international concern over the case, Germany's human rights commissioner, Baerbel Kofler, said carrying out the execution would be an "unacceptable breach of international law."
"Arman Abdolali was a minor at the time of the alleged crime. There is credible evidence that his confession was obtained under torture and that the conviction thus contradicts fundamental principles of the rule of law," she said in a statement released by the German Foreign Ministry.
With reporting by AFP
Relative Calm Reported At Prison In Southern Russia After Riot By Hundreds Of Inmates
Relative calm is being reported at a prison in the south of Russia on October 16, a day after a riot there by hundreds of prisoners.
The unrest was reported at the Correctional Colony No. 1 in Vladikavkaz, the regional capital of North Ossetia.
No one was injured in the riot, the human rights ombudsman in the Republic of South Ossetia, Tamerlan Tsgoyev, was quoted as saying by TASS on October 16. He added that prison authorities would meet with some of the prisoners to discuss their grievances.
Earlier reports spoke of additional security being deployed at the prison where some 600 inmates are reportedly incarcerated.
It’s still unclear what triggered the unrest.
According to the Interfax news agency, two prisoners ignored requests from guards during cell searches. They then incited other prisoners to riot, who then went on to destroy surveillance cameras.
However, in an interview published on the Telegram channel Mash, a prisoner’s relative said the riot was triggered by the tightening of the prison's regime.
But the Baza Telegram channel cited unidentified sources as saying the protest began after prison guards intervened in a conflict between two prisoners.
Prisoners in Russian penitentiaries have rioted for years to protest jail conditions, often maiming themselves to draw attention to their plight.
Recently, a prominent Russian human rights defender said he had received a large batch of videos that he claims show prison inmates being tortured by agents of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).
Vladimir Osechkin wrote on Facebook on October 4 that the videos "prove" that FSB and FSIN members are using rape and other forms of torture to force inmates to cooperate with them and that they "themselves become part of the torture machine" by snitching on other inmates or by signing false testimonies prepared by investigators.
Russian prosecutors said on October 5 that they had launched a preliminary investigation into the videos already released by Osechkin, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov promised a "serious" probe if the incidents depicted in the clips turn out to be genuine.
One of the videos posted on the Vot-tak.tv website shows several people using a large stick to rape a naked man who is tied to a bed.
According to Osechkin, that video was shot in a Russian prison in February 2020.
The Mediazona website published three other videos purportedly showing inmates being tortured in a prison hospital in the city of Saratov.
Belarus Slaps 'Extremist' Label On Opposition Leader's Telegram Channel
A Belarusian court has designated the official Telegram channel of exiled opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the platform Golos (Voice) as “extremist,” as the authorities continue their clampdown on the opposition, independent media, and civil society following last year’s disputed presidential election.
The decisions were made by the Tsentralny district court on October 15 based on information provided by the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption, known as GUBOPiK.
Anyone subscribing to channels or chats designated as extremist can face jail time or fines.
Tsikhanouskaya’s Telegram channel has more than 100,000 subscribers. It publishes statements by opposition leaders and information about the work of her team, among other things.
Golos, which publishes information about election fraud, has more than 94,000 subscribers.
Authorities have declared hundreds of Telegram channels and chats “extremist” since Belarus was engulfed by protests last year after a presidential election in August -- which the opposition and the West say was rigged -- gave authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth consecutive term.
In response, the government has cracked down hard on the pro-democracy movement, arresting thousands of people and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country.
Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, has denied any fraud in the election and refuses to negotiate with the opposition on a political transition and new elections.
Russia Labels Two More Media Entities 'Foreign Agents'
The Russian authorities have designated the legal entities of two media outlets – the Rosbalt news agency and the website Republic.ru -- as "foreign agents" amid an intensifying crackdown on the media and civil society across the country.
The Justice Ministry's website showed on October 15 it had added RS-Balt and Moscow Digital Media to its list of "foreign agents," bringing the number of individuals and entities on the register to 88.
The government uses the designation to label what it says are foreign-funded organizations that are engaged in political activity, as well as people linked to them.
The “foreign agents” laws require those designated to register with authorities and label their content with an intrusive disclaimer, with criminal fines for not doing so.
That has led to several media organizations shutting down as they lose revenues from spooked advertisers.
The designation also restricts other media from citing a “foreign agent” organization without including a disclaimer.
On October 14, the human rights organization Yakutia - Our Opinion became the 86th entity or individual to be included in the register of "foreign agents."
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Rejects Moscow's Claim That Its Warship Tried To Enter Russian Waters
The U.S. Navy has rejected a claim by Moscow that a U.S. warship tried to enter Russian territorial waters in the Sea of Japan during Russian-Chinese naval drills on October 15.
The U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet headquarters says the Russian Defense Ministry's claim "about the interaction between our two Navy ships is false."
It said in a statement that a U.S. destroyer, the USS Chafee, was "conducting routine operations in international water in the Sea of Japan" on October 15 when a Russian Udaloy-class destroyer came within about 60 meters of it.
