Belarus expelled two more Polish diplomats on March 11 after Poland expelled a Belarusian diplomat in a tit-for-tat spat that erupted after a World War II commemoration.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had expelled the two diplomats "in connection with the excessive, asymmetric, and destructive response of Poland."

The two senior staff members of the Polish Consulate in the city of Hrodno were given 48 hours to leave the country, the ministry said.

The unofficial commemorative event at the heart of the dispute took place February 28 in the southwestern Belarusian city of Brest in honor of so-called “cursed soldiers,” Polish fighters who initially fought against Nazi occupation and later turned against Soviet occupiers. The soldiers often acted violently against non-Poles, especially Belarusians.

Minsk on March 9 announced it was expelling the Polish consul, Jerzy Timofejuk, saying he had taken part in the ceremony, prompting Warsaw to also declare a Belarusian diplomat persona non grata the next day.

Belarus then responded with the expulsion of the two Polish diplomats on March 11.

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said that Warsaw reserved its right to an "adequate response" to the move.

Belarusian prosecutors said on March 10 that they had opened a criminal case into the Brest event for actions aimed at inciting national and religious enmity, and hate based on nationality, religion, and language, as well as actions aimed at glorifying Nazism.

The Foreign Ministry in Minsk said celebrating "war criminals and the justification of genocide against the Belarusian people" was unacceptable.

The Day of Cursed Soldiers has been commemorated in Poland every March 1 since 2011.

Relations between Belarus and Poland have been strained recently after protests broke out against the disputed reelection in August of Belarus strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Poland has sheltered Belarusian activists who have fled across the border to escape a crackdown on the opposition.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, BelTA, AFP, and dpa

MINSK -- New criminal charges have been filed against jailed Belarusian blogger Ihar Losik, his wife says, adding that upon hearing the charges he restarted a hunger strike.

Losik, a consultant for RFE/RL on new-media technologies, also tried to slit his wrists in front of an investigator and a lawyer, his wife, Darya, told RFE/RL on March 11, citing his lawyer.

She said the precise wording of the new charges is unknown and demanded that Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka tell her why her husband has been in prison for nine months.

This comes less than two months after Losik ended a six-week hunger strike to protest charges that he allegedly helped organize riots over last year’s disputed presidential election in Belarus.

News of the new charges against the 28-year-old father of a 2-year-old daughter prompted a response from RFE/RL President Jamie Fly, who urged Lukashenka to release him immediately so he can be reunited with his family.

“All of us at RFE/RL are deeply distressed by today’s new charges against Ihar, and his deteriorating health situation," Fly said in a statement, adding: "Journalism is not a crime and Ihar has been unjustly detained for far too long. Ihar and his family should not be tortured in this way.”

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Losik was arrested on June 25, 2020, and accused of using his popular Telegram channel to “prepare to disrupt public order” and “preparation for participation in riots” ahead of the presidential election on August 9.

Losik on December 15 was slapped with charges that could result in an eight-year prison term if he is convicted.

In protest, Losik, who has been recognized as a political prisoner by rights activists, launched his hunger strike.

Losik announced the end of that hunger strike on January 25, saying he did so “on my own volition.” A statement issued by his lawyer at the time said he was “simply moved by the unbelievable wave of solidarity."

But the blogger’s state of mind apparently declined soon afterward based on a handwritten letter that he wrote on February 18 and published on social media after the news of a two-year jail sentence given to two journalists of Belsat.

“I have no illusion. I think it’ll be about five more years, and by that time I will have died. I no longer have any desire to do anything,” Losik wrote. “So much has already been done, and all for naught: Nothing influences anybody. I’ll say it honestly: I doubt anything will change.”

Since the presidential election, Belarus has witnessed regular demonstrations whose size and scope are unparalleled in the country’s post-Soviet history.

Western governments have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote, and imposed sanctions on him and his allies, citing election rigging and the police crackdown.

Lukashenka has refused to step down and says he will not negotiate with the opposition.

In his letter, Losik said he believed everyone who has protested against the government will be jailed and those who aren’t will leave or be silenced.

“Russia will assist with money, and that’s how it will remain for several years to come. That’s why I’m thinking I have to somehow prepare myself. Because I’ve grown tired of waiting and hoping for something good while, each week for the past eight months, things only deteriorate,” he said.

Losik wrote of a sense of helplessness, saying it was sad, but he saw no reason to believe otherwise, and said he didn’t want his wife to witness a trial.

“Better they should just quickly shoot me, so as not to have to witness all that,” he said.

Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest on March 11 rejected the entry submitted by Belarus and threatened the country with disqualification if it did not submit a modified version of the song or a new entry.

The song I'll Teach You by the band Galasy ZMesta has sparked a backlash for singing the praises of Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka with lyrics such as, "I'll teach you how to dance to the tune, I'll teach you to take the bait, I'll teach you to walk the line."

In announcing its decision to reject Belarus’s entry, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said the song would put the “nonpolitical nature” of the contest in question, and that “recent reactions to the proposed entry risk bringing the reputation of the ESC into disrepute.”

