News
Iranian TV Says Attacked Oil Tanker Was Iranian
Iran's Al-Alam television said an oil tanker that was reportedly attacked on April 24 near Baniyas in Syria was one of three Iranian tankers that arrived recently at the oil terminal.
Syria's Oil Ministry said earlier that a fire broke out on an oil tanker off the Syrian coastal city of Baniyas following what is believed to be a suspected drone attack from Lebanese territorial waters, Syria's state news agency SANA reported.
Firefighting teams managed to extinguish a fire in one of the tanks of the oil tanker, the report said. It provided no further details and did not specify where the tanker was arriving from.
It was not clear who carried out the attack, which caused no casualties, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
There was no immediate reaction from Iranian officials.
There has been a series of mysterious attacks on vessels in recent months.
They have come amid rising tension in the region between Iran, Israel, and the United States.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, dpa, and AP
- By RFE/RL
Biden Recognizes WWI-Era Killings Of Armenians As Genocide
U.S. President Joe Biden has formally recognized the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide, in a declaration that has infuriated Turkey.
“Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring," Biden said in an April 24 statement that was released on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
“We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms,” Biden added.
With the formal acknowledgment, Biden followed on his campaign promise that if elected he would take the largely symbolic step that marked a break from his predecessors.
An unnamed U.S. official said the move was not meant to place blame on modern-day Turkey.
But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu immediately criticized Biden's statement.
"Words cannot change history or rewrite it," Cavusoglu said on Twitter. "We will not be given lessons on our history from anyone. Political opportunism is the biggest betrayal of peace and justice. We completely reject this statement that is based on populism. #1915Events."
"This statement of the U.S., which distorts the historical facts, will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship," Turkey's Foreign Ministry said separately, adding it rejected and denounced the statement "in the strongest terms."
Minutes before Biden’s announcement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to the Armenian community and patriarch of the Armenian church calling for not allowing “the culture of coexistence of Turks and Armenians...to be forgotten." He said the issue has been “politicized by third parties and turned into a tool of intervention against our country.”
Armenian Response
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in a post on Facebook thanked Biden for "the powerful step towards justice and invaluable support for the descendants of the Armenian genocide victims."
During and immediately after World War I, Ottoman Turks killed or deported as many as 1.5 million Armenians -- a Christian minority in the predominately Muslim empire. Many historians and some other nations, including France and Germany, consider the killings genocide.
Armenians for decades have pressed for the word to be used to describe the killings and deportations, but the label is adamantly rejected by Turkey.
The White House earlier said that Biden spoke with Erdogan on the eve of the announcement.
Ankara insists the deaths were a result of civil strife rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate Armenians. Turkey also claims fewer Armenians died than has been reported.
Congress voted overwhelmingly in 2019 to recognize the Armenian genocide but the Trump administration made clear that it would maintain the status quo.
Other U.S. presidents have refrained from formally using the term genocide amid worry about damaging relations with Turkey, a NATO ally.
Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in a statement ahead of the announcement that Biden would be "effectively ending the longest lasting foreign gag-rule in American history."
Hamparian said the recognition would represent a “powerful setback to Turkey's century-long obstruction of justice for this crime, and its ongoing hostility and aggression against the Armenian people."
He also voiced hope for greater U.S. alignment against Turkish-backed Azerbaijan, which last year fought a six-week war with Armenia, ending with a Russian-brokered cease-fire under which a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Kazakhs Protest Against Foreign Ownership Of Land
Several hundred protesters gathered in Almaty on April 24 for an unsanctioned rally to oppose a draft law on land ownership that they say poses a threat to Kazakh sovereignty and national security. According to RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, the event was organized by the unregistered Democratic Party. Protesters called on the parliament to stop considering amendments to the land ownership legislation that would enable long-term leasing by foreign entities. Opponents fear the amendments would open the door to land ownership for local oligarchs as well as further increase Chinese influence in the country. A strong police presence prevented protesters from marching through the city.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Says Three Alleged 'Terrorists' Killed In Southeast
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on April 24 that they had dismantled a "terrorist" cell linked to the Islamic republic’s enemies and killed three of its members in the country's southeast.