The U.S. statement described the movements of the USS Chafee as "safe and professional," saying the ship was conducting operations "in accordance with international law and custom" at all times.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on October 15 that the Russian vessel Admiral Tributs approached the USS Chafee after it ignored warnings to leave an area that had been declared off-limits due to exercises with artillery fire.
After “making an attempt to cross the Russian sea border,” the U.S. destroyer changed course and sped out of the area at a moment when the two vessels were just 60 meters away from each other, the Russian ministry said.
The ministry said Russia and China were practicing how to operate together and destroy floating sea mines with artillery fire.
Moscow also said it had summoned the U.S. military attache on October 15 to protest what it called the “unprofessional actions” of the U.S. warship's crew.
"The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate where international law allows," the U.S. Navy said.
The Russian claim comes as Moscow’s relations with the United States and its Western allies are at post-Cold War lows -- strained by issues including Russia's forcible annexation of Crimea, its role in the conflict in Ukraine, interference in Western elections, and cyberattacks allegedly carried out by Russian hackers.
There has been a series of potentially dangerous close encounters between Russian and NATO warplanes and navy ships in recent years, with NATO accusing Moscow of aggressive maneuvers in the air and at sea.
The October 15 incident was the second time in four months that Moscow said it had chased a NATO warship from what it claims were Russian waters.
In June, Russia said it had chased away a British destroyer sailing in waters off Ukraine's Crimea region in the Black Sea, claiming the vessel had breached Russian territorial waters.
Britain rejected Moscow's account of that incident, saying its ship was operating lawfully in Ukrainian waters.
Like most of the world, Britain recognizes Crimea as part of Ukraine. Crimea has been illegally occupied by Russia since Russian military forces seized the peninsula in 2014 and Moscow staged an independence referendum widely condemned as bogus.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and TASS
- By RFE/RL
Ahead Of Talks, Putin Claims IS Has 2,000 Fighters In Afghanistan
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Islamic State (IS) militant group has thousands of fighters in northern Afghanistan, as Moscow prepares to host international talks next week on the situation in the country.
"According to our intelligence, the number of (IS) members alone in northern Afghanistan is about 2,000 people," Putin said on October 15 during a video address to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit of ex-Soviet states.
The Russian leader claimed the alleged IS fighters planned to move between ex-Soviet Central Asian countries disguised as refugees, in order to stir up religious and ethnic discord. He did not give details.
Earlier this week, Putin warned of the threat of veteran fighters from Iraq and Syria with IS links crossing into Afghanistan, while the Russian Foreign Ministry urged the Taliban rulers to deal with the threat.
Putin's special envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said on October 15 that next week's talks would focus on trying "to work out a common position on the changing situation in Afghanistan."
The United States, China, and Pakistan will join talks scheduled for October 19, Kabulov said, adding that the Taliban and other regional actors will join the meeting a day later.
He said the Taliban had yet to announce the composition of its delegation.
Kabulov said Moscow did not expect any "breakthrough solutions" but would "openly state our complaints to the Afghan delegation."
The Taliban, which seized control of Kabul from the internationally recognized government in mid-August, is seeking international recognition and aid in order to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe as Afghanistan's economy is in free fall.
After the Taliban takeover, Moscow voiced concern about the possibility of Islamist militants infiltrating the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, which it sees as its backyard, and has held military exercises in Tajikistan, beefing up equipment at its military base there.
Putin on October 15 said there was no need to rush with official recognition of the Taliban but noted that "we understand that we need to interact with them."
Moscow fought a disastrous war in Afghanistan in the 1980s that killed up to 2 million Afghans, forced 7 million more from their homes, and led to the deaths of more than 14,000 Soviet troops.
With reporting by AFP and TASS
- By RFE/RL
Estimated 2,000 Imprisoned In Uzbekistan For Practicing Religious Beliefs, U.S. Report Finds
An estimated 2,000 people remain imprisoned in Uzbekistan for peacefully practicing their religious beliefs, a new report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has found.
In a report titled, Uzbekistan's Religious and Political Prisoners: Addressing A Legacy Of Repression, the USCIRF documents the cases of 81 prisoners, many of whom are serving some of the longest politically-motivated prison sentences in the world.
Notwithstanding some improvements in Uzbekistan's record on religious freedom under the presidency of President Shavkat Mirziyoev, imprisonment of persons on religiously and politically motivated charges in Uzbekistan remains widespread, the report says.
Since 2016, Mirziyoev initiated a series of reforms, including the release of certain categories of religious and political prisoners and the removal of over 20,000 independent Muslims and their relatives from notorious "blacklists" of alleged potential religious "extremists," the report says.
To date, the Mirziyoev government has released more than 65 high-profile political prisoners and a larger undetermined group of religious prisoners.
However, with respect to religious prisoners, ignoring repeated calls by UN mechanisms, the government has never published the numbers or identities of those released and those still incarcerated, the report finds.
The report was released on October 13, the same day Human Rights Watch accused Uzbek authorities of ramping up restrictions on media freedom and keeping opposition candidates off the ballot for the presidential election scheduled for October 24.