Lukashenka has faced nearly daily protests to step down since the country's presidential election on August 9 handed him another term despite charges the election was rigged.

More than 30,000 people have been arrested, hundreds beaten, and several people killed in the government crackdown on protesters.

Calls to kick out Belarus's entry to the annual Eurovision Song Contest had been growing in the run-up to the event in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam on May 18-22.

Belarus's national broadcaster, BTRC, on February 9 announced it had selected Galasy ZMesta to represent the country at the contest.

Galasy ZMesta has slammed the country's pro-democracy movement, writing on its website that the group could not stay "indifferent" while "political battles try to break the country we love and in which we are living."

The five-member group has backed Lukashenka, and its front man, Dzmitry Butakou, openly laments the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Butakov denied the song breached the competition's rules and said the EBU's decision was expected.

"They took the hockey world cup from us, and Eurovision is peanuts compared to that," Butakov told Reuters, referring to Belarus earlier being stripped as host of this year's world ice hockey championships.

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.

The BTRC had already caused a controversy when it chose Galasy ZMesta over the Belarusian duet VAL, which had been selected to represent Belarus last year before the 2020 competition was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

VAL were expected to represent Belarus this year, but the BTRC decided differently, announcing the two “lacked a conscience" after giving an interview critical of the state broadcaster and life in Belarus under Lukashenka's rule.

The Eurovoix News Service, a music news service with a focus on Eurovision, had also voiced shock over the choice of Galasy ZMesta, and stated it would limit its coverage of Belarus's participation at this year's event.

"The lyrics of the song support a government agenda that silences its citizens and imprisons its journalists for speaking out over basic human rights issues," it said in a statement issued on its website.

An online petition demanding Belarus be pulled from the competition had gathered more than 2,000 signatures.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, Current Time, and Reuters

BUDAPEST -- Hungary's media regulator on March 11 rejected an application from one of the country's last independent news radio stations to regain its broadcasting frequency in what the International Press Institute (IPI) called “yet another afront” to press freedom in the European Union member state.

Klubradio, whose news and talk content is often critical of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government, has been broadcasting online since mid-February after a court upheld a previous decision by the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) not to extend its broadcasting license.

The radio station applied on an open tender to regain a frequency it lost last month, but the NMHH denied its request -- despite it being the only applicant -- arguing that the application contained errors and did not meet basic requirements for radio broadcasting.

Klubradio has 15 days to appeal the decision.

The radio station called it “unlawful” and vowed to continue broadcasting online.

Critics accuse the NMHH -- whose members are all Orban's supporters -- of exercising political bias in its decision making. The government denies interfering in media issues.

Scott Griffen, deputy director of the Austrian-based IPI, said in a statement that the “latest arbitrary decision” by the “captured” media regulator “shows the lengths to which the Hungarian authorities will go” to ensure Klubradio is blocked from returning to the airwaves before next year’s parliamentary elections.

Griffen urged the European Commission to “immediately intensify its engagement with the Hungarian authorities and investigate whether the decisions by the Media Council in this and other cases contravene EU law.”

The European Commission has urged the country to take action to allow Klubradio to continue broadcasting, saying the loss of the station's frequency had occurred “on the basis of highly questionable legal grounds.”

On March 10, the European Parliament debated the erosion of media freedom in Hungary -- as well as in Poland and Slovenia.

Hungary is under EU investigation for undermining the independence of the judiciary, media, and nongovernmental organizations, and risks losing access to tens of billions of euros in funds from the bloc.

The country is ranked 89th out of 180 countries in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. Only Bulgaria, 111th, is ranked lower among the EU's 27 member nations.

With reporting by AP

MOSCOW -- A court in Moscow has refused to remove Nasiliyu.net, a leading organization that addresses domestic violence and LGBT rights, from the registry of "foreign agents."

Lawyer Pavel Chikov of the Agora legal defense organization said on March 11 that the Zamoskvoretsky district court rejected Nasiliyu.net's request to annul a Justice Ministry decision to add the group to its controversial list of organizations fulfilling the functions of a "foreign agent."

The ministry justified its move, made in December, by saying that the NGO had received foreign funding and was engaged in political activity. The NGO has denied it is politically active.

Chikov said earlier this month that the government's complaint against Nasilyu.net said the group's activity in "publicizing the problem of domestic violence," "creating conditions so that victims know where to turn for help," and "participating in promoting and conducting campaigns aimed at adopting a law against family and domestic violence" must be considered "political activity" under the "foreign-agent" laws.

The government also deemed the NGO's public calls for government agencies "to take measures to protect victims of domestic violence" during the coronavirus pandemic to be "political activity."

The NGO's leader, Anna Rivina, said on March 8 that her organization had been ordered to vacate their Moscow offices by the end of March for unclear reasons.

Russia's so-called foreign-agent legislation was adopted in 2012 and has been modified repeatedly. It requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and that the government deems to be engaged in political activity to be registered, to identify themselves as "foreign agents," and to submit to audits.

Human Rights Watch has described the foreign-agent legislation as "restrictive" and intended "to demonize independent groups."

Later modifications to the foreign-agent law have targeted foreign-funded media, including RFE/RL's Russian Service, six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, and Current Time.

YAKUTSK, Russia -- The Supreme Court of Russia's Yakutia region has ruled that the forced confinement to a psychiatric clinic of a shaman who tried several times to march to Moscow on foot "to drive President Vladimir Putin out of the Kremlin" was legal.

Olga Timofeyeva, a lawyer for Aleksandr Gabyshev, told RFE/RL on March 11 that the court rejected her client's request for an independent expert to be present at the hearing to assess the medical conclusion on his placement in the clinic.

Timofeyeva also said that the court rejected a motion to evaluate Gabyshev by medical and psychiatric experts in any other region of Russia.

Gabyshev was accused by law enforcement of attacking a police officer when he was forcibly taken from his home to a psychiatric clinic in late January.

Police confined him to a psychiatric clinic on January 27, less than three weeks after the shaman had announced plans to resume his trek to the Russian capital to drive Putin out of the Kremlin.

Gabyshev first made headlines in March 2019 when he called Putin "evil" and announced that he had started a march to Moscow to drive the Russian president out of office.

He then walked more than 2,000 kilometers, speaking with hundreds of Russians along the way.

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As his notoriety rose, videos of his conversations with people were posted on social media and attracted millions of views.

In July that year, when Gabyshev reached the city of Chita, he led a 700-strong rally under the slogan "Russia without Putin!"

At the time, Gabyshev said, "God told me that Putin is not human but a demon, and has ordered me to drive him out."

His march was halted when he was detained in the region of Buryatia later in September and placed in psychiatric clinic in Yakutia against his will.

His forced confinement in a clinic was equated by many with a Soviet-era practice to muzzle dissent.

Shamans have served as healers and diviners in Siberia for centuries. During the Soviet era, the mystics were harshly repressed. But in isolated parts of Siberia, they are now regaining prominence.

With reporting by MBKh Media

MOSCOW -- The Moscow City Court has upheld the two-year suspended sentence for an opposition politician who was convicted in December over her involvement in anti-Kremlin protest rallies.

After the court handed down the ruling on March 11, municipal lawmaker Yulia Galyamina said that it was very likely now that Moscow's city council would remove her of status as a lawmaker.

On December 28, before the Tver district court judge found her guilty of repeatedly violating the law on mass gatherings and pronounced her sentence, the outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin said at the trial that the proceedings against her had proven that Putin, investigators, security officials, and police saw her as a "real threat."

"I am a teacher, a municipal lawmaker, a politician who calls for nonviolent change, for honest political struggle, for a decent life for people. I'm a woman who is a threat to a man, who seems to have all possible powers. However, that man is just a little man who is scared of a woman's soft power," Galyamina said.

Amnesty International has called the charges against Galyamina "appalling and reprehensible," and says they are aimed at "silencing a major dissenting voice and threatening to ban her political activities."

Galyamina was involved in a campaign against what she says are "illegal plans" by Putin to remain in power beyond term limits.

Her team organized a peaceful rally in central Moscow in July against constitutional reforms introduced in 2020 that give Putin an option to remain in power for as many as 16 more years if he wins two more elections after his current term expires in 2024.

Dozens of people were detained by police during the protest.

MINSK -- Belarusian video blogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski, who has been in pretrial detention since May, has been served with final charges that could see him imprisoned for up to 15 years after he expressed his willingness to take part in an August presidential election against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

The Investigative Committee of Belarus said on March 11 that the investigations against Tsikhanouski, opposition politician Mikalay Statkevich, and their associates had been completed.

According to the final charges, Tsikhanouski is accused of organizing mass disorder, incitement of social hatred, impeding the Central Election Commission's activities, and organizing activities that disrupt social order.

Tsikhanouski was the owner of a popular YouTube channel called The Country For Life, which challenges Belarusian authorities, when he announced his willingness to run against Lukashenka early last year.

Shortly after Tsikhanouski’s candidacy was rejected by election officials, he was arrested in May 2020 and has been held in jail since as he awaited charges.

His wife, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, took over during the campaign and ran as a candidate in the presidential poll. She has turned into the main challenger to Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994.

The European Union and the United States have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate president of Belarus after he claimed a landslide victory in the August 9 election that has been widely criticized as fraudulent.

The results have sparked months of mass protests and have been contested by Tsikhanouskaya, whose supporters claim she won the vote, as well as opposition figures across the country.

Lukashenka has overseen a violent crackdown on the protesters, which has seen thousands -- including media members -- detained and scores injured.

Overall, more than 1,800 criminal cases have been launched over the protests against the official results of the presidential election.

Tsikhanouskaya left Belarus immediately after the vote fearing for her family's security. She currently lives in Lithuania with her children.

Most leading opposition figures have been forced from the country, while many of those still in Belarus have been detained by law enforcement.

Poland and Hungary are challenging a new mechanism in the European Union's budget that links payments to rule-of-law conditions, for which both countries have come under heavy criticism.

The new mechanism was built into the 2021-27 spending plan and 750-billion-euro ($890-billion) stimulus fund meant to offset the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economies of the 27-member bloc.

The conditionality allows disbursements to be withheld if there are certain violations of basic standards, such as the undermining of judicial independence.

The measure has been opposed by Poland and Hungary, both of which have been severely criticized by the EU over rule of law.

The two countries had blocked the adoption of the EU budget and coronavirus recovery package over the dispute.

At an EU summit in December, EU leaders reached a compromise that meant the mechanism would not be implemented until the European Court of Justice has ruled on any possible complaints.

Poland announced on March 11 that it had filed a complaint with the court against the measure.

"We believe that such solutions have no legal basis in the treaties, interfere with competences of member states and infringe on EU law," government spokesman Piotr Mueller said in a statement.

"Disbursement of funds from the EU budget should be based only on meeting objective and concrete conditions, which unequivocally stem from regulations," Mueller said.

In Budapest, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said Hungary will launch a similar court case this week.

"We are challenging the rule on conditionality before the Court of Justice of the European Union, together with Poland," Justice Minister Judit Varga said on Facebook.

"We can't keep that EU legislation in force, which seriously infringes legal certainty," she said.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa

MINSK -- Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka has replaced the country's Investigative Committee chief and several other senior officials amid a continued crackdown on protesters demanding his resignation over an election last year they say was rigged.

On March 11, Lukashenka's press service said that Ivan Naskevich, who ran the Investigative Committee, was replaced by Dzmitry Hara, who had worked as the deputy prosecutor-general before his appointment.

Hara, 50, also led the interministerial commission that studied numerous complaints filed by ordinary citizens who said they faced beatings, torture, and police brutality during demonstrations that followed the disputed August 9 presidential poll where Lukashenka was declared the winner.

The results, which the opposition disputed, prompted tens of thousands of Belarusians to rally across the country against the authoritarian leader who has ruled the country since 1994.

Thousands of citizens, including dozens of journalists covering the protests, have been detained by authorities, with some being handed prison terms.

Hundreds have been beaten by security forces and several protesters have died in the violence, while a number of rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used by security officials against some detainees.

Still, the Hara-led commission did not launch a single probe into any of the complaints filed.

On March 11, Lukashenka also appointed Vadzim Sinyauski as the new emergency minister, Andrey Zhuk as deputy defense minister, Viktar Hulevich as general staff chief for the Belarusian armed forces.

Several other deputies at various ministries, commanders of military districts, and regional officials were also appointed.

With reporting by BelTA

MOSCOW -- A probe has been launched posthumously against a Moscow resident who was killed by his three daughters in 2018.

Mikhail Khachaturyan was posthumously charged with the sexual abuse and torture of his three daughters, who are currently facing a trial for the murder of their father, the young women's lawyers said on March 10.

In December, a court in Moscow ruled that the refusal by investigators to launch a probe into Mikhail Khachaturyan due to his death was illegal.

The request to launch the probe was filed by Mikhail Khachaturyan's relatives, who say they want him to be exonerated.

Investigators say that in July 2018, Krestina, Angelina, and Maria Khachaturyan -- then 19, 18, and 17 years old, respectively -- killed their father at their home in a Moscow suburb.

Materials gathered by investigators included substantial evidence of regular sexual and physical abuse by Khachaturyan against his daughters.

The case has attracted widespread attention and has pitted defenders of conservative values, backed by the Russian Orthodox Church, against women's rights activists who have been calling for the introduction of legislation on domestic violence as a way to bring alleged perpetrators like Khachaturyan to justice and enable their victims to plead self-defense.

SEE ALSO:

How A Harrowing Family Story Became Russia's Talk-Show Sensation

In early December 2019, investigators finalized their indictment against the three sisters and sent it to the Prosecutor's Office to prepare for trial. Krestina, Angelina, and Maria had acted with premeditation, it concluded, governed by "a strong personal enmity toward their father" due to continued physical and sexual abuse.

Later, Deputy Prosecutor-General Viktor Grin cited flaws in the investigation and asked officials to reclassify the sisters’ actions as self-defense, which would pave the way for the women to be set free.

However, according to the defense team, Grin later confirmed the original murder charges, sending the case to trial.

Maria Khachaturyan is being tried separately because she was a minor when the incident occurred. A medical evaluation following the killing found her mentally unsound at the time of her father's death, and it was recommended she undergo psychological treatment.

The trial of Krestina and Angelina is pending.

With reporting by RIA Novosti and TASS

Police and security forces raided several apartments in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, overnight and detained dozens of people amid an ongoing crackdown against protesters demanding the country's authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka resign.

Human rights activists and volunteers said the majority of those detained late on March 10 were registered in Minsk's Lebyadziny and Novaya Baravaya districts, where police and security forces swept through buildings and searched apartments.

According to an updated list filed by an independent volunteer initiative, more than 100 people were detained and are currently in custody.

No official explanation for the sweep or the arrests has been given.

A crackdown on anti-Lukashenka protesters has been under way in Belarus since August after Lukashenka, 66, who has run the country since 1994, was officially deemed the winner of a presidential election for the sixth consecutive time.

Tens of thousands of Belarusians protested the poll's results saying the election was rigged.

Thousands of Belarusians, including dozens of journalists covering the protests, have been detained by authorities, some handed prison terms, and hundreds beaten while in detention and on the streets.

Several protesters have died in the violence, and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used by security officials against some detainees.

Many EU countries, Britain, the United States, and Canada have refused to recognize Lukashenka as Belarus's legitimate leader.

The European Union has imposed three sets of sanctions against Belarusian authorities, including Lukashenka, over the rigged presidential poll and the violent crackdown against peaceful protesters.

YEREVAN -- Armenian President Armen Sarkisian has refused to accept Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's proposal to appoint Artak Davtian as the new chief of staff for the armed forces as the country's ongoing political standoff continues.

Sarkisian's press service announced the president’s decision on March 11, a day after Pashinian announced the departure of Onik Gasparian, saying that the general's controversial removal was automatic because Sarkisian did not lodge an appeal against the dismissal decree with the Constitutional Court as prescribed by law.

Pashinian's decision to sack Gasparian from the post of chief of general staff had been rejected by both Sarkisian and the Armenian army's general staff, which has said that early elections are the only way out of the ongoing political crisis in the South Caucasus nation.

The armed forces have also repeatedly demanded that Pashinian step down, a move he has characterized as an attempted military coup.

At the heart of the turmoil is a Russian-brokered deal Pashinian signed in November that brought an end to fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh at a heavy cost for the Armenian side, which suffered territorial and battlefield losses from Azerbaijan's Turkish-backed military.

The deal saw Armenia cede control over parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven surrounding districts that had been occupied by Armenian forces since the early 1990s, prompting protests from the opposition and parts of the military.

In light of what they perceived as a national humiliation, Gasparian and other top brass on February 25 called for the departure of Pashinian.

The move triggered the ongoing standoff between the government and the opposition, backed by top military officers. Sarkisian has called for talks to ease tensions even though he added to them with his repeated refusal to endorse Gasparian's dismissal.

Both opposition supporters and Pashinian's backers have been holding rallies in the capital since the crisis broke out.

Opposition demonstrators who have surrounded the government building since March 9, at times scuffling with police, blocked access to the parliament building on March 10.

SEE ALSO:

Armenian Opposition Protesters Blockade Parliament To Demand PM's Resignation

Pashinian has defended the November deal saying it was the only way to prevent the Azerbaijani military from overrunning the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Russia has deployed about 2,000 peacekeepers to monitor the peace agreement.

Pashinian, whose My Step faction dominates parliament, has offered to hold snap parliamentary elections later this year but the prime minister has refused to resign.

Sarkisian has called on Pashinian and opposition leaders to hold talks on March 13.

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz lawmakers have approved the final reading of a law to hold a referendum on constitutional amendments on April 11 that would increase the president's powers.

The bill was approved by 94 lawmakers, while six voted against it in the session on March 11.

The proposed amendments would significantly increase presidential powers and allow the president to be reelected for a second term. Current law allows presidents only one term in office.

The amendments also envision the creation of a so-called People's Kurultai (Assembly), described as "a consultative and coordinating organ" controlled by the president.

A Constitutional Court will also be created while the number of lawmakers will be cut to 90 from 120.

The constitutional changes were proposed by President Sadyr Japarov in November, when he was acting president following anti-government protests in October that toppled the government and led to then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov's resignation in mid-October.

Japarov was elected as president on January 10.

Many in the Central Asian nation have criticized Japarov, saying that he is looking to impose a more authoritarian system of rule by changing the constitution.

MOSCOW -- Russian parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, has approved the first reading of a bill allowing for "accidental" corruption.

According to the bill, officials, judges, prosecutors, military personnel, and other individuals cannot be held responsible for corrupt actions in cases when they could not control the circumstances in which such actions took place.

Among such circumstances, the bill cites natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, fires, pandemics, strikes, military conflicts, and terrorist acts.

The bill also says that "accidental" corruption might happen when restrictions are imposed by authorities due to circumstances they couldn't control.

Under the bill, every corruption case would be investigated by a special commission to decide if a corrupt action was "accidental" and made during "uncontrollable circumstances."

If the corrupt actions are deemed "accidental," those who committed the acts will have to correct the consequences of such actions within one month "following the end of the circumstances which were not possible to control," the bill states.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has accused Serbian state-affiliated media of waging a smear campaign against anti-corruption investigative reporter Stevan Dojcinovic.

OCCRP, an investigative reporting organization which specializes in organized crime and corruption, said in a statement on March 10 that Dojcinovic has been subjected to a "mounting assault" by Serbian tabloid news outlets by linking him to a notorious Montenegro-based crime gang.

Dojcinovic is both an OCCRP regional editor and the editor in chief of the Crime and Corruption Investigations Network (KRIK), a major Serbian news outlet.

KRIK has published stories on how the Montenegrin crime gang, known as Kavac, used to be aligned with the government and how Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's son regularly socialized with top gang members.

Following the disclosures by KRIK, state-affiliated Serbian tabloids released a coordinated series of articles alleging that Dojcinovic worked for the mob figure Veljko Belivuk, a prominent Kavac member charged with several murders, OCCRP said in the statement.

"These stories are really worrisome because they put KRIK staff 'in the game,'" said OCCRP Publisher Drew Sullivan.

"By accusing our colleagues of being part of the Kavac gang's criminal activities, these pro-state tabloids are providing criminal groups with justification for murder. We hold [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic himself responsible for the blatantly false accusations peddled by his mouthpieces, which have real-world ramifications for our journalists."

Dojcinovic has been subjected to harassment in the past. In December, he was banned from entering the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), where he was planning to attend a UN conference on organized crime and corruption.

Dojcinovic told RFERL at the time that he had "no information" as to why he was deported after being held for 12 hours at the airport’s police station.

"They took my fingerprints. I tried to talk to them. They told me they were not to blame, that I was blacklisted and couldn't get into the U.A.E., and that they would send me back by plane. Later, they told me that the U.A.E. had not blacklisted me, but some other country, some other government. They said 'it's something international' but they didn't want to reveal more details to me," he said.

In 2015, Russian authorities stopped Dojcinovic on arrival at a Moscow airport and sent him back, along with a five-year entry ban, all without any explanation.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has demanded the "immediate release" of aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals detained in Iran.

Johnson raised the case of Zaghari-Ratcliffe during a phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rohani, and said her "continued confinement remains completely unacceptable" and that she must be allowed to return to her family in Britain, a spokesman said on March 10.

The charity worker, 42, had her ankle tag removed on March 7 at the end of her five-year sentence, but she faces a new court case against her, scheduled for March 14.

She had been under house arrest in Tehran since being moved from jail a year ago due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained at Tehran airport after a family visit in 2016 and subsequently sentenced for plotting to overthrow Iran's government -- an accusation she denies.

In November, she was notified in court of a fresh indictment of "spreading propaganda against the regime."

Prior to her arrest, she lived in London with her husband and daughter, who is now 6 years old.

Iran has arrested dozens of foreign and dual nationals in recent years on espionage charges that they and their governments say are groundless.

Critics say Iran uses such arbitrary detentions as part of hostage diplomacy to extract concessions from Western countries, which Tehran denies.

With reporting by the BBC and AFP

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has assured members of Congress that the Biden administration opposes the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and said the administration continues to review further sanctions.

Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that President Joe Biden thinks the nearly completed pipeline was a "bad idea" and had "been clear on this for some time."

He added that the United States, which has already placed sanctions on companies involved in building the pipeline, was "making clear that we stand against its completion...and we continue to review other possibilities for sanctions going forward."

Nord Stream 2 is designed to reroute Russian natural-gas exports to Europe under the Baltic Sea, circumventing Ukraine.

Congress opposes the pipeline on the grounds that it strengthens the Kremlin's hold on Europe's energy industry and hurts Ukraine, which stands to lose billions of dollars in annual transit fees.

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5 Things To Know About Nord Stream 2

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Senate Republicans have been pressuring the Biden administration to impose sanctions on more companies involved in the project.

At the same time it has called the pipeline a "bad idea," the Biden administration is also reportedly concerned about the impact additional sanctions would have on U.S. relations with Germany, which has defended the pipeline as a commercial project.

Legislation passed by Congress in 2019 placing sanctions on vessels laying the pipeline halted the project for more than a year, but Russia resumed construction with its own ships.

That pushed Congress to pass new legislation last year widening the sanctions to include companies engaging generally in Nord Stream 2 activities, including those that insure and certify the project.

The legislation required the administration to update Congress on the status of the project and impose sanctions on any companies in violation. In its update last month the Biden administration identified only one vessel and its owner, which were already under sanction. Meanwhile, some media reports have identified at least a dozen companies involved in the construction.

In a letter to Biden last week, 40 Senate Republicans called the update "completely inadequate" and demanded the administration place sanctions on the additional companies "without delay."

Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee also asked Blinken about Moscow's involvement in Venezuela and Cuba. He said the United States had seen a resurgence of Russian presence and activity in the two countries, and "we're very attentive to that across the board."

With reporting by Reuters

Poland has declared a Belarusian diplomat persona non grata a day after Minsk expelled a Polish consul for taking part in an event honoring Polish forces who fought in World War II.

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz announced the decision on March 10, saying on Twitter it was in response to the "hostile and unjustified" actions of the Belarusian authorities toward the Polish consul in the southwestern city of Brest.

Przydacz did not identify the Belarusian diplomat.

Minsk on March 9 announced it was expelling the Polish consul, Jerzy Timofejuk, saying he had taken part in an unofficial event honoring the so-called "cursed soldiers" in Brest on February 28.

The Polish fighters initially fought against Nazi occupation and later turned against Soviet occupiers. But they often acted violently against non-Poles, especially Belarusians.

Belarusian prosecutors said on March 10 they had opened a criminal case into the event for actions aimed at inciting national, religious enmity, and hate based on nationality, religion, language, as well as actions aimed at glorifying Nazism.

The Day of Cursed Soldiers has been commemorated in Poland on March 1 since 2011.

Relations between Belarus and Poland have been strained recently after protests broke out against the disputed reelection in August of Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Poland has sheltered Belarusian activists who have fled across the border to escape a crackdown on the opposition.

With reporting by AFP

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has said that ethnic Serbs favor abolishing the Office of the High Representative (OHR) for Bosnia-Herzegovina and holding a referendum on the status of the country's predominantly Serbian entity if their views are not respected.

Dodik, the Serbian member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency and its current chairman, was speaking on March 10 at a special session of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska.

Dodik said it was unacceptable that foreigners decide the fate of the Balkan country and that "people in Bosnia are treated as objects" rather than "subjects in international relations."

Valentin Inzko, the current high representative, confirmed in December he would leave the position and that German politician Christian Schmidt was a candidate to succeed him.

Inzko has held the position since 2009. He served as Austria's ambassador to Sarajevo for three years beginning in 1996, the year after the signing of the Dayton agreement, which put an end to the 1992-95 Bosnian civil war and created the Republika Srpska as one of two constituent states within Bosnia.

Dodik said that the OHR had interpreted the Dayton agreement "by punishing politicians or ordering the National Assembly of Republika Srpska what to do."

In light of the possible selection of a new high representative, it is extremely important for Republika Srpska to get acquainted with all aspects of extending the representative's mandate "and to take a stand and adopt conclusions on how to address this issue," he said.

The high representative is appointed by the UN Security Council. The OHR's duties include overseeing and coordinating the implementation of the civilian aspects of the Dayton agreement.

The Republika Srpska has no hidden intentions, Dodik insisted, adding that its actions are primarily focused on respecting the Dayton agreement and building peace and stability.

The Bosnian Serb leader, who has repeatedly threatened to try and secure independence for the Republika Srpska, also said he would propose a referendum on the status of the entity in a year or two.

"I really don't care what anyone says," he said.

European Union foreign-policy chief Peter Stano told RFE/RL that the EU's position on how Bosnia works had not changed.

"The position of the EU is not in line with the views of one or another politician but is in line with international law and is based on EU values and principles," Stano said in response to Dodik's statements.

Stano also confirmed that EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell would meet with Bosnian Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic on March 10, and that “all current issues are likely to be discussed, including and the initiative to close the OHR.”

Human Rights Watch and 14 other nongovernmental organizations are calling on the Iranian government to immediately overturn a court order to dissolve one of the country's largest registered NGOs working on poverty alleviation, calling the decision a "new assault" on independent associations.

In a joint statement issued on March 10, the human rights and civil society organizations are also urging the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the member states of the Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)to raise the case with Iran's government, and to "pressure them to stop further curtailing the already restricted civil space in Iran."

According to the verdict published in the media last week, the Iranian court backed the Interior Ministry's assessment that Imam Ali's Popular Students Relief Society (IAPSRS) had "deviated" from its original mission and insulted religious beliefs.

It referenced evidence that includes a statement by IAPSRS following the brutal crackdown on protesters in November 2019.

The court ruling follows "years of mounting pressure" by the Iranian authorities on the group, which over the past 20 years has provided "essential support" to marginalized groups, the NGOs said in their statement.

They said the group's founder, Sharmin Meymandinejad, was arrested in July 2020 and charged with "insulting the [supreme] leader and founder of the Islamic republic." He was released on bail in October.

Hard-liners in Iran have in recent years criticized the charity and accused it of being misused for political purposes and damaging the Islamic republic by highlighting problems, as well as working with foreign countries and international bodies.

Since 2010, IAPSRS has held special consultative status with ECOSOC and participated in side events at the UNHRC.

MOSCOW -- The trial of Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer for jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation who is charged with trespassing, has been adjourned just minutes after it started due to technical issues.

The Perovsky district court of the Russian capital started the trial on March 10 but quickly noted that there were "technical shortcomings in the materials of the case" and adjourned the hearing until March 23.

Sobol is charged with illegally forcing her way into the apartment of a relative of Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Konstantin Kudryavtsev. If convicted, Sobol faces up to two years in prison.

On December 21, Sobol went to the residential building in Moscow where Kudryavtsev lived at the time. Sobol went just hours after Navalny had published a recording of what he said was a phone conversation with Kudryavtsev.

During the 49-minute phone call, in which the anti-corruption campaigner posed as an FSB official conducting an internal review, Kudryavtsev described the details of an operation to poison the Kremlin critic in August.

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Investigators say Sobol pushed Kudryavtsev's mother-in-law, who opened the door, and forcefully entered the apartment adjacent to the one where Kudryavtsev lived.

Sobol's team have described the case as political "revenge" for the lawyer not being afraid to ask questions of the alleged assassin.

The investigators say they were unable to locate and question Kudryavtsev, who is neither a witness nor a plaintiff in the case. The apartment he lived in at the time of the events in question now officially belongs to the state.

Navalny was arrested on January 17 upon his returned to Russia from Germany, where he received life-saving treatment from the nerve-agent poisoning in Siberia in August.

Navalny has insisted that his poisoning was ordered directly by Putin. The FSB and the Kremlin have denied any role in the poisoning.

Last month, a Moscow court ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case that is widely considered to be politically motivated.

Navalny's 3 1/2-year suspended sentence from the case was converted to a jail term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison given time already served in detention.

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia over the Navalny affair and crackdown on protesters.

On March 9, 40 human rights organizations signed a joint statement addressed to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, demanding they officially condemn Sobol's persecution.

On March 8, Sobol published her election program, saying that she plans to run for parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, in September elections.

Sobol is currently under house arrest in another case.

She and several other associates and supporters of Navalny were charged with violating sanitary regulations during unsanctioned rallies in Moscow on January 23 protesting Navalny's incarceration.

A court in Moscow has fined well-known Russian actress Aglaya Tarasova for taking part in a rally protesting the arrest of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

The Timiriyazev district court said on March 10 that Tarasova was found guilty of taking part in an unsanctioned public event and fined 10,000 rubles ($135).

Tarasova was among protesters detained at a pro-Navalny rally in Moscow on February 2.

The nationwide demonstration was against the arrest of Navalny, who was detained at a Moscow airport on January 17 upon his arrival from Germany, where he was recovering from an attack with what several European laboratories concluded was a military-grade chemical nerve agent in Siberia in August.

Navalny has insisted that his poisoning was ordered directly by President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.

Tarasova was detained along with hundreds of other demonstrators, hours after a court in Moscow ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case that is widely considered to be politically motivated.

Navalny's 3 1/2-year suspended sentence from the case was converted into a jail term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison given time served.

Overall, more than 1,500 people were detained in Moscow and several other Russian cities that day. Thousands more have been detained in other similar rallies in support of the Kremlin critic and anti-corruption campaigner.

Tarasova is known in Russia for acting in several major film and television roles, including the popular series Bomb and Interns, as well in the movies Ice and Ice 2.

Based on reporting by Meduza and Vedomosti

The Russian and Turkish presidents have witnessed the launch of construction of a new reactor at Turkey's first nuclear power plant.

Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan watched live over video link as concrete was laid at the third unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in southern Turkey.

Russia's Rosatom state nuclear energy firm is building the plant in Mersin Province on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. The two countries signed a cooperation agreement in 2010 and began construction of the first of four planned reactors in 2018.

The total cost of the project, which has yet to go online, is estimated at $20 billion.

During the ceremony, Putin said he expected the project to "improve the Russian-Turkish partnership in all its facets, helping strengthen friendship and mutual understanding between our countries' peoples."

Referring to Putin as "my dear friend," Erdogan called the power plant project "one of the symbols of Turkish-Russian cooperation."

The Turkish president said the plant's first reactor is scheduled to become operational in 2023 to coincide with the centenary of the Turkish republic.

Erdogan also said construction of the fourth unit will start later this year and added that the project is expected to provide 10 percent of Turkey's electricity when completed.

The two leaders have enjoyed a complex relationship while leading their countries for most of the past 20 years.

Moscow and Ankara have struck a fragile balance in war-ravaged Syria and Libya even as they support opposing sides and are jointly monitoring a cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and AP

MOSCOW -- A 34-year-old Moscow resident has been handed a suspended sentence for attacking a police officer during January 23 rallies in support of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

The Presnensky district court on March 10 said Aleksandr Muchayev pleaded guilty and was handed a suspended one-year prison sentence. No details of the case were revealed.

Earlier reports said that Muchayev was driving a car with Maria Alyokhina, a member of the Pussy Riot protest group, and opposition municipal lawmaker Lyusya Shtein inside.

When police tried to detain the two women, Muchayev drove the car into making contact with a police officer.

Muchayev is the first Moscow resident convicted on a criminal charge over the Navalny rallies in January.

On March 5, a court in the city of Vladimir sentenced 38-year-old Vitaly Timofeyenko to three years in prison for using pepper spray against a police officer during the dispersal of demonstrators in the city on January 23.

Timofeyenko admitted to using the spray, but said he did so to help another protester who was being held on the ground by police.

On March 2, a 26-year-old resident of the Volga River city of Kostroma, Aleksei Vinogradov, was sentenced to 18 months of forced labor for attacking a police officer in a similar rally on January 23.

The nationwide demonstrations held on January 23 and 31 were against the arrest of the Kremlin critic, who was detained at a Moscow airport on January 17 upon his arrival from Germany, where he was recovering from a poison attack by what several European laboratories concluded was a military-grade chemical nerve agent in Siberia in August.

Navalny has insisted that his poisoning was ordered directly by President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.

Last month, a Moscow court ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case that is widely considered to be politically motivated.

His 3 1/2-year suspended sentence from that case was converted into a jail term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison given time he had been held in detention.

More than 10,000 supporters of Navalny were detained across Russia during and after the January rallies. Many of those detained were either fined or handed several-day jail terms. At least 90 were charged with criminal misdeeds and several have been fired by their employers.

With reporting by TASS and Mediazona