News
Azerbaijan Rejects Appeal Of Jailed Journalist Convicted Of Treason
BAKU -- A court in Azerbaijan has rejected a journalist's appeal after he was imprisoned on charges of high treason, which he and rights groups have said were politically motivated.
The Baku Court of Appeal on February 15 upheld a lower court’s decision to convict Polad Aslanov and sentence him to 16 years in prison.
His wife told RFE/RL that the ruling would be appealed in the Supreme Court.
Gulmira Aslanova said that the journalist has been on hunger strike for 15 days in protest of his sentencing, is complaining of kidney and stomach pains, and is not receiving medical care.
Aslanov, the editor of the xeberman.com and press-az.com online news portals, is critical of the authorities in a country where Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says many media outlets have been silenced or have had to relocate abroad, the main independent websites are blocked, and at least two other journalists are currently in prison.
Aslanov was working on a story allegedly implicating members of the State Security Service in extortion when he was arrested in June 2019.
In November 2020, he was convicted on what RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists called “trumped-up” charges of high treason for allegedly providing information to Iran.
Azerbaijan is ranked 168th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
- By RFE/RL
French Cyberagency Reveals Suspected Russian Hacking Campaign
France's cybersecurity watchdog says it has discovered a hack of French organizations that bore similarities to other attacks by a group linked to Russian intelligence.
In a report released on February 15, the French National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) said the hackers had taken advantage of a vulnerability in monitoring software sold by the Paris-based company Centreon.
ANSSI said it discovered intrusions dating back to late 2017 and stretching into 2020.
The watchdog did not identify the names or number of victims involved but said they were mainly “information technology providers, especially web hosting providers."
It also stopped short of identifying the hackers but said they had a similar modus operandi as the Russian cyberespionage group often nicknamed Sandworm and thought to have links with Russian military intelligence.
Centreon's website says the company has more than 600 enterprise clients across the world, including France’s Justice Ministry and blue-chip French companies such as power group EDF, defense group Thales, and oil and gas giant Total.
The announcement comes as U.S. cybersecurity officials are still investigating a massive espionage campaign that hijacked IT monitoring software made by U.S. firm SolarWinds.
U.S. intelligence services have said Russia was likely behind the intrusions discovered in December 2020 in which government and private company networks in the United States and other countries were breached.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that suspected Chinese hackers also targeted SolarWinds customers.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Germany Charges Five Tajiks Over Islamic State Membership
German prosecutors say they have charged five Tajik men with being members of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, accusing them of preparing acts of violence in Germany by raising funds and recruiting members for attacks.
Federal prosecutors filed the indictment at the Duesseldorf state court on February 15, where an alleged associate of the five, also a Tajik citizen, was handed a 7 year prison sentence.
The suspects now charged were identified only as Farhodshoh K., Muhammadali G., Azizjon B., Sunatullokh K., and Komron B., due to German privacy rules. They were arrested last year.
"The aim of the cell members, who were in contact with IS leaders in Syria and Afghanistan, was to take up the armed struggle against what they saw as 'infidels' and to commit attacks in Germany," the indictment read.
The prosecutors said the network raised funds for IS operations and recruited would-be attackers. They also allegedly acquired components for an “unconventional” bomb.
They also said the five Tajiks trained with paintball games to improve their military skills. Some of the sessions' participants were believed to have had contact with the dual national of Austria and North Macedonia who killed four people in a rampage in Vienna in November 2020.
Azizijon B. is accused of being an IS member since at least March 2017 and of carrying out instructions from high-ranking IS leaders in Afghanistan. He also allegedly recruited members for IS in Germany, leading to the founding of the cell in January 2019.
Farhodshoh K. and Ravsan B. are accused of traveling to Albania in 2019 to carry out a contract killing that was intended to finance IS to the tune of $40,000.
The men had allegedly already begun spying on the intended victim and had planned to circulate pictures of the body on the Internet as IS propaganda.
That killing was called off because doubts arose over the intended victim’s identity.
IS-linked militants have committed several violent attacks in Germany in recent years, including a ramming attack at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016 that killed 12 people.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
Hundreds In Serbia Mourn Medics Killed By COVID-19
BELGRADE -- Hundreds of people have gathered in central Belgrade to pay their respects to Serbia’s doctors and nurses killed by COVID-19 and to demand more to be done to protect health-care workers who are at the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Colleagues and families of the deceased medics placed flowers and lit candles at the entrance to the government building on February 15, and read the names of 105 doctors and a number of other health professionals who have died from the coronavirus.
Participants also made several demands of the Serbian government, asking for national pensions for the families of deceased health workers and better working conditions for those fighting COVID-19.
WATCH: Serbian Doctors Demand Pensions For Families Of Deceased Health Workers
The event was organized by the Union of Doctors and Pharmacists.
More than 4,000 deaths from COVID-19 have been confirmed in Serbia since the beginning of the pandemic.
Doctor Dejan Zujovic, a pulmonologist who has worked in COVID-19 red zones in Belgrade, said poor protective equipment and long working hours were the main reasons for the high death toll among doctors in Serbia.
"People do not go on holidays, they are exhausted and their immunity suffers," he said.
Media have reported that only one doctor died from COVID-19 in neighboring Croatia, 24 in Albania, and 23 in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Serbian government officials have said they would investigate the deaths of medical workers in the country, but critics say little has been done so far.
With reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
New Investigative Report On Alleged Extrajudicial Executions In Chechnya
The Moscow-based Novaya gazeta newspaper on February 15 published official documents it says prove that many of the people allegedly killed in extrajudicial executions in Chechnya in 2017 had been detained by local police.
Novaya gazeta reported in 2017 that 27 detained individuals had been summarily executed in late January that year.
Chechen authorities have denied the individuals in question had ever been arrested, while the Investigative Committee rejected Novaya gazeta's request to launch an investigation into the allegations.
The North Caucasus region of Chechnya is controlled by Kremlin-installed strongman Ramzan Kadyrov. Its security forces have been accused of gross human rights abuses for many years, including abductions, torture, and killings.
Citing documents Novaya gazeta said were obtained from the Chechen Interior Ministry, the newspaper reported on February 15 that the 27 were detained during a special operation following an attack against police officers in Grozny in December 2016.
In April 2017, Novaya gazeta officially handed to the Investigative Committee the list of the 27 people and an additional three men who, according to the newspaper, were also killed by the Chechen police during a campaign against gays in February 2017 in the region.
Investigators only confirmed that four men from the list had died, and two other men were announced as being alive.
However, Novaya gazeta said in its latest investigative report that the two in fact were brothers of two executed men identified as Mokhma Muskiyev and Shamkhan Yusupov.
The report also alleged that several men detained in Chechnya in January 2017 were pressured by local law enforcement to "take an oath of loyalty to the Islamic State [extremist group]" in front of cameras and then forced to denounce the extremist group.
The newspaper suggested that the videos were later used to declare the men as terrorists.
Serbian Doctors Demand Pensions For Families Of Deceased Health Workers
Members of Serbia's Union of Doctors and Pharmacists held a memorial service for health workers who have died of COVID-19. Participants demanded national pensions for the families of those who have ied and better working conditions for those fighting COVID-19.
- By RFE/RL
Iran Denies Citizen Detained In Turkey Is A Consulate Employee
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has denied Turkish media reports alleging that an Iranian citizen recently arrested in Turkey is a consulate employee linked to the 2019 murder of an Iranian dissident in Istanbul.
"What has happened is the arrest of an Iranian national upon entry," ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on February 15, adding that Tehran was in contact with Turkish officials regarding the matter.
Khatibzadeh did not provide more details.
Last week, Turkey's pro-government Sabah newspaper reported that a man identified as Mohammad Reza Naserzadeh was arrested on suspicion of planning the killing of Masud Molavi Vardanjani, a critic of Iran's political and military leadership.
Reuters confirmed that Naserzadeh had been held over Vardanjani’s killing, but the news agency said it could not confirm Sabah’s allegation that the suspect worked at the civic registry department of the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul.
Vardanjani, a former Iranian intelligence operative who exposed corruption involving Iranian officials, was shot and killed in Istanbul on November 14, 2019 -- a year after leaving Iran. He had been put under investigation by Iranian authorities.
A Turkish police report published in March 2020 said Vardanjani had worked in cybersecurity at Iran’s Defense Ministry before becoming a vocal critic of the Iranian regime.
Two senior Turkish officials told Reuters last year that Vardanjani's killing was instigated by intelligence officials at the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul. One of the officials identified the two suspects by their initials, and one set of initials matched Naserzadeh's.
A senior U.S. administration official said in April 2020 that Washington had grounds to believe that Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security was directly involved in Vardanjani’s killing.
Iran has denied that any consulate staff had been involved in Vardanjani's shooting death.
Last week, a Belgian court sentenced an Iranian diplomat to 20 years in prison on charges of planning an attack on an exiled opposition group.
It was the first trial of an Iranian official on terrorism charges in Europe since Iran's 1979 revolution.
With reporting by IRNA, AFP and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
EU Calls On Hungary To Keep Independent Radio Station On Air
The European Union's executive arm is urging Hungary to allow a liberal-leaning radio station to continue broadcasting after it was forced off the air on February 15 following a refusal by the authorities to extend its broadcast license.
European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand said that the commission sent a letter to Hungary's permanent representation in Brussels last week to express concerns over Klubradio, the country’s last independent news radio station.
The commission asked Budapest to take urgent action to ensure that Klubradio can continue using its frequency until final decisions become legally binding, said Wigand, who warned of “irreparable damage” to the radio station.
He said the station’s loss of its license occurred “on the basis of highly questionable legal grounds,” and that Hungary “should respect the EU’s charter of fundamental rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, information, and the freedom to conduct a business.”
The spokesman said Hungary had not yet sent an official answer to the commission's letter.
Klubradio's content is often critical of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government.
In September 2020, Hungary's National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) refused to extend Klubradio's seven-year operating license, saying the station "repeatedly infringed" on the compulsory registration law by twice submitting documents late.
Such violations usually incur fines and the NMHH's announcement raised new concerns about political pressure from the government on the media in the EU member state, which is ranked 89th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders's 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
Last week, Klubradio's appeal at a Budapest court to force the NMHH to issue a temporary broadcasting license was turned down, taking it off the airwaves when its license expired on February 15, though the radio station continues its programming online.
Klubradio President Andras Arato has said the company planned to appeal the court ruling to Hungary’s Supreme Court.
The suspension has drawn international condemnation, with the European Union and media watchdogs calling the move a further attack on media pluralism in the EU member state.
The NMHH has rejected accusations of political bias, while a Hungarian government spokesman said Klubradio's management was to blame for the station's demise "by flagrantly disregarding broadcasting regulations.”
Hungary is under EU investigation for undermining the independence of the judiciary, media, and nongovernmental organizations, and Wigand suggested that further action could be taken against the country if the commission finds that Klubradio was silenced unlawfully.
"We are concerned about the situation, and we are looking into this -- into possible implications under union law," the spokesman told an online press conference in Brussels.
"We are looking into these legal possibilities," he added.
With reporting by AP, dpa, and RFE/RL’s Hungarian Service
- By Boris Mitov
Bulgarian Businessman Investigated After Helping Reveal 'Eight Dwarves' Scandal
SOFIA -- Bulgarian prosecutors want to question a prominent Sofia businessman who fled the country after helping to reveal a fraud scheme allegedly involving prosecutors in the capital, Sofia.
The move against Iliya Zlatanov appears to be part of a related criminal investigation, and is the latest chapter in the scandal that erupted last year with the release of a documentary called The Eight Dwarves. The scandal has highlighted Bulgaria's continuing problem with corruption and organized crime.
The film alleged that the Sofia Prosecutor-General’s Office and other official entities were involved in a scheme to defraud Zlatanov and take control of the country’s biggest elevator manufacturer, which Zlatanov was the majority shareholder of.
The elevator manufacturer was seen as a prime target by shady business interests because of government efforts to rebuild and repair much of the country’s aging housing stock, which dates back to the communist era.
The European Union is helping to fund that effort, part of which would include upgrading elevators in thousands of multistory apartment blocks.
In the film, Zlatanov accused the former head of the Sofia prosecutors’ investigative unit, Petyo Petrov, his wife, and special prosecutor Dimitar Petrov (no relation to Petyo) of a number of crimes related to the takeover of Zlatanov’s company, called Izamet.
Among other things, they allegedly threatened that if Zlatanov refused to turn over his shares in the company, his son, who suffers from a kidney ailment, could be deprived of medical hemodialysis treatment.
The film caused an uproar in Bulgarian politics; the reporter and anti-corruption activist who spearheaded the film, Nikolay Staykov, has received dozens of death threats and has gone into hiding.
Last week, however, Sofia investigators visited Zlatanov’s daughter’s house, as part of an investigation into alleged forgery involving a former employee of the elevator manufacturer.
Speaking in an interview with RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service on February 15, Zlatanov said prosecutors want to question him as a witness as part of a criminal investigation against a company accountant who, they allege, falsified his signature on a company document.
However, Zlatanov, who spoke to RFE/RL from an undisclosed location, said he personally signed the document in question. He said it appeared the move was an attempt to pressure him. He said he feared for his personal safety if he were to return to Bulgaria and submit to questioning.
"Instead of gathering evidence, the prosecutor issued a decree on February 4 ordering [Sofia police] to determine Zlatanov's address. In the course of this procedure, my client found himself in the search system,” Zlatanov’s lawyer Greta Ganeva told RFE/RL.
The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to queries from RFE/RL seeking comment.
The name of the film, The Eight Dwarves, refers to a well-known Sofia restaurant where prosecutors and lawyers, and crime bosses, were known to meet regularly.
- By RFE/RL
UN Expert Raises Alarm Over Reports Of LGBT Child 'Torture' In Iran
The UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran has expressed concern over reports that the country has subjected lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) children to “torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.”
In a report released last week, Javaid Rehman said such practices, which violate Iran’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, reportedly include “electric shocks and the administration of hormones and strong psychoactive medications.”
Subscribe To RFE/RL's Watchdog Report
RFE/RL's Watchdog report is a curated digest of human rights, media freedom, and democracy developments from our vast broadcast region. It arrives in your in-box every Thursday. Subscribe here.
Rehman said that members of Iran’s LGBT community “are often advised that their gender nonconformity or same-sex attraction represents so-called gender identity disorder, which necessitates ‘reparative’ therapies or sex reassignment surgeries, to ‘cure’ them.”
The report quoted the Iranian government as claiming that “there were no restrictions on medical services and that any treatment was administered with consent.”
Iranian officials have not yet commented on the report, which is to be discussed during the 46th session of the Human Rights Council from February 22 to March 19.
Gays and lesbians are forced to hide their sexual orientation in Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by death.
According to the U.S. State Department’s 2019 Country Report on human rights practices, Iranian security forces have harassed, arrested, and detained individuals they suspected of being members of the LGBT community.
In some cases, security forces raided houses and monitored Internet sites for information on LGBT persons, the report said.
- By RFE/RL
Romanian Sculptor Mocked, Charged In Multimillion-Euro Fraud
A Romanian sculptor has been charged with fraud after his much-derided sculpture of the Emperor Trajan -- and 10 other works -- turned out to be made of brass and not bronze as originally claimed.
Ioan Bolborea, 65, who made the sculptures for the Bucharest municipality, is accused of defrauding local authorities of 3.7 million euros ($4.5 million), a police spokesman said on February 15.
One of the statues, a portrayal of a naked Roman emperor Trajan holding a she-wolf in his arms, was widely ridiculed after its installation outside the National History Museum in Bucharest in 2012.
The artwork, based on a model by late sculptor Vasile Gorduz, symbolizes the genesis of the Romanian people from the merging of the Romans and the Dacians, with the wolf as a symbolic animal for both people. The Dacian standard ensign known as the Dacian Draco also depicts a dragon with a wolf's head.
After it was unveiled, the statue’s design prompted a wave of both mockery and indignation by Romanians. Online critics quipped it was a monument to Bucharest's stray dogs. The museum's curators said it was of "doubtful artistic quality."
Suspicions about the materials used in the sculpture first surfaced in 2017 when the statue was vandalized and the tail of the she-wolf was broken.
During restoration work, experts noticed that the statue was made of brass, not bronze as it was originally supposed to be.
Bolborea refused to comment on the charges.
The investigation originated in a series of complaints from the Bucharest municipality regarding Bolborea's works, which at the time he rejected as "nonsense."
Bolborea's sculptures are placed in several central spots in downtown Bucharest, including a massive sculpture titled A Cartful Of Clowns, located outside the National Theater.
With reporting by AFP, protv.ro, and g4media.ro
Retired Government Employees Protest In Iran Demanding Higher Pensions
Pensioners and retired government employees staged protests on February 14 in more than a dozen cities across Iran to complain over their financial situation and their state pension, which they said is insufficient to cover the rising cost of living, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda reported.
Retirees of the State Welfare Organization protested in the capital Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Ahvaz, and several other cities while calling for an increase of their pensions, which they said leave them below the poverty line.
Hassan Sadeghi, president of the Union of Veterans of Workers’ Society, was quoted by Iranian media as saying that a large protest of 10,000 pensioners will be held on February 20 in front of the Iranian parliament in the capital Tehran as well as in other cities where he said protesters are expected to gather outside parliamentary offices.
Similar protests were also held in December 2020 and January where pensioners called for a 50 percent increase in their pensions. Workers, including nurses, have also held protests in past months over their low or unpaid wages.
“It seems that the authorities are finding it very hard to see the suffering of retired people and how their lives have fallen below the poverty line,” a pensioner told the New York-based Center For Human Rights In Iran in late January. “We have no choice but to participate in protests and shout out our problems even during the pandemic,” said the pensioner, who had attended a protest in December 2020.
Iran’s economy has been crushed by tough U.S. economic sanctions imposed by the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as the deadly coronavirus pandemic that has left at least 2 million Iranians jobless.
Iran’s current official inflation rate is now about 45 percent.
With reporting by Deutsche Welle
Reports: Separatist Leader Targeted In Bomb Attack In Eastern Ukraine
News reports say a bomb detonated under a car carrying a militia official with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, wounding him.
Russian news agencies identified the man as Sergei Popov, leader of a police unit in a separatist-controlled part of the Donetsk region.
News organizations linked to the unrecognized regional administration said the explosive device detonated under Popov’s car in the town of Horlivka on February 15, showering him with shrapnel.
Those reports identified him under the code name “Dolgy” and said he was a commander of a battalion of the "people's militia of the Donetsk People's Republic."
His condition was not immediately clear.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, nor confirmation from Ukrainian government officials.
The Donetsk People’s Republic is one of two administrative entities that oversee government functions in parts of eastern Ukraine that have been controlled for years by Russia-backed separatists. Their authority is not recognized by the government in Kyiv.
The incident was the latest in which prominent militia leaders in eastern Ukraine have been targeted by suspicious bombings.
In 2018, the leader of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko was killed in a bomb attack in Donetsk.
In February 2017, Mikhail Tolstykh, a separatist commander known as Givi, died in an explosion at his office in Donetsk.
Arseny Pavlov, another prominent militia commander known as Motorola, was killed when a bomb exploded in an elevator in his Donetsk apartment building in October 2016.
No one has claimed responsibility for any of the bombings, though suspicion has often fallen on the Ukrainian intelligence services.
Since war broke out in eastern Ukraine in April 2014, more than 13,200 people have been killed in the fighting that pits Russia-backed separatists against Ukrainian government forces.
Moscow has denied funding or supplying separatist forces, despite overwhelming evidence pointing to its involvement.
- By RFE/RL
Russia Launches Unmanned Cargo Ship To Space Station
Russia has launched an unmanned cargo ship to resupply the International Space Station (ISS).
Space officials said the Progress MS-16 ship blasted off on time from the Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan on February 15.
Loaded with food, water, equipment, and other supplies, Progress is scheduled to dock at the orbiting station on February 17.
The station currently has seven crew members on board -- from Russia, the United States, and Japan.
Russian space vehicles such as Progress have long served as workhorse transportation for getting people and supplies to the ISS, particularly since the United States grounded its space shuttle fleet in 2011.
However, the U.S. space agency has given approval to private companies like SpaceX to provide transport to the station, which will reduce reliance on Russian spacecraft in the coming years.
With reporting by AP and Interfax
Following Protests, Kyrgyz Authorities Mull Reopening Matraimov Probe
BISHKEK -- One day after hundreds protested in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said a probe into former deputy chief of the Customs Service Raimbek Matraimov could be reopened.
In its February 15 statement, the UKMK said the criminal case against Matraimov, who was placed on the U.S. Magnitsky sanctions list for his involvement in the illegal funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars abroad, would resume if allegations are confirmed that he has numerous properties in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, and Russia.
The UKMK also said that investigations to establish if Matraimov had a deeper involvement in the illegal funneling of more than $700 million abroad continue.
The UKMK statement came a day after hundreds rallied in the Kyrgyz capital, protesting a Bishkek court ruling last week that ordered a mitigated sentence and no jail time for Matraimov.
Matraimov was fined just over $3,000 after pleading guilty to corruption charges. The court said on February 11 that Matraimov had paid back around $24 million that disappeared through corruption schemes that he oversaw.
In June 2019, an investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicated Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan by Chinese-born Uyghur businessman Aierken Saimaiti, who was subsequently assassinated in Istanbul in November 2019.
SPECIAL REPORT: Plunder And Patronage In The Heart Of Central Asia
The estimated $700 million scheme involved a company controlled by Matraimov bribing officials to skirt customs fees and regulations, as well as engaging in money laundering, "allowing for maximum profits," the U.S. Treasury Department said.
The participants in the protest in Bishkek condemned the court ruling, chanting, "Arrest Raim!" and "Raim must be held responsible!"
Recent reports said that the 49-year-old Matraimov had changed his last name to Ismailov, and that his wife, Uulkan Turgunova, had changed her family name to Sulaimanova in moves seen as an attempt to evade the U.S.- imposed sanctions.
Last month, Damira Azimbaeva, a spokeswoman for the state registration service, confirmed to RFE/RL that both Matraimov and his wife had changed their surnames.
There have been no official statements from lawyers for Matraimov's family to explain the name change.
Hungary's Orban Seeks Continued Emergency Powers For COVID-19 Response
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has asked lawmakers for a further extension of emergency powers to help curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Orban wants his cabinet's special mandate extended for 90 days, in contrast with an open-ended mandate he sought and was given in March, sparking international criticism.
Under the exceptional rules, the government is authorized to rule by decree but parliament, dominated by Orban's right-wing nationalist Fidesz party, remains in session and can take back those powers.
RFE/RL's Coronavirus Crisis Archive
Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.
In a speech on February 15, Orban defended the move, which is expected to easily pass.
"We want more than just turn the 'closed' sign on our door. We want to reopen the economy and the entire civic life," Orban said.
He reiterated criticism of the European Union for its slow rollout of vaccines in the bloc. Orban has been repeatedly criticized by EU leaders in Brussels for his authoritarian governance in the country.
And he defended his government’s decision to unilaterally seek vaccines, without EU approval, from Russia and China. Hungarian health authorities last month approved vaccines from China's state-owned company Sinopharm as well as Russia’s Sputnik V, making Hungary the first EU country to do so.
"The most important task facing our country is to try to get as many vaccines as possible. Not later, as they are promising from Brussels, but quickly," he said. "For us, every vaccine is good which is safe and with which several million people around the world have already been vaccinated.”
Health officials began administering the Russian vaccine in Budapest hospitals on February 12.
As of February 15, Hungary had nearly 389,000 cumulative cases of COVID-19 and nearly 14,000 deaths. More than 310,000 people have received at least one dose of a vaccine to date.
With reporting by Reuters
Man Convicted For Two 1999 Terrorist Attacks In Moscow Found Dead In Prison
A man sentenced for his involvement in two terrorist attacks in Moscow in 1999 has been found dead in a Siberian prison.
Media reports in Russia on February 15 identified the man as 65-year-old Khalid Khuguyev, who was serving his 22-year prison term in Correctional Colony No. 47 in the town of Volchanets in the Primorsky Krai region.
Meanwhile, the Investigative Committee's branch in Primorsky Krai issued a statement on February 15 saying that a 65-year-old inmate was killed by another 41-year-old inmate in a brawl with a knife, adding that a probe had been launched into the death.
The statement did not mention Khuguyev’s name.
Khuguyev and another man, Magumadzair Gadzhikayev, were convicted of the organization and implementation of terrorist acts in 1999 in the Russian capital.
Eleven people were injured in a bomb attack carried out at the Intourist hotel in April 1999, and one person was killed and 39 injured in a second bombing in August the same year in the Okhotny Ryad shopping complex.
Khuguyev was initially sentenced to 25 years in prison and Gadzhikayev to 15 years. In 2020, the Supreme Court cut the prison terms to 22 and 13 years, respectively.
Khuguyev was expected to be released later this year.
With reporting by Interfax and RIA Novosti
Tajik Security Chief Visits Afghanistan To Discuss Regional Issues
The head of Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security, Saimumin Yatimov, has discussed regional issues and bilateral cooperation with his Afghan counterpart in Kabul.
The head of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, wrote on Facebook on February 14 that he met with Yatimov and discussed ongoing intra-Afghan peace talks in Qatar's capital, Doha, bilateral security cooperation, and the situation along the Afghan-Tajik border.
Abdullah's aide, Mujibrahman Rahimi, wrote on Facebook that during the Abdullah-Yatimov talks, the two sides discussed the regional implications of the situation in Afghanistan and joint efforts against terrorism and extremism.
"Authorities in Central Asia, including Tajikistan, are concerned about the unclarity in the ongoing Afghan peace talks, the continuation of violence in Afghanistan, the activation of terrorist groups in Afghanistan's north, and the growing illegal drugs smuggling via the Afghan-Tajik border," Rahimi wrote.
Numerous clashes between Tajik border guards and Afghan drug traffickers have been reported by the media in both countries in recent years.
This is Yatimov’s second trip to Kabul since early September. Yatimov visited Kabul on September 9-11 last year.
On the eve of Yatimov's visit to Kabul, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, discussed regional issues and bilateral ties by telephone, the Tajik president’s press service said on February 15.
The Tajik-Afghan border is more than 1,340 kilometers long. Illegal drugs, mainly opium, transit from Afghanistan to Russia and further to Europe via Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries.
Leftist-Nationalist Party Supporters Celebrate After Parliamentary Elections In Kosovo
Supporters of the Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party took to the streets of the Kosovar capital, Pristina, after polling stations closed on February 14 for the country's early parliamentary elections. Preliminary official results indicated a landslide victory for the leftist-nationalist group led by former Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
Microsoft President Says Cyberattack Blamed On Russian Hackers Was 'Most Sophisticated' Ever
A hacking campaign that U.S. intelligence services have said Russia likely was behind is "probably the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen," Microsoft President Brad Smith said.
Smith, speaking in an interview that aired on February 14 on CBS, discussed the scope of the massive intrusion discovered in December that breached government and private company networks in the United States and many other countries.
"When we analyzed everything that we saw at Microsoft, we asked ourselves how many engineers have probably worked on these attacks. And the answer we came to was, well, certainly more than 1,000," Smith said, speaking with the program 60 Minutes.
Cybersecurity experts have said it could take months to identify all the compromised systems and expel the hackers. Russia has denied any involvement in the cyberattack.
Microsoft announced in late December that it was among the thousands of companies that found its systems compromised. It said that hackers gained access to its source code but said the activity did not put the security of its services or any customer data at risk.
The software giant had previously acknowledged that like U.S. government agencies and other firms, it had downloaded updates of network management software made by the company SolarWinds that the hackers had targeted. The compromised software provided hackers a backdoor into government and company networks.
Microsoft said at the time that the hacking operation was carried out by a “very sophisticated nation-state actor” and said companies and businesses affected were in several other countries, including Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates.
Then-U.S. President-elect Joe Biden called the cyberattack a “great concern” and promised to impose “substantial costs” on the perpetrators in coordination with U.S. allies and partners.
Based on reporting by CBS and Reuters
Kosovo's Main Opposition Party On Track To Clear Victory In Parliamentary Vote
PRISTINA -- Election officials say Kosovo's main opposition party has won a clear victory in an early vote held amid frigid temperatures, coronavirus fears, and worries about an economic slowdown.
With 98 percent of the February 14 vote counted, officials said the Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party had garnered 48 percent, putting it far ahead of center-right Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which got 17 percent.
The conservative governing party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), netted 13 percent of the vote -- its worst-ever showing -- a result that prompted party Chairman Isa Mustafa to announce his resignation.
As early results showed his party on track to victory, Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti, who is set to become prime minister, said the vote handed his party a chance for a new start.
"A new day begins tomorrow. This great victory tonight is only an opportunity for us to begin the change that we want," Kurti said. "There's a lot of work ahead for us, because the country is facing multiple crises."
Still, the results show that Kurti is unlikely to get the required 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament to create a cabinet on his own, and he signaled that he had no intention of forming a coalition cabinet with his losing opponents.
"We will wait for the counting of all the votes and certainly we are going to have a new government without including those who should reform themselves in opposition," Kurti said.
Leaders from both the PDK and the LDK said they had accepted the results and were positioning themselves as opposition forces in parliament.
However, following the LDK's disappointing showing at the polls, Mustafa announced his resignation on February 15. "This is a bad result," Mustafa told a news conference in Pristina. "Soon, the LDK assembly will elect a new chairman."
The Central Election Commission said about 47 percent of Kosovo’s eligible voters turned out to cast ballots, braving temperatures that hovered around minus 10 degrees Celsius. Turnout was up slightly from 2019.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Kosovo’s economy was struggling with high unemployment. Organized crime and corruption remain major problems as well. The country has reported nearly 64,000 total coronavirus cases and just over 1,500 deaths.
Kosovo’s relations with Serbia, which it broke away from in 2008, remain fraught more than two decades after a war between separatist ethnic Albanian rebels and Serb forces.
The 1998-99 war ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign drove Serb troops out and a peacekeeping force moved in.
Negotiations on normalizing ties with Serbia brokered by the United States and the European Union -- which stalled again last year -- did not figure high on Vetevendosje's agenda.
Kurti has said that forming a negotiating team for dialogue with Serbia would not be a priority for his government.
Kosovo’s Serb minority, meanwhile, has 10 seats in parliament and 10 other seats belong to other minorities. That could figure into Kurti’s ability to create a viable cabinet, experts said.
With reporting by Reuters and AP
- By Reuters
Navalny's Supporters Hold 'Flashlight' Protests
Following recent mass rallies that saw thousands of detentions, supporters of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny used light from cell phones, flashlights, and candles as a new form of protest. Groups of people showed their support for Navalny by turning on phone flashlights and arranging candles in a heart shape in various cities across Russia to mark Valentine's Day on February 14. The 'flashlight' protests were held under the motto "Love is stronger than fear."
Three Ukrainian Soldiers Killed In Blast In East
KYIV – Ukraine's army says three of its soldiers have been killed by an explosive device in eastern Ukraine, bringing to five the number of troops killed in the region this week, the latest casualties of a six-year conflict with Russia-backed separatists.
The three service personnel died on February 14 when an unknown device exploded while they were on their way to take positions near the town of Novoluhanske in the region of Donetsk, according to the army.
The office of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates, said he had sent the country's defense minister and its chief of staff to eastern Ukraine to investigate the incident.
“An immediate investigation is needed so that similar tragedies do not repeat in the future. I am waiting for their report on the circumstances immediately after my return” to Ukraine on February 15, a statement quoted Zelenskiy as saying.
The deaths come three days after two government soldiers were killed in combat in the Donetsk region, despite a cease-fire that has been in place since last summer.
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists holding parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has killed more than 13,200 people since April 2014.
Hundreds Of Women Rally In Russia In Support Of Political Prisoners
Hundreds of women have attended protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg on St. Valentine's Day in support of Russian women prosecuted for political reasons.
The Chain Of Solidary And Love protest is also dedicated to imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, who flew to Germany on February 10. Although no explanation was given for her departure, Navalnaya had recently been detained for taking part in unsanctioned rallies in support of her husband.
Images shared on social media on February 14 show women holding red roses, balloons, and heart signs with the names of female political prisoners written on them. Demonstrators also sang "Love is stronger than fear," the motto of the protests.
The organizers said on their Facebook page that the rallies were dedicated to the women who were "beaten and tortured by police during peaceful protests," as well as "to everyone who spends their days in courts, police buses, and special detention centers."
They said the "chain" along Moscow's Old Arbat Street honors Navalnaya as well as lawyer Lyubov Sobol, Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina, municipal deputy Lucy Shtein, Navalny's press secretary Kira Yarmysh, and Alliance of Doctors head Anastasia Vasilyeva, who all face criminal charges for calling on supporters to rally for Navalny's release last month.
Later on February 14, Navalny supporters used light from mobile phones, flashlights, and candles to express support for him, despite a warning that people taking part could face criminal charges.
Navalny's team called on people across Russia to switch on their cell-phone flashlights for 15 minutes beginning at 8 p.m. local time and shine the light into the sky from their homes or the courtyards of their apartment buildings.
Navalny, 44, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested on January 17 after returning to Russia from Germany where he had been treated for a nerve-agent poisoning he says was ordered by Putin. The Kremlin denies it had any role in the attack.
Navalny's detention sparked outrage across the country and much of the West, with tens of thousands of Russians taking part in street rallies on January 23 and 31.
Police cracked down harshly on the demonstrations, putting many of Navalny's political allies behind bars and detaining thousands more -- sometimes violently -- as they gathered on the streets.
With reporting by tvrain.ru, Reuters, hrw.org, and themoscowtimes.com
Serbia Donates Thousands Of Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine To North Macedonia
Serbia has donated 4,680 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to neighboring North Macedonia, which has struggled to secure any vaccine supplies for its population of 2.1 million.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev met on February 14 at the Tabanovce border crossing for a ceremonial handover of one of the boxes containing doses of the shot.
RFE/RL's Coronavirus Crisis Archive
Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.
Serbia is donating enough doses to fully inoculate 2,340 people with the two-dose regime.
Calling the gift a "precious expression of friendship," Zaev said that it will be used “to vaccinate all medical staff working in COVID centers.”
"A friend in need is a friend indeed," Vucic said.
"We care about nothing else but our friendship to prosper, for us to advance economic development, and for us to be able to live not only as best neighbors, but also as best friends," the Serbian president added.
Serbia, a country of 7 million, has so far vaccinated some 635,000 people, mainly with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, the Russian Sputnik V dose, and to a lesser extent, the Pfizer-BioNTech shots.
North Macedonia is hoping to receive 840,000 vaccine doses in February under a scheme led by the World Health Organization to help poorer countries immunize their populations. But manufacturing delays in recent weeks have held up those plans -- as well as similar plans for Ukraine and Moldova.
Last week, the Macedonian authorities signed an agreement to receive 200,000 doses of the Chinese SinoPharm vaccine. They hope to launch their vaccination program later in February.
Another 800,000 vaccines are expected to arrive in the country later in 2021 via the EU. But officials in Skopje have also asked neighbors Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia for assistance, along with Poland and Hungary.
With reporting by Reuters and AP
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
Church, Entire Village 'Erased' In Azerbaijan's Recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh
2Armenian Border Residents Protest As Yerevan, Baku Agree On Delimitation
3Navalnaya Warns Of Putin's Willingness To Strike In Europe
4One Winner Of The Ukraine War Is Azerbaijan
5Iranian Commander Announces New Morality Enforcement Body
6Zelenskiy Says U.S. Breakthrough On Military Aid Gives Ukraine A 'Chance For Victory'
7Iran Disputes Reports Of First Delivery Of Russian Su-35 Fighter Jets
8Insta-Nazis: How Claims Of 'Rehabilitating Nazism' Are Molding A Militaristic Society In Putin's Russia
9Swiss Report Big Drop In Frozen Russian Assets
10Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine
Subscribe