"Uzbekistan has garnered significant international attention for pursuing a reform agenda, but recent human rights setbacks in the country, and the lack of any opposition or independent candidates in these elections, expose the limits of those claims,' said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
"Uzbekistan could have shown its genuine commitment to meaningful reforms by allowing presidential candidates who don't share the government's views to participate in upcoming elections -- but it did not."
- By RFE/RL
Russia Kicks Off Monthlong Census Amid Pandemic, Population Decline
Russia has launched a monthlong population census that had been postponed several times by the coronavirus pandemic.
Russia is experiencing a demographic crisis, with its population in continuous decline since the collapse of the U.S.S.R. due to a low birthrate, a crumbling health-care system, and emigration that has been aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The census is the third since the fall of the Soviet Union, with previous tallies in 2002 and 2010.
The census comes as the country is grappling with a surge in infections, with pandemic highs both for cases and deaths this week amid a lackluster vaccination campaign and insufficient restrictions that would prevent the spread of the virus.
That prompted the authorities to decide to conduct much of the census online, while census workers will be regularly tested for the virus.
Overall, Russia's coronavirus task force has reported nearly 7.9 million confirmed cases and 220,315 deaths -- the highest death toll in Europe and fifth-hardest-hit country in the world.
The state statistics agency Rosstat, which also counts deaths where the virus wasn't considered the main cause, has reported a much higher toll of pandemic deaths -- about 418,000 deaths of people with COVID-19 as of August. If that higher number is used, Russia would be the fourth-hardest-hit country in the world, surging past Mexico.
Many Russians have voiced skepticism about the idea of conducting a census during a pandemic and said they were reluctant to take part.
According to a survey by the SuperJob portal, 19 percent of Russians are not going to participate in the census at all.
According to Rosstat, Russia's population last year shrank by 510,000 people -- the steepest drop in 15 years.
It found that the population, which numbered 146.2 million as of January 1, declined by another 595,000 people by the end of August.
Rosstat includes in its count the population of the illegally annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea -- some 2.4 million people.
The decline came despite President Vladimir Putin having announced over the years a litany of financial incentives to encourage Russians to have more children to boost the population.
The census will run until November 14 and preliminary results are expected in April.
With reporting by AFP
Russia Again Reports New Record Number Of COVID-19 Deaths, Infections
Russia has again reported new record figures related to COVID-19.
For the fourth day in a row, the country's coronavirus task force registered a new record number of deaths -- 999-- in the last 24 hours, and 32,196 new cases, its highest one-day infection tally since the pandemic began.
The Kremlin has blamed the rising death toll on Russia's slow vaccination campaign and has appealed to people to get the shot. Take-up has been slow, with many Russians citing distrust of the authorities and fear of new medical products.
Russia was fast to develop and launch its Sputnik vaccine when the pandemic struck last year and has since approved four vaccines for use.
Despite the surge in infections and deaths, the Kremlin has ruled out a nationwide lockdown, delegating the power to make decisions on toughening coronavirus restrictions to regional authorities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized on October 12 the importance of broad vaccination and urged lawmakers to help encourage the population to get the shots.
"We must patiently and persistently work with people and explain all the advantages of prophylactics against this dangerous disease," Putin told a meeting with newly elected Russian lawmakers.
Around one-third of the population -- 43 million -- has been inoculated, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on October 12.
Based on reporting by Interfax and Reuters
Despite Denying Any Coronavirus Cases, Turkmenistan Records 25,000 COVID-19 Deaths On Secret List
ASHGABAT -- Turkmenistan, whose authoritarian leader claims the Central Asian state has not registered a single case of COVID-19, has secretly recorded some 25,000 deaths linked to the disease since the pandemic began two years ago, a source inside the health-care system says.
"Although the death toll from [the coronavirus] has not been made public, it is reported to the Ministry of Health every day from the provinces," the source told RFE/RL.
Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic home to around 6 million people according to official figures, is one of at least five countries that have not reported any coronavirus cases, according to a review of data collected by Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization. Three of those are isolated islands in the Pacific and the fourth is North Korea, a tightly-controlled, closed state.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, who has ruled since 2006, has dismissed reports of COVID-19 in the country as "fake" and told the United Nations in an address in September that the response to the pandemic shouldn't be "politicized."
The source inside Turkmenistan's health-care system said the number of actual deaths linked to COVID-19 was likely higher than 25,000, noting that regional health workers were downplaying the scale of the pandemic.
"Regional officials are afraid and are lowering the death toll that is being reported to the center," the source said.
The northeastern Lebap Province and the southeastern Mary Province have become COVID-19 hot spots, the source added.
Despite denying the disease exists in the country, Turkmenistan has imposed strict restrictions in areas where a high number of people with coronavirus-like symptoms have been reported.
Ashgabat in July made vaccination mandatory for all residents aged 18 and over. The gas-rich country has procured vaccines from Russia and China.
According to the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation, Democratic Civil Union of Turkmenistan, Association of Independent Lawyers of Turkmenistan, Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, and Turkmen.News online newspaper, the epidemiological situation in Turkmenistan is dramatic due to the spread of the coronavirus.
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