News
NASA Rover Lands On Mars In Crater Named After Bosnian Town
NASA says its Perseverance aircraft has successfully landed in a Mars crater named after the Bosnian town of Jezero -- the third visit to the red planet in just over a week.
The six-wheeled vehicle -- the biggest, most advanced rover ever sent by NASA – touched down on February 18 after a seven-month, 470-million-kilometer journey from Earth.
It was designed to hit the thin Martian atmosphere at 19,500 kilometers per hour, then use a parachute to slow it down, and a rocket-steered platform to lower the rover the rest of the way to the surface.
NASA is teaming up with the European Space Agency to bring rocks from Mars that could answer whether life ever existed on the planet.
It is a historic day for the 1,000 residents of the Bosnian town of Jezero, whose name was given by the International Astronomical Union in 2007 to the 49-kilometer-wide crater thought to have once been flooded with water.
Jezero, which means “lake” in some Slavic languages, is located on Pliva Lake.
The car-size, plutonium-powered Perseverance rover is the ninth spacecraft to successfully land on Mars -- all of them from the United States.
Two spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates and China were put into orbit around the planet last week.
China’s spacecraft includes a smaller rover that also will be seeking evidence of life if it successfully lands on Mars later this year.
All three missions departed the Earth in July to take advantage of the planet's close alignment to Mars.
With reporting by the BBC and AP
- By Current Time
U.S. Ambassador Says Navalny Poisoning, Jailing Is Not Just An Internal Russian Matter
The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, has rejected Moscow's assertion that last year's nerve-agent poisoning of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and protests prompted by his recent jailing is a strictly internal Russian affair.
In an interview with Current Time on February 16 via video link from Moscow, Sullivan said the "United States has no interest in fomenting dispute within Russia or encouraging protests."
The envoy also criticized the targeting of media organizations inside Russia, including RFE/RL, under the country's controversial "foreign agent" law, saying the United States is considering an "appropriate" response.
A Moscow court on February 2 found Navalny, 44, guilty of violating the terms of his parole while in Germany, where he was recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he and supporters say was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin has denied any role in the poisoning.
Navalny's suspended sentence was related to an embezzlement case that he has called politically motivated. The court converted the sentence to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given credit for time already spent in detention, the Kremlin critic would have to serve two years and eight months behind bars, the court said.
The court's ruling triggered international condemnation and protests across Russia that were violently dispersed by security forces.
More than 10,000 people were rounded up by police during rallies in more than 100 Russian cities and towns on January 23 and January 31. Many of Navalny's political aides and allies were detained, fined, or placed under house arrest for violating sanitary and epidemiological safety precautions during a pandemic.
Moscow has remained defiant about Western criticism over its jailing of the opposition politician and the crackdown on his supporters, calling it foreign interference in its internal affairs.
During his interview with Current Time, Sullivan noted that "first, the use of a chemical weapon -- which is yet to be explained; a banned chemical weapon prohibited by a treaty to which Russia is a party -- that is not a domestic legal issue."
"Second, even the case itself that has been continued against Navalny last month -- that caused his arrest -- is something that the European Court of Human Rights [ECHR] has found an invalid basis for any further judicial action against Navalny. This is a court to which Russia is a party, so I don't see this as a domestic political issue," the U.S. ambassador said.
On February 16, the Strasbourg-based ECHR called for the "immediate" release of Navalny, a demand rejected by the Kremlin as "unlawful" and "inadmissible" meddling in Russia's affairs.
'An Important Fundamental Right'
In an interview last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced what he called a broader course "coordinated by the entire collective West, which goes beyond mere deterrence of Russia and evolves into an aggressive deterrence of Russia."
"They don't like us because we have our own idea of what's going on in the world," he said.
Sullivan said he and the United States will continue voicing support for the "fundamental right for people [in any country] to be allowed to express their opinions and to petition the government for redress, and to gather peacefully, to assemble peacefully."
"It is something that is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution and something that we believe is an important fundamental right for all individuals," he added.
In the United States, a bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation to impose fresh targeted sanctions on Russian officials found to be complicit in Navalny's poisoning.
The European Union and Britain have already imposed travel bans and asset freezes against senior Russian officials believed to be responsible for the "attempted assassination."
Sullivan's interview with Current Time also touched upon the "foreign agent" law, which rights group say has been used by Russian authorities to silence dissent and muzzle organizations that have a diverging view from the authorities.
Russian regulators have hit RFE/RL, one of three foreign news organizations to be labeled as a "foreign agent," with a series of fines in recent weeks.
Last month, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers called for new sanctions against Moscow if the Kremlin moves to enforce the fines.
"I think this is an issue that is under intense scrutiny back home in Washington about how media entities are being treated here in Russia, and I think you will see an appropriate response by the U.S. government to that," Sullivan said.
'Kafkaesque' Amendments
First passed in 2012 and expanded several times since, the "foreign agent" law gives authorities the power to brand nongovernmental organizations, human rights groups, and news media deemed to receive foreign funding for political activity as "foreign agents."
The law subjects these organizations to bureaucratic scrutiny and spot checks and requires them to attach the "foreign agent" label to their publications. They must also report on their spending and funding.
Among other things, the law requires certain news organizations that receive foreign funding to label content inside Russia as being produced by a "foreign agent."
"More than objectionable, [the law] is a real disservice to the Russian people, to the extent that media entities like Radio Free Europe or Radio Liberty are burdened by these laws, by -- for example -- the disclaimer requirements which interfere with content, and subsequent fines which are going to impose reportedly large financial penalties on a media organization that is not controlled by the U.S. government," Sullivan said.
On February 16, the Russian Duma, the parliament's lower house, passed what Reporters Without Borders called "Kafkaesque" amendments to the "foreign agents" law.
The "nonsensical and incomprehensible" amendments, which include heavier fines, aim to intimidate journalists and get them to censor themselves, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said in a statement.
Based on an interview conducted by Current Time's Yegor Maksimov
U.S., European Diplomats Urge Iran To Comply With Nuclear Deal
The top diplomats from the United States, Germany, France, and Britain have urged Iran to return to full compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal, which Washington pulled out of in 2018.
The deal signed by Tehran with the four Western powers, along with China and Russia, called for curbs on Iran’s uranium-enrichment program in return for the lifting of sanctions.
President Donald Trump in May 2018 pulled his country out of the accord and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran, saying the terms were not strict enough to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes.
The other signatories have been attempting to save the accord. Since the U.S. pullout, Tehran has increasingly breached limits it had agreed to under the deal.
Iran has warned it would ban short-notice inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), by February 21 if the United States does not lift the sanctions imposed since 2018.
In a joint statement after a virtual meeting on February 18, the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, and the United States said they were "united in underlining the dangerous nature of a decision to limit IAEA access."
The statement urged "Iran to consider the consequences of such grave action, particularly at this time of renewed diplomatic opportunity," adding that they all shared the aim of Iran returning to "full compliance" with the deal.
'Playing With Fire'
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab met France’s Jean-Yves Le Drian for talks in Paris on February 18. New U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined through a video link.
The powers also expressed concerns over Iran's recent move to produce both uranium enriched up to 20 percent and uranium metal in new violations of the deal.
"These activities have no credible civil justification," the statement said. "Uranium metal production is a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon."
The sides also "expressed their shared fundamental security interest in upholding the nuclear nonproliferation regime and ensuring that Iran can never develop a nuclear weapon."
Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes.
"The recent steps of Iran are not helpful at all, they endanger the return of the Americans" to the deal, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters in Paris ahead of the talks.
"Apparently Iran is not interested in easing the tensions, but in escalation. They are playing with fire," he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden has indicated more willingness to deal with Iran than his predecessor did, but he has publicly stated Tehran must adhere to its commitment under the 2015 deal before his administration will discuss the possibility of lifting sanctions.
Blinken said last month he wants to coordinate with U.S. allies to get to a "longer and stronger agreement" with Iran.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Serbian Orthodox Church Picks New Patriarch
BELGRADE -- Serbian Orthodox bishops have selected Porfirije, Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana, as their 46th patriarch, about three months after the death of Patriarch Irinej from COVID-19.
The Holy Synod of Bishops gathered on February 18 at the crypt of Belgrade's Saint Sava Temple in Belgrade and first voted in a secret ballot for three preferred candidates to head the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The names were then placed in separate envelopes and withdrawn at random by one of the monks, according to the procedure.
The process took place in the temple for the first time due to anti-coronavirus measures, instead of its usual location in the headquarters of the Patriarchate.
The previous head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, 90 year-old Patriarch Irinej, died in November 2020.
His successor, 59-year-old Patriarch Porfirije, is due to be formally enthroned in the coming days to lead a church of about 12 million people in Serbia, the other five former Yugoslav republics, Kosovo, and dioceses in the United States, Australia, and Western Europe.
He will have to deal with unresolved issues regarding Serbian Orthodox Church property in Montenegro and disagreements in its own ranks over relations with the Serbian government.
In the latest 2011 census, almost 85 percent of the Serbian population declared themselves as Orthodox Christians.
Porfirije was born Prvoslav Peric in 1961 in Becej, a town in the northern Vojvodina Province in then-Yugoslavia.
In 1985, he became a monk in the Decani monastery in Kosovo and graduated from the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade the following year, before completing his postgraduate studies in the Greek capital, Athens.
In 2005, parliament elected him as a member of Serbia’s main broadcasting regulatory authority, RBA, representing all churches and religious communities, and the agency chose him as its president in 2008.
In 2010-2011, Porfirije served as the bishop of Serbia’s military and the coordinator for cooperation between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the army.
The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2014 elected him as Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana.
Russia Expels Estonian Diplomat In 'Tit-For-Tat' Move
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on February 18 that it has expelled an Estonian diplomat in retaliation for a move by Tallinn to declare a Russian diplomat persona non grata.
"Recently, Estonia groundlessly declared an employee of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn persona non grata," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"The Estonian Ambassador to Moscow has been summoned, handed our decisive protest, and was informed about the expulsion of an Estonian diplomat," she added.
Tensions between Russia and the Baltic states -- Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, have risen since Russian troops seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and Moscow illegally annexed the territory.
They were heightened further last month when Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia -- all former Soviet republics -- issued a call for the "imposition of restrictive measures" against Moscow over the detention of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.
Navalny arrived in Moscow on January 17 from Germany, where he was being treated after being poisoned in Siberia in August and was promptly detained by law enforcement authorities at the airport.
A Russian court on February 2 ruled that Navalny was guilty of violating the terms of his suspended sentence relating to an embezzlement case that he -- and the European Court of Human Rights -- called unlawful and arbitrary.
The judge ruled that he violated parole conditions while recovering from the near-fatal poisoning in Germany.
Based on reporting by TASS, RIA Novosti, and Interfax
- By RFE/RL
Navalny's Brother Loses Appeal On House Arrest Ruling By Russian Court
A Moscow court has upheld a ruling placing Oleg Navalny, the brother of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, under house arrest.
The Moscow City Court on February 18 rejected Oleg Navalny's appeal against a lower court decision to place him under house arrest on charges of breaking coronavirus restrictions by publicly calling on Moscow residents to take part in unsanctioned rallies to protest his brother's arrest.
Oleg Navalny is one of 10 supporters and associates of Navalny who were detained in January on the eve of unsanctioned mass rallies against the Kremlin critic's arrest.
The others include Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation; Anastasia Vasilyeva, the chief of the Alliance of Doctors NGO; Maria Alyokhina, a leading member of the Pussy Riot protest group; Oleg Stepanov, a coordinator of Navalny's team in Moscow; Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, activist Nikolai Lyaskin, and three municipal lawmakers -- Lyusya Shtein, Konstantin Yankauskas, and Dmitry Baranovsky.
The majority were placed under house arrest and charged with violating sanitary and epidemiological safety precautions during a pandemic. If found guilty of the charges, each faces up to two years in prison.
On February 8, the Memorial Human Rights Center in Moscow recognized the group as political prisoners.
A day earlier, more than 100 Russian actors, directors, writers, musicians, poets, and scholars issued an open letter, protesting Navalny's persecution and the mass arrests of his supporters in recent weeks.
Navalny. 44, was taken into custody on January 17 after returning to Russia from Germany where he was treated for a nerve-agent poisoning that he says was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.
More than 10,000 people were rounded up by police during nationwide rallies protesting Navalny's arrest in more than 100 Russian towns and cities on January 23 and January 31.
On February 2, Navalny was found guilty of violating the terms of his suspended sentence relating to an embezzlement case that he has called politically motivated. The court converted the sentence to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given credit for time already spent in detention, the court said the Kremlin critic would have to serve 2 years and 8 months behind bars.
The court's ruling caused new protests across the country that were also violently dispersed by police.
More than 1,400 people were detained by police in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities on that day.
With reporting by TASS and Interfax
Following Protests, Authorities Rearrest Kyrgyz Powerbroker Matraimov
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) has rearrested Raimbek Matraimov, the controversial former deputy chief of the Customs Service, days after demonstrators in Bishkek protested against what they saw as a lenient sentence handed to him on corruption charges.
UKMK officials told RFE/RL on February 18 that Matraimov was arrested due to an ongoing probe launched into money laundering, adding that the decision on Matraimov's pretrial restrictions will be made within 48 hours.
The UKMK move comes four days 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, who was placed on the U.S. Magnitsky sanctions list for his involvement in the illegal funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars abroad, 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, which 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
On February 15, a day after the protests, the UKMK said the criminal case against Matraimov would resume if allegations are confirmed that he has numerous properties in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, and Russia.
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.
Recent reports said that Matraimov, 49, had changed his last name to Ismailov, and that his wife, Uulkan Turgunova, had changed her family name to Sulaimanova in a move seen as an attempt to evade the U.S.- imposed sanctions.
Last month, Damira Azimbaeva, a spokesperson for Kyrgyzstan's 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.
- By RFE/RL
Russian Activist Gets Suspended Sentence For Ties With Opposition Group
Russian activist Anastasia Shevchenko has been handed a four-year suspended sentence for carrying out activities on behalf of an "undesirable organization," in what Amnesty International has called a "travesty of justice."
A judge for the October district court in the city of Rostov-on-Don on February 18 found Shevchenko guilty of having links with the opposition group Open Russia, a British-based organization founded by exiled former oil tycoon and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Shevchenko's supporters say the case was a politically motivated attempt to stop her activism and punish her for showing dissent publicly.
Amnesty International’s Moscow office director, Natalya Zviagina, said in a statement that Shevchenko had "been held hostage by a cynical, cruel, and inhumane system whose sole purpose is to suppress, intimidate and crush Russia’s bravest and strongest activists."
The London-based watchdog had declared the activist a prisoner of conscience.
The prosecutor in the case had asked the court to sentence Shevchenko, a mother of two, to five years in prison.
The “undesirable organization” law, adopted in May 2015, was part of a series of regulations pushed by the Kremlin that squeezed many nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations who received funding from foreign sources.
The Russian Prosecutor-General's Office declared Open Russia "undesirable” in 2017.
In 2019, Human Rights Watch said those who support the group -- which is no longer affiliated with Khodorkovsky -- have come under “increasing pressure” from the authorities.
Shevchenko, who has been under house arrest since January 2019, is the first Russian charged with the “repeated participation in the activities of an undesirable organization.”
Previously, violations of this law were punished as a noncriminal offense.
While under house arrest, Shevchenko was granted a furlough at the last minute to see her eldest daughter in hospital shortly before she died.
With reporting by TASS, Moskovsky Komsomolets, RIA Novosti, and Ekho Moskvy
- By RFE/RL
EU Gives Hungary Two Months To Change Law On 'Foreign-Funded' NGOs Or Face Penalties
The European Union has given Hungary a two-month deadline to change a law pushed through parliament by right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government that forces nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to disclose foreign donors.
The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, sent a letter to Budapest on February 18 saying it had two months to implement changes after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled last year that the 2017 law "introduced discriminatory and unjustified restrictions" in breach of fundamental rights, including on personal data protection and freedom of association.
The law, nominally meant to increase transparency of NGO finances and combat money laundering, requires NGOs that receive more than 7.2 million Hungarian forints ($27,000) of foreign funding annually to register as such and make the distinction public.
"The commission considers that Hungary has not taken the necessary measures to comply with the judgment, despite repeated calls from the commission to do so as a matter of urgency. As a result, the commission is asking Hungary today by letter of formal notice to take and implement all required measures to remedy the situation. Hungary has two months to reply to the concerns raised by the Commission," a notice on the EC's website said.
"The court case was part of an infringement procedure through which the commission takes on EU countries violating the bloc's laws. If Budapest fails to abide by the ruling, the commission could ask the CJEU to impose financial fines," it added.
Critics say the measure targeted Hungarian-born U.S. billionaire philanthropist George Soros, a harsh critic of Orban.
Orban has accused NGOs funded by Soros of political meddling. Soros has rejected the campaign against him as “distortions and lies” meant to create a false external enemy to distract Hungarians.
Because it "establishes a difference in treatment between national and cross-border movements of capital," the legislation amounts to a restriction on the free movement of capital, the CJEU said in its 2020 ruling, adding that it creates "a climate of mistrust towards the associations and foundations" targeted, and may dissuade donors.
Hungary had argued the law enhanced transparency, holding that the restrictions apply indiscriminately and not only to organizations likely to have a significant influence on public debate.
The EU has taken Hungary to court in several cases, accusing the government of muzzling the media and academics.
With reporting by Reuters and dpa
Lukashenka Says He Will Not Ask For Money At Talks With Putin
Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka says he does not plan to ask for money from Russia when he holds talks in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin on February 22.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov on February 18 confirmed the meeting of the two leaders, saying he expects a "quite extensive" discussion on issues ranging from bilateral relations to international issues.
One thing that won't be on the agenda, Lukashenka said at a meeting with the State Secretary of the Russia-Belarus Union state, Grigory Rapota, is a request from Minsk for money.
"As is usually the case in Russia, some [people may] highjack the agenda and [say] Lukashenka is on his way to ask for $3 billion [from Russia]. No, I am not traveling there to ask for anything," Lukashenka said, adding that there were no outstanding issues between the two countries.
In recent years, Russia has pressured Belarus through energy price increases, which many considered a lever to push Minsk to complete a 20-year-old agreement to form a union state.
Until last summer, Lukashenka, who has been in power for 26 years, has openly maintained his nation’s independence, publicly saying his nation is ready to fight for its independence by all possible means.
However, the situation changed after Russia took Lukashenka's side when tens of thousands of Belarusians poured into the streets on almost a daily basis to demand Lukashenka's resignation, saying an August 9 presidential election that handed the authoritarian leader a sixth term was rigged.
In September, Lukashenka traveled to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where he reached an agreement with Putin on a $1.5 billion loan as Belarus' economy reeled from the protests.
With reporting by BelTA and TASS
Kyiv Begins Marking Anniversary Of Deadly Shootings During Euromaidan Protests
KYIV -- Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko has marked the seventh anniversary of the shooting deaths of dozens of participants in the Euromaidan anti-government protests that toppled Ukraine's Russia-friendly former president, Viktor Yanukovych, in 2014.
Klitschko laid flowers on February 18 at the sites where the deadly shootings occurred seven years ago and at the so-called Monument of the Heavenly Hundred on Kyiv's Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti).
"Every day of the fight -- from autumn 2013 to February 2014 -- was important. No matter how difficult it is now, we will not disown or betray the ideals and principles we fought for at Maidan," Klitschko said.
While the official day of nationwide commemorations to honor those who were killed in Kyiv during clashes with Yanukovych's security forces is February 20, some parts of Ukraine begin honoring the slain protesters two days earlier, on the day when the shootings started.
The Euromaidan movement began in November 2013 when protesters gathered on the central square in Kyiv to protest Yanukovych's decision not to sign a crucial trade accord with the European Union. Instead, he sought closer economic ties with Russia.
Ukrainian prosecutors say 104 people were killed and 2,500 injured as a result of violent crackdowns by authorities against protesters from February 18-20, 2014.
Shunning a deal backed by the West and Russia to end the standoff, Yanukovych abandoned power and fled Kyiv on February 21, 2014.
The former president, who was secretly flown to Russia and remains there, denies that he ordered police to fire on protesters, saying that the violence was the result of a “planned operation” to overthrow his government.
In March 2014, shortly after Yanukovych's downfall, Russian military forces seized control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula -- a precursor to the Kremlin's illegal annexation of the territory through a hastily organized and widely discredited referendum.
Russia also has supported pro-Russia separatists who are fighting Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine.
More than 13,200 people have been killed in that conflict since April 2014.
Popular Russian Actor Andrei Myagkov Dead At 82
Prominent Russian actor Andrei Myagkov has died at the age of 82.
Media reports cited friends and colleagues of the actor on February 18 as saying that Myagkov died in Moscow of an unspecified illness.
Myagkov played many roles in more than 50 films and television series starting in the early 1960s. His most prominent was the role of Zhenya Lukashin in the movie Irony Of Fate, shot in 1975 by director Eldar Ryazanov.
Watching that film on New Year's Eve turned into a tradition in the former Soviet Union.
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax
Belarusian Journalists Handed 'Absurd' Prison Sentences For Live Coverage Of Anti-Government Rally
MINSK -- Two journalists for Belsat, a Polish-based satellite television station aimed at Belarus, have each been sentenced to two years in prison for reporting live from a rally in Minsk in November, a move seen by the European Union and rights watchdogs as being part of an ongoing crackdown on independent media.
On February 18, Judge Natallya Buhuk of the Frunze district court in the Belarusian capital, sentenced Katsyaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova after finding them guilty of "organizing public events aimed at disrupting civil order."
Andreyeva, 27, and Chultsova, 23, in their last statement in the courtroom, again rejected the charges against them, calling them politically motivated as their only reason to be at the protest was to do their job as reporters.
Crisis In Belarus
Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
Andreyeva also demanded the "immediate release" of herself, Chultsova, and "all political prisoners in Belarus."
The sentencing drew international condemnation, with EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano denouncing a "shameful crackdown on media."
"EU strongly condemns and calls for reversal of sentencing of Belsat TV Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Daria Chultsova for just doing their jobs. We call on Belarus authorities to respect fundamental freedoms and stop targeting journalists," Stano tweeted.
The two journalists were arrested on November 15 while they were covering a rally in Minsk commemorating Raman Bandarenka.
Bandarenka died from injuries sustained in a vicious beating by a group of masked assailants -- whom rights activists say were affiliated with the authorities -- during one of the weekly rallies demanding the resignation of authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Lawyer Syarhey Zikratski, a member of the two journalists' defense team, called the sentences "absurd," emphasizing that journalistic activities cannot be defined as the "disruption of civil order."
"The journalists just covered a protest action. We all followed their reports and heard how they did it. The words they used were just a description of what was happening there and were wrongfully used as the basis of the charge against them," Zikratski said.
Andreyeva's husband, Ihar Ilyash, who is also a journalist, said the trial had a predetermined outcome given that the judge was just following the prosecutors' orders.
"Now, all of us journalists must report even more about the facts and truth to fully destroy this terrorist regime," Ilyash said after the sentences were pronounced.
Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya praised the two journalists in a tweet for remaining strong after their sentences were pronounced.
"Just look at Darya and Katsyaryna -- strong, smiling, and saying goodbye to their loved ones from behind bars. Lukashenka can't break us," Tsikhanouskaya wrote.
Belarusian human rights organizations have recognized Andreyeva and Chultsova as political prisoners and demanded their immediate release and the dropping of all charges against them.
The sentencing of Andreyeva and Chultsova is "one of many ways Belarus's government has retaliated against journalists for reporting on peaceful protests and human rights violations," Anastasia Zlobina, coordinator for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
She said at least seven other journalists were behind bars in Belarus awaiting trial on similar criminal charges.
Earlier this week, Belarusian authorities raided the homes and offices at least 40 journalists and human rights defenders.
Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, was declared the landslide victor of an August 9 presidential election.
However, outrage over what was seen by both the opposition forces and the general public as a rigged vote has sparked continuous protests since, bringing tens of thousands onto the streets with demands that the longtime strongman step down and a new election be held.
Security officials have cracked down hard on the demonstrators, arresting thousands, including dozens of journalists who covered the rallies, and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country.
Several protesters have been killed in the violence and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used by security officials against some of those detained.
Lukashenka has denied any wrongdoing with regard to the election and refuses to negotiate with the opposition on stepping down and holding a new vote.
The European Union, the United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka, 66, as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the “falsification” of the vote and the postelection crackdown.
Gharibashvili Named To Georgian PM Post After Gakharia Resigns
TBILISI -- Georgia’s ruling party has nominated Irakli Gharibashvili to take over as prime minister hours after Giorgi Gakharia handed in his resignation following a court ruling that ordered the arrest of the head of the Caucasus country's main opposition force.
The governing Georgia Dream party named the Paris-educated Gharibashvili, 39, who was serving as defense minister in Gakharia's cabinet before the prime minister stepped down on February 18.
Gharibashvili’s appointment needs to be confirmed by parliament, which is boycotted by the opposition.
Speaking "on behalf of all opposition parties," Nika Melia, chairman of the opposition United National Movement (ENM), said government representatives should "sit at the negotiating table…and start negotiations on new early elections."
The developments come a day after a Tbilisi court granted a prosecution request to place Melia in custody in a case denounced by the opposition as a political witch-hunt.
The court ruling came amid a political crisis in Georgia that followed parliamentary elections in October that independent monitors say were marred by irregularities. All the opposition parties are boycotting parliament, refusing to assume their mandates.
Gakharia announced he was resigning during a televised address in Tbilisi because of disagreements within his own team over the decision to arrest Melia.
"I made the decision to leave my post. Of course, I believe and want to believe that this step will help reduce polarization in the political space of our country, because I am convinced that polarization and confrontation between us is the greatest risk for the future of our country, its economic development, and overcoming all types of crises," he said.
Gakharia warned that Melia's arrest could lead to the further escalation of the political crisis and threaten the well-being of the country’s citizens.
"Unfortunately, I could not reach a consensus with my team on this issue. I decided to resign," he said.
Following Gakharia’s resignation, the Interior Ministry issued a statement saying they had temporarily postponed detaining Melia, who is accused of organizing "mass violence" during 2019 anti-government protests, a charge he rejects as politically motivated.
The 41-year-old politician faces up to nine years behind bars if convicted.
In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi said it "appreciates the restraint shown by the authorities and the opposition in responding to the events surrounding the Melia case."
"It is imperative that all those involved commit to de-escalating the current tensions so that a way forward can be agreed upon," it added.
Gharibashvili was a political unknown before former Prime Minister and billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili named him interior minister in October 2012. The move came after Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream party routed supporters of former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
In November 2013, Gharibashvili became the youngest head of government in Europe when he was appointed prime minister, a post he held until December 2015, when he stepped down amid waning support for the Georgian Dream party.
On February 16, parliament voted to suspend Melia's immunity from prosecution, paving the way for his pretrial detention.
The prosecution's motion followed his refusal to pay an increased bail fee of 40,000 laris ($12,000). The opposition leader initially posted bail in 2019 but the amount was increased after he publicly removed his electronic-monitoring bracelet during a postelection rally in November 2020.
- By RFE/RL
Biden, Netanyahu Finally Talk, Discuss 'Iranian Threat'
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken by phone amid reports of a strained relationship between the two countries following Netanyahu’s close ties to the Trump administration.
A statement released on February 17 by the Israeli leader’s office said the two leaders discussed the “Iranian threat” as well as other issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Netanyahu was one of the last leaders of a U.S. ally to receive a call from Biden since the U.S. president’s January 20 inauguration.
Netanyahu had close ties with Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, who pushed what was seen as a heavily pro-Israel agenda that angered many Arab nations, along with some U.S. allies in Europe and elsewhere.
The prime minister is facing a tough fight in a legislative election scheduled for March 23. The relationship with Washington is of crucial importance to Israeli voters.
Netanyahu’s office was the first to announce the conversation and released a photo of a smiling prime minister holding a phone to his ear. The one-hour conversation was “warm and friendly,” his office said.
“The two leaders noted their long-standing personal connection and said that they would work together to continue strengthening the steadfast alliance between Israel and the U.S.,” the statement said.
It added that topics included “the Iranian threat” of developing nuclear weapons, efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, and the desire to expand Israel's new deals establishing relations with Arab nations.
During his presidential campaign, Biden criticized Trump’s decision to pull out of the landmark 2015 nuclear accord that Iran signed with world powers. Netanyahu adamantly backed Trump’s move, which involved reinstating crushing sanctions on Iran, Israel’s main rival in the region.
Biden has publicly stated that Iran must adhere to its commitment under the 2015 deal before his administration will discuss the possibility of lifting sanctions.
Tehran, under the deal with the United States, China, Russia, Germany, France, and Britain, agreed to curbs on its uranium-enrichment program in return for the lifting of sanctions. Iran has always denied pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes.
Since Trump abandoned the agreement and reimposed sanctions, Tehran has gradually breached the deal's terms.
With reporting by AP and AFP
Injuries Reported As Earthquake Shakes Southwestern Iran
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 shook southwest Iran near the town of Sisakht late on February 17, with at least 40 people injured, Iranian media reported.
Iranian state TV quoted an official in the region as saying, "People in Sisakht and the town of Yasuj left their homes in panic. Water and electricity have been cut off in Sisakht."
"Rescue teams and ambulances have been dispatched to the area. So far, 10 people have been injured," the official added.
Sisakht, a farming area with a population of around 6,000 people, is about 500 kilometers south of the capital, Tehran.
State news agency IRNA said the temblor struck at a depth of 10 kilometers at around at 10 p.m.
IRNA added that there were no immediate reports of fatalities, but the Fars news agency reported that at least two of the injured were in critical condition.
Regional officials also reported heavy rain in the region and said many people were suffering in extreme cold weather.
Iran sits on top of major tectonic plates and experiences frequent seismic activity.
A 7.3-magnitude quake in the western province of Kermanshah killed 620 people in November 2017.
In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude quake destroyed the ancient mud-brick city of Bam in Iran’s southeast, killing at least 31,000 people.
Iran's deadliest was a 7.4-magnitude quake in 1990 that killed 40,000 people, injured 300,000 others, and left half a million homeless in the country’s north.
Based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, Reuters, IRNA, and AP
- By RFE/RL
Visegrad Leaders Push For Quicker Deliveries Of COVID-19 Vaccines To Central Europe
Leaders of the Visegrad Group of nations pushed for faster deliveries of vaccines to their Central European countries to help fight the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in the region.
The leaders of Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland on February 17 said they support buying vaccines from producers regardless of “geopolitics,” as long as they are safe and effective.
Leaders of the four Central European nations -- Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic -- gathered at the Wawel Castle in the Polish city of Krakow to mark 30 years of their Visegrad Group (V4), an informal body of political and economic cooperation in the region.
Hungary is the first and only European Union country so far to administer Russia's Sputnik V vaccine before it receives approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
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Questions were earlier raised about the safety and efficacy of the Russian vaccine, but peer-reviewed, late-stage trial results published in The Lancet medical journal this month showed the two-dose regimen of Sputnik V was 91.6 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19, about the same level as the leading Western-developed vaccines.
“There is no Eastern or Western vaccine, there is only a good or a bad vaccine,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a news conference. “It is not good to be too political about the health security of the people.”
Orban in the past has criticized the EU for its slow rollout of vaccines in the bloc. Orban has been repeatedly criticized by EU leaders in Brussels for his authoritarian governance in his country.
The Hungarian leader has 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 vaccine.
Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matowic and Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland backed Orban’s comments.
European Council President Charles Michel, who attended the event, said bloc leaders will next week discuss ways of increasing vaccine production and of speeding the inoculation process.
Michel praised the group's development and role in the EU but stressed the group must be “based on principles of democracy,” in comments that appeared to be directed at Hungary and Poland.
All four countries are EU and NATO members. Hungary and Poland have often been criticized by Brussels for what is seen as political interference in areas like the judiciary and media freedom.
In a letter for Poland's Interia.pl news platform and for the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, Orban said the role of Central European nations is to help protect the EU against “outside attacks” but also against “internal tendencies to build an empire” while guarding their own independence.
The V4 nations “understand their share of responsibility for the future of Europe" based on Christian values, Orban wrote.
The V4 was founded in February 1991 from a declaration of cooperation that then-Presidents Lech Walesa of Poland, Vaclav Havel of then-Czechoslovakia, and Jozsef Antall of Hungary signed in Visegrad, Hungary.
Poland holds the group’s 12-month rotating presidency, which it will hand over to Hungary on July 1.
With reporting by AP and dpa
- By Todd Prince
U.S. Neglecting Western Balkans As China Takes 'Smart' Regional Approach, Former Croatian President Says
WASHINGTON -- The United States needs to step up its engagement with the Western Balkans if it wants to counter Chinese and Russian influence in the region, the former president of Croatia said.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who served as president of the Balkan nation from 2015-20, also criticized Europe for dragging its feet on regional integration.
“If you want to really prevent others from political interference in a certain area, then you have to be involved yourself,” Grabar-Kitarovic said, referring to the United States, during a discussion hosted on February 17 by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
“I must say that I've been disappointed by the sort of [lack of interest] that I've seen in the past years” in the Balkan region from the administrations of both President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama, she said.
Washington and Brussels have been seeking to integrate the nations of the Western Balkans into the European Union and NATO to bring stability to a region rocked by ethnic fighting in the 1990s.
However, Grabar-Kitarovic said the process has been “too slow” and that “it's creating a vacuum that is being filled by third forces that are not necessarily benevolent at all times,” a possible reference to China and Russia.
The United States and EU have expressed concerns over investments by Beijing in the Western Balkans as well as Kremlin disinformation and political influence activities in the region.
As an example, Grabar-Kitarovic called the decision to invite Bosnia-Herzegovina into NATO’s Partnership for Peace program rather than directly into the military alliance “an unnecessary delay” that opens the door for adversaries to claim that the region isn’t “good enough” for Western organizations.
The former president highlighted the importance of Bosnia’s stability to Croatia’s own security. Bosnia, which borders Croatia, is threatened with secessionist movements.
Grabar-Kitarovic said the Chinese are taking a “very smart” approach in their relations with the Western Balkans.
“They show that they value you, that they will talk to you,” she said, pointing out that a Croatian leader hasn’t had a White House meeting since 2006, when George W. Bush was president.
“The feeling that we are all getting…is if you are not a big country, or if you are not a problem country, or if you are not bringing big money to the table, you don’t have an entrance to the White House,” she said.
She said Washington has been “dragging its feet” on a double-taxation treaty with the country that would improve trade, and that she could not remember the last time a company from the United States made a big investment in Croatia.
"What I would like to see is more U.S. engagement, and a lot more active role" in the region, she said.
The United States has promised to invest up to $1 billion into the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund, which seeks to back projects that help the 12 EU nations located between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic seas improve their transport, energy, and digital infrastructure connections.
Grabar-Kitarovic, along with Polish President Andrzej Duda, launched the Three Seas Initiative in 2015.
Georgian Court Rules To Detain Opposition Leader
TBILISI -- A Georgian court has ruled to place the head of the country's main opposition force in pretrial detention in a case denounced by the opposition as a political witch hunt.
The Tbilisi City Court on February 17 granted the prosecution's request to send Nika Melia, chairman of the United National Movement (ENM), into custody.
Leaders of opposition parties and Melia's supporters gathered at the ENM's headquarters in Tbilisi, vowing to obstruct police if they move to enforce the court's ruling.
The U.S. Embassy called on the Georgian authorities and the opposition to "exercise maximum restraint in the wake of tonight's ruling."
"Violence serves no one except those who want to undermine Georgia's stability. This must be resolved peacefully," it tweeted.
Melia is accused of organizing "mass violence" during 2019 anti-government protests, a charge he rejects as politically motivated. The ruling Georgian Dream party denies that.
The 41-year-old politician faces up to nine years behind bars if convicted.
The court ruling came amid a political crisis in Georgia that followed parliamentary elections in October 2020 that independent monitors say were marred by irregularities. All the opposition parties are boycotting parliament, refusing to assume their mandates.
Ahead of the court decision, the European Union envoy to Georgia, Carl Hartzell, described the circumstances surrounding Melia's prosecution as a "dangerous trajectory for Georgia and for Georgian democracy."
Hartzell said the case will definitely have a "wider impact" on the political landscape and further developments in the country.
On February 16, parliament voted to suspend Melia's immunity from prosecution, paving the way for his pretrial detention.
The prosecution's motion followed his refusal to pay an increased bail fee of 40,000 laris ($12,000). The opposition leader initially posted bail in 2019 but the amount was increased after he publicly removed his electronic monitoring bracelet during a postelection rally in November 2020.
- By Todd Prince
U.S. Lawmakers Call On Biden Administration To Update Congress On Nord Stream 2 Sanctions
WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has called on the Biden administration to brief Congress on its steps to stop a controversial Russian natural-gas pipeline to Europe amid concerns it is nearing completion.
In a February 17 letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, four members of the House of Representatives requested information on the status of the Nord Stream 2 project, which is believed to be around 90 percent complete.
The lawmakers also said they wanted to know if Germany had made any proposal to halt or water down U.S. sanctions targeting the pipeline. The U.S. sanctions against Nord Stream have become a thorn in the side of American-German relations, with Berlin continuing to back the project.
The Financial Times reported on February 16 that German ministers were considering a proposal under which the United States would drop sanctions and permit the project to be completed in exchange for a snapback mechanism that would allow Berlin to shut off Nord Stream 2 if Russia put pressure on Ukraine.
The United States and several European countries oppose the pipeline -- which will reroute Russian natural-gas exports under the Baltic Sea, circumventing Ukraine -- on the grounds that it strengthens the Kremlin’s grip on the European energy market and deprives Kyiv of billions of dollars in much needed transportation fees.
A first round of U.S. sanctions specifically targeting vessels laying the pipeline forced a European contractor to halt work, delaying the launch of Nord Stream 2 by at least a year.
Congress last year passed the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Clarification Act (PEESCA) to widen the list of sanctionable services against the project to include providing insurance, reinsurance, pipeline testing, inspection, and certification services.
PEESCA became law on January 1 and its implementation could force more companies out of the $11 billion project and further delay its completion.
“In light of these requirements, we write to request a briefing from the State Department on the Biden administration’s efforts to implement PEESCA,” the lawmakers wrote, pointing out that the administration failed to meet a February 16 deadline to deliver a mandatory report on any sanctionable activity related to Nord Stream 2.
The letter named 15 Russian companies that may be involved in sanctionable work.
It was signed by Mike McCall (California), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Adam Kinzinger (Republican-Illinois), Ruben Gallego (Democrat-Arizona), and Marcy Kaptur (Democrat-Ohio).
- By RFE/RL
NATO Delivers Disinfectant To Ukraine To Help Battle COVID-19
NATO says it is delivering over 9,000 liters of surface disinfectant to Ukraine in response to Kyiv’s request for international assistance to combat COVID-19.
Ukraine started receiving the first delivery on February 17, the alliance said in a statement, adding that the donation was coordinated by NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center and Latvia.
The statement said the surface disinfectant, produced by a Latvian company, is to be distributed to “the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and its border guard detachments at border crossing points” across the Eastern European country.
NATO said it will also send mobile X-ray units, negative pressure chambers, bio protection coveralls, and portable oxygen generators to Ukraine in the “coming weeks.”
Ukraine has recorded more than 1.3 million coronavirus cases and over 26,000 deaths.
The country of 40 million has yet to launch its vaccination campaign.
It is waiting for the delivery of 20 million vaccine doses from India’s Serum Institute and the global COVAX scheme, as well as vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Novavах.
Last week, the World Health Organization and the European Union said they were launching a 40 million euro ($48.5 million) regional program to help six Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, with COVID-19 vaccinations.
Ukraine's government has banned the use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, which has been rolled out in the eastern Ukrainian areas that are controlled by Kremlin-backed separatists.
North Macedonia Kicks Off COVID-19 Vaccinations As Serbia Looks To Highlight Regional Efforts
SKOPJE -- North Macedonia has launched its COVID-19 immunization campaign with doctors and other medical staff treating coronavirus patients being administered the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Dobrinka Naunova-Jovanovska, a doctor in the main COVID-19 center in the capital, Skopje, said she felt “great” after becoming the first person to receive an injection.
"It is the only way to protect ourselves from this type of infection that has plagued us for the last year [and] with which the whole world is struggling,” she said.
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Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.
North Macedonia, a country of 2.1 million, received a first batch of more than 4,500 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine over the weekend in a donation from neighboring Serbia, which is looking to highlight its regional influence through assistance in the fight against COVID-19.
The Serbian government also sent 2,000 doses of the Russian-produced Sputnik V vaccine to Montenegro on February 17. The donation was handed over by the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic at Podgorica's airport.
North Macedonia's Health Ministry plans to first vaccinate medical staff working with COVID-19 patients, family doctors, laboratory staff, and then citizens over the age of 70 years.
Health Minister Venko Filipce said all medical staff are expected to receive their first shots within 10 days.
Pfizer is expected to send a shipment of about 4,000 doses of the vaccines next week, Filipce said.
North Macedonia has recorded more than 97,000 coronavirus infections and over 3,000 deaths caused by COVID-19 since the beginning of the epidemic a year ago.
Elsewhere in the region, hundreds of Bosnian Serb medical workers crossed the border into Serbia to receive a vaccine shot.
The Bosnian Serbs were vaccinated in three Serbian towns near the Bosnia-Herzegovina border.
Officials said that about 2,000 health staff from Bosnia’s Republika Srpska entity have applied for the inoculations.
Bosnian Serbs have close ties with Serbia, while other parts of Bosnia are dominated by Bosniaks -- who are mostly Muslims -- and Croats, who have tense relations with Bosnian Serbs and their allies in Belgrade.
The regions were set up in a peace deal that ended the bloody 1992-95 war that led to the formal breakup of Serbian-led Yugoslavia.
With reporting by AP
- By RFE/RL
As His Trial Resumes, U.S. Investor Says He Wants To Continue Working In Russia
A prominent U.S. investor currently on trial in Russia on embezzlement charges says he plans to continue to invest in the Russian economy when his prosecution comes to an end.
Michael Calvey, the founder of the private equity group Baring Vostok, again proclaimed his innocence as his high-profile trial resumed at Moscow’s Meshchansky district court on February 17.
"We can't wait when the hearings on the matter proceed further and the process is over and we can return to what we do best, which is to invest into Russian companies," Calvey said after the court adjourned the hearing until February 24.
Answering a question by an Interfax reporter, he said he had “a desire and intention to continue working and investing in Russia, but everything depends on the end of the process."
The trial of Calvey and six associates -- French national Philippe Delpal and Russian citizens Vagan Abgaryan, Ivan Zyuzin, Maksim Vladimirov, Aleksei Kordichev, and Aleksandr Tsakunov -- started on February 2, almost two years after their arrest.
The defendants deny any wrongdoings, saying the charges against them are being used to pressure them in a business dispute over control of Vostochny Bank.
In a statement on February 17, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow expressed hope “this will be a fair and transparent judicial process that concludes with justice for Mr. Calvey.”
“The criminalization of commercial disputes casts a pall on the business climate and serves as a disincentive to foreign investment in Russia,” it added.
Russia's Supreme Court in November 2020 eased the detention terms for the seven businessmen, ruling that they may not leave their homes between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., communicate with other suspects in places other than the courtroom, send or receive mail, or use telephones unless it's an emergency.
The case has rattled Russia’s business community and prompted several prominent officials and businessmen to voice concerns about the treatment of the executives.
Baring Vostok is one of the largest and oldest private-equity firms operating in Russia. It was founded in the early 1990s and manages more than $3.7 billion in assets. The company was an early major investor in Yandex, Russia's dominant search engine.
Calvey is one of three Americans currently held in Russia on charges supporters say are groundless.
Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years on espionage charges, which he has vehemently rejected.
Another former U.S. Marine, Trevor Reed, was sentenced to nine years in prison in late July 2020 after a Moscow court found him guilty of assaulting two police officers, a charge that he refused to admit.
With reporting by Interfax and TASS
- By RFE/RL
Ex-President Of Russian Track And Field Federation, Other Officials Banned In Doping Case
The former head of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF), Dmitry Shlyakhtin, was among five officials banned on February 17 for four years after a disciplinary tribunal upheld all charges against them in a probe into high jumper Danil Lysenko.
The Monaco-based Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), an independent doping watchdog unit of World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, said the case involved “submission of forged documents and false explanations” in a 15-month probe into why Lysenko failed to make himself available for drug testing.
The AIU said that Shlyakhtin was banned after being found guilty of charges including failing to cooperate with the inquiry, tampering with the anti-doping process, and failing to report a doping violation.
Russian officials were accused of using false medical papers to help Lysenko escape a ban for violating the rule which obliges athletes to be reachable for no-notice testing.
The AIU said former RusAF board member Artur Karamyan was also found guilty of tampering, complicity, failing to report an anti-doping rule violation, and failing to cooperate with the investigation.
The other three officials named are former executive director Aleksandr Parkin, senior administrator Elena Orlova, and anti-doping coordinator Elena Ikonnikova.
The AIU said Parkin, Orlova, and Ikonnikova did not contest the charges.
“These are important decisions for the sport of athletics. The AIU was created to be a fearless and independent organization. Our work in uncovering the conspiracy and fraudulent behavior in this case demonstrates that the AIU is fulfilling its role to make cheats accountable, irrespective of their stature or standing,” AIU Chair David Howman said in a statement.
Lysenko, a former world indoor champion and silver medalist at the 2017 world championships, and his coach were also charged in 2019 and the case against them is ongoing. RusAF, under new leadership, last year admitted to wrongdoing in the case.
Russia has already been suspended from international track and field competitions because of doping.
The Lysenko case brought RusAF to the brink of expulsion from World Athletics.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
European Rights Court Rules Russia Should 'Immediately' Release Navalny
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has called for the "immediate" release of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, a demand quickly rejected by Russian officials.
"On February 16, a Chamber of seven judges of the Court decided, in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings before it, to indicate to the government of Russia, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, to release the applicant (Navalny)," the Strasbourg-based court said in its ruling, posted on Navalny's website on February 17.
"This measure shall apply with immediate effect," it added.
Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko told journalists that the court's demand was "unreasonable and unlawful," claiming there were “no legal grounds” for Navalny’s release from custody.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the ECHR of "pressure" on Russia and "interference" in the country's domestic affairs.
However, Navalny's lawyer said her client "should be immediately released from custody."
"There is a clear order of the European court, which the authorities are obliged to comply with," Olga Mikhailova told the Novaya gazeta newspaper.
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 called an initial court hearing into his arrest a "mockery of justice," while his 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.
A Russian court on February 2 ruled that Navalny was guilty of violating the terms of his suspended sentence relating to an embezzlement case that he -- and the ECHR -- has called unlawful and arbitrary. The judge ruled that he violated parole conditions while recovering from the near-fatal poisoning in Germany.
The court converted the sentence to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given credit for time already spent in detention, the court said Navalny must serve another two years and eight months behind bars.
With reporting by Interfax
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