The IRGC mounted a "successful operation" in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province and ambushed the "terrorist cell linked to the global arrogance," an IRGC statement published on Iranian news sites, said.
RFE/RL could not independently verify the claim.
Iran generally uses the term "global arrogance" to refer to the United States or its allies.
"Three of the terrorists were killed and their weapons, ammunition and communications equipment were seized," the statement added.
The IRGC said the group had "entered the area some time ago for sabotage and terrorist operations," without providing further details or evidence.
Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran’s poorest provinces, is a volatile area near Iran's borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan where drug smugglers and militant groups operate.
With reporting by AFP and Tasnim
Kazakhs Rally In Almaty Against Changes To Land Ownership
Around 200 protesters gathered in Almaty on April 24 for an unsanctioned rally to oppose a draft law on land ownership that they say poses a threat to Kazakh sovereignty and national security.
Rallies were planned in other cities, too, but many of the organizers abandoned the protests after authorities blocked permits to gather, citing COVID-19 risks.
The Kazakh parliament’s lower chamber, the Mazhilis, earlier this month approved the first reading of a bill banning the purchase and rental of farmland by foreigners in the Central Asian nation ahead of the expiration of a moratorium on land sales this summer.
The five-year moratorium was introduced in 2016 after thousands demonstrated in unprecedented rallies across the tightly controlled nation, protesting the government’s plan to attract foreign investment into the agriculture sector by opening up the market.
Agriculture Minister Saparkhan Omarov said at a session of parliament on April 7 that current agreements on farmlands rented by some foreign companies or joint ventures with foreign capital will expire in the 2022-25 period and will not be extended.
The move comes after President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev proposed the ban in late February.
The protests stopped after the government withdrew the plan, but two men who organized the largest rally in the western city of Atyrau, Talghat Ayan and Maks Boqaev, were sentenced to five years in prison each after being found guilty of inciting social discord, knowingly spreading false information, and violating the law on public assembly.
- By RFE/RL
Lukashenka Said Ready To Sign Contingency Decree On Presidential Powers
Belarusian state media say Alyaksandr Lukashenka has said he will sign a decree that would vest presidential powers in the country's Security Council if he is unable to function as president.
Many governments already consider Lukashenka's claim to the presidency illegitimate since a disputed reelection in August 2020 and with a brutal crackdown continuing against opposition protests eight months after the vote.
His critics have dismissed previous pledges by Lukashenka for future constitutional changes and elections as stalling tactics.
As Western sanctions and calls for a new election and Lukashenka's exit have mounted, the authoritarian five-term president has increasingly looked to Moscow for support.
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.
No details were disclosed of a meeting between Lukashenka and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who recognized Lukashenka's claim of electoral victory, on April 22 in Moscow.
“Our teams are continuing to work to develop the legislation for the union state,” Putin said during the talks, in reference to a decades-old bilateral agreement that envisages a union with closer political, economic, and security ties.
The Belarusian Security Council is made up of hand-picked Lukashenka backers.
In his April 24 announcement, state news agency Belta reported, Lukashenka said the prime minister would head the Security Council in his absence.
Much of the leadership of the already hounded Belarusian political opposition has been jailed or forced to leave the country.
Lukashenka's clampdown has included thousands of detentions and a massive security presence to dissuade protests, as well as strictures and expulsions to hinder journalists trying to report on the unprecedented movement to oust Lukashenka from leadership of the post-Soviet republic of more than 9 million people.
Meeting the new U.S. ambassador to Belarus in neighboring Lithuania on April 21, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she wanted to see Belarus "independent, free, and building friendly and mutually beneficial relations with all countries, first and foremost with our neighbors, but with other ones, too."
Tsikhanouskaya, who ran after her husband was jailed after announcing his own candidacy for president, left Belarus under pressure from the authorities shortly after the August 2020 vote.
The Moscow summit with Putin came in the wake of a purported plot to remove Lukashenka that allegedly involved a blockade of Minsk, power cuts, cyberattacks, and an assassination attempt against Lukashenka. Security forces in Moscow claimed to have arrested several alleged coup plotters in Moscow earlier this month.
The embattled opposition Coordination Council and other pro-democracy forces this week published a memorandum criticizing Lukashenka's efforts to "deepen integration" with Russia at this juncture.
With reporting by Reuters
- By AFP
Armenians March To Mark Ottoman Massacre Anniversary
Thousands of Armenians marched in Yerevan on April 23 to commemorate World War I-era mass killings of their kin by Ottoman forces, a bloodletting which U.S. President Joe Biden might reportedly recognize as genocide. The annual torch-lit march was held on the eve of the 106th anniversary of the massacres in which -- Armenians say -- up to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed as the Ottoman Empire collapsed. So far about 30 countries have recognized the events as "genocide," a characterization which Turkey objects to.
- By RFE/RL
EU 'Rejects' Russian Labeling Of Meduza Media Outlet As 'Foreign Agent'
The European Union has dismissed Russian authorities' labeling of Latvia-based independent news outlet Meduza as a "foreign agent" and urged Moscow to end its "systematic infringement" of basic rights and freedoms for the political opposition and other Russians.
Russia's Justice Ministry announced the step -- which requires organizations to label themselves as "foreign agents" and subjects them to increased government scrutiny and regulation -- against the 7-year-old Meduza outlet a day earlier.
"We reject the decision by the Russian authorities to include independent media outlet Meduza on the list of 'foreign agents,'" the EU's diplomatic service said in a statement on April 24.
The bloc cited the media's duty to "report on issues of public interest" and state authorities' "obligation...to ensure they can do so in an atmosphere free of fear and intimidation."
"It is extremely concerning that Russian authorities continue to restrict the work of independent media platforms, as well as individual journalists and other media actors," the bloc's spokesperson said. "It goes against Russia's international obligations and human rights commitments."
Meduza was formed in 2014 by the former chief editor of Lenta.ru, Galina Timchenko, after she and most of Lenta.ru’s editorial staff left following an ownership change.
According to the independent Medialogia monitoring site, Meduza was among the top 10 most-cited Russian-language Internet sources in 2020 and was No. 1 in the ranking of most-linked-to in social-media posts.
The same day that the designation was ordered against Meduza, the Justice Ministry added the little-known, Moscow-based First Anti-Corruption Media project, which describes itself as “a federal media outlet specializing in the fight against corruption in Russia,” to the same registry.
Russia’s so-called “foreign agent” legislation was adopted in 2012 and has been modified repeatedly. One of its modifications targets foreign-funded media.
In 2017, the Russian government placed RFE/RL’s Russian Service on the list, along with six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, and Current Time, a network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
At the end of 2020, the legislation was modified to allow the Russian government to include individuals, including foreign journalists, on its “foreign agents” list and to impose restrictions on them.
"It is the European Union’s longstanding position that the so-called 'foreign agent' law contributes to a systematic infringement of basic freedoms, and restricts civil society, independent media, and the rights of political opposition in Russia," the EU said. "Democracy is a universal value that includes respect for human rights as enshrined in international law."
The Russian state media monitor Roskomnadzor last year adopted rules requiring listed media to mark all written materials with a lengthy notice in large text, all radio materials with an audio statement, and all video materials with a 15-second text declaration. The agency has prepared hundreds of complaints against RFE/RL’s projects for failure to follow such rules that could result in fines totaling more than $1 million.
RFE/RL has called the fines “a state-sponsored campaign of coercion and intimidation,” while the U.S. State Department has described them as “intolerable.”
- By RFE/RL
Biden Statement Expected As Armenians Mark Genocide Remembrance Day
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to make an announcement on April 24 amid speculation that he will recognize the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide.
Biden, who as a presidential candidate pledged that if elected he would take the largely symbolic step, is expected to release the statement on April 24, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on April 23 she had nothing to release about Biden’s campaign pledge, and State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said only that reporters could expect an announcement on April 24.
During and immediately after World War I, Ottoman Turks killed or deported as many as 1.5 million Armenians -- a Christian minority in the predominately Muslim empire. Many historians and some other nations, including France and Germany, consider the killings genocide.
Armenians for decades have pressed for the word to be used to describe the killings and deportations, but the label is adamantly rejected by Turkey.
The White House said that Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the eve of the expected announcement.
Reuters quoted sources familiar with the conversation as saying that Biden told Erdogan that he intended to recognize the mass killing and forced deportations of Armenians as genocide in a statement to be issued on April 24.
A White House statement about the call however said only that Biden conveyed his "interest in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements."
The leaders also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in June in Brussels “to discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues,” the statement added.
Erdogan’s office said during the call that "both leaders agreed on the strategic character of the bilateral relationship and the importance of working together to build greater cooperation on issues of mutual interest.”
Ankara insists the deaths were a result of civil strife rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate Armenians. Turkey also claims fewer Armenians died than has been reported.
Congress voted overwhelmingly in 2019 to recognize the Armenian genocide but the Trump administration made clear that it would maintain the status quo.
Other U.S. presidents have refrained from formally using the term genocide amid worry about damaging relations with the NATO ally.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has warned that if Biden recognizes the killings as genocide, it would sour bilateral relations.
Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in a statement that Biden would be "effectively ending the longest lasting foreign gag-rule in American history."
Hamparian said the recognition would represent a “powerful setback to Turkey's century-long obstruction of justice for this crime, and its ongoing hostility and aggression against the Armenian people."
He also voiced hope for greater U.S. alignment against Turkish-backed Azerbaijan, which last year fought a six-week war with Armenia, ending with a Russian-brokered cease-fire under which a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
U.S., Turkish Presidents Speak Amid Speculation Over Possible Biden Recognition Of Armenian Killings As Genocide
Joe Biden has spoken by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid speculation that the U.S president will recognize the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide -- a largely symbolic move that would likely infuriate Ankara and step up already high tensions between the two NATO allies.
The White House and the Turkish presidency accounts of the April 23 call, the first direct communication between the two leaders since Biden's inauguration in January, made no mention of the issue.
But Reuters quoted sources familiar with the conversation as saying that Biden told Erdogan that he intended to recognize the mass killing and forced deportations of Armenians as genocide in a statement on April 24.
State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters: “When it comes to the Armenian genocide, you can expect an announcement tomorrow." She declined to reveal details.
Earlier this week, media reports said Biden would likely use the word "genocide" as part of a statement on April 24 when Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day annual commemorations are held around the world.
However, sources warned that given the importance of bilateral ties with Turkey, a key NATO member, the U.S. president may still choose to drop the "genocide" term at the last minute.
As a presidential candidate, Biden pledged that if elected he would recognize the Armenian genocide, saying “silence is complicity." But he has not given a timeline for delivering on the promise.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has warned that such a move would “harm” bilateral relations.
Turkish Objections
During and immediately after World War I, Ottoman Turks killed or deported as many as 1.5 million Armenians -- a Christian minority in the predominately Muslim empire. Many historians and some other nations consider the killings genocide.
Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide to describe the killings. Ankara claims the deaths were a result of civil strife rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate Armenians. Turkey also claims fewer Armenians died than has been reported.
Moves to recognize the killings as genocide have stalled in the U.S. Congress for decades, and U.S. presidents have refrained from formally using the term amid intense lobbying by Ankara.
During his April 23 call with Erdogan, Biden called for “a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements," the White House said in a statement.
It said the two leaders agreed to meet one-on-one on the sidelines of a NATO summit in June to discuss their two countries' relations.
Erdogan’s office said that "both leaders agreed on the strategic character of the bilateral relationship and the importance of working together to build greater cooperation on issues of mutual interest.”
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
Two Iranians Handed Death Sentences For 'Insulting Prophet'
Two Iranians have been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad, according to a news outlet that covers news in Iran.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on April 22 that the two men were arrested and transferred to prison in Arak, the capital of Markazi Province, in May 2020.
An Arak court convicted the pair of “insulting the prophet,” which carries the death penalty, the report said.
It was not clear what the charge stemmed from.
One of the two men was identified as Yusef Mehrdad, a father of three, who was reportedly held in solitary confinement for two months following his arrest.
He is facing a number of other charges, including insulting Iranian leaders and acting against national security.
The second man has not been identified by HRANA.
In 2017, Iran dropped a death sentence handed to a man convicted of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a series of Facebook posts. The sentence had been condemned by rights groups and activists.
Amnesty International said in its annual review of the death penalty published earlier this week that Iran executed at least 246 people last year, remaining the world’s second top executioner after China.
The London-based human rights watchdog said recorded executions in Iran continued to be lower than previous years, but the country “increasingly used the death penalty as a weapon of political repression against dissidents, protesters, and members of ethnic minority groups, in violation of international law.”
Tajikistan Says It Didn't Issue Passport Allegedly Used By Russian Agent Implicated In Czech Blast
DUSHANBE -- Tajik authorities say they didn't issue a passport that was allegedly used in 2014 by a Russian agent implicated in a deadly arms depot explosion in the Czech Republic.
Last weekend, the Czech government alleged that two people who entered the country as Russian citizens, Ruslan Boshirov and Aleksandr Petrov, used a Tajik passport issued to Ruslan Tabarov and a Moldovan passport issued to Nicolaj Popa to access an arms depot in the village of Vrbetice in 2014. The Czechs say the two are responsible for an explosion that occurred the same day they went to the depot, killing two people.
In a statement on April 23, Tajikistan's Interior Ministry said that it had never issued a passport to a person born in 1975 with the name Ruslan Tabarov.
The statement came three days after Moldova's Agency for State Services said that a Moldovan passport allegedly used by the other Russian agent implicated in the 2014 blast had been issued to a different person, but doctored to change the original name on the passport to Nicolaj Popa, born in 1979.
Czech authorities also allege that the two suspects were members of Russian military intelligence (GRU) and the same agents wanted for the poisoning attempt of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury in 2018.
The faces on the passports -- identified as Ruslan Tabarov from Tajikistan and Nicolaj Popa from Moldova -- matched those of Petrov and Boshirov, who were captured on video in Britain.
The Bellingcat investigative group has identified Boshirov and Petrov as GRU operatives Anatoly Chepiga and Aleksandr Mishkin, respectively.
The results of the Czech investigation have led to a major diplomatic standoff between Prague and Moscow, including the mass expulsion of embassy staff from the missions of both countries.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service
- By RFE/RL
Russia Labels Meduza Media Outlet As 'Foreign Agent'
The Russian government has designated the Latvia-based independent Meduza news outlet as a foreign agent -- a move that will require it to label itself as such and will subject it to increased government scrutiny.
The Russian Justice Ministry made the announcement on April 23 on its website, while Meduza confirmed the news in a tweet.
"Hi, everyone! We’re Russia’s latest 'foreign agent!'" the media outlet wrote, though in a later post it said it rejected the designation and will appeal the move, adding that its chances of success "are slim."
In addition, the Justice Ministry added the little-known Moscow-based First Anti-Corruption Media project, which describes itself as “a federal media outlet specializing in the fight against corruption in Russia,” to the foreign-agent registry.
The Justice Ministry did not offer any explanation for its action.
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. Later modifications of the law targeted foreign-funded media.
Human Rights Watch has described the legislation as “restrictive” and intended “to demonize independent groups.”
Meduza was formed in 2014 by the former chief editor of Lenta.ru, Galina Timchenko, after she and most of Lenta.ru’s editorial staff left following an ownership change.
According to the independent Medialogia monitoring site, Meduza was among the top 10 most-cited Russian-language Internet sources in 2020 and was No. 1 in the ranking of most-linked-to social-media posts.
The general director of First Anti-Corruption Media, Dmitry Verbitsky, wrote that he did not understand why his company had been listed since it does not receive any foreign funding. He said the company would appeal its listing.
In 2017, the Russian government placed RFE/RL’s Russian Service on the list, along with six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, and Current Time, a network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
At the end of 2020, the legislation was modified to allow the Russian government to include individuals, including foreign journalists, on its “foreign agents” list and to impose restrictions on them.
The Russian state media monitor Roskomnadzor last year adopted rules requiring listed media to mark all written materials with a lengthy notice in large text, all radio materials with an audio statement, and all video materials with a 15-second text declaration. The agency has prepared hundreds of complaints against RFE/RL’s projects for failure to follow such rules that could result in fines totaling more than $1 million.
RFE/RL has called the fines “a state-sponsored campaign of coercion and intimidation,” while the U.S. State Department has described them as “intolerable.”
With reporting by Reuters and RIA
Russia's FSB Detains Members Of Islamic Group In Siberia
Security authorities in the Siberian cities of Kemerovo and Novosibirsk say they have apprehended an unspecified number of alleged supporters of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group.
Human rights groups have criticized the government's "abuse" of counterterrorism laws and the use of "secret witnesses" and other methods in prosecuting critics and religious groups to silence dissent.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) said on April 21 that alleged members of the group that was banned in the country in 2003 "carried out anti-constitutional activities based on the doctrine of the creation of a world caliphate."
Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is also banned in Central Asia, says its movement is peaceful.
The FSB did not say how many suspects have been apprehended.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global organization based in London that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate, but it says its methods for reaching that goal are peaceful.
Russia's detention of some younger alleged members of the group has sparked protests by parents who say their children have been arrested on political grounds.
Based on reporting by TASS and Rossiiskaya Gazeta
Navalny Says He Will End Hunger Strike
Jailed Russian opposition politician Navalny says he is ending a hunger strike he launched last month over his medical treatment in prison saying he had "achieved enough."
The Kremlin critic, who began his hunger strike on March 31, confirmed in an Instagram post on April 23 that his health is ailing and that he continues to demand that he be examined by his personal doctors for acute pain in his back and legs.
Navalny was moved from the prison he is incarcerated in to the infirmary at another nearby penitentiary last weekend after Anastasia Vasilyeva, Navalny's personal doctor and the head of Russia's Alliance of Doctors union, and three other physicians, including a cardiologist, said in a letter to the Federal Penitentiary Service that his condition had rapidly deteriorated and he could suffer cardiac arrest "any minute."
Navalny's doctors said in a statement on April 23 they had examined his medical results, and recommended that he is transferred to a "modern" hospital in Moscow where a full diagnosis could be established with the involvement of Western specialists.
"What we saw cannot be described simply with the words 'bad' and 'unprofessional' -- is monstrous. Tomorrow we will publish a full-fledged analysis," Vasilyeva tweeted.
"One thing we know for sure: Aleksei must immediately undergo recovery at a hospital. Otherwise he will die," she added.
The previous day, the doctors urged Navalny to end the hunger strike, saying that if it "continues even a little longer, we will simply no longer have a patient to treat."
"Doctors, whom I fully trust, yesterday issued a statement saying that you and I had achieved enough to stop my hunger strike," Navalny said in the post, referring to a statement published on the Mediazona website on April 22 by his doctors.
"To tell you sincerely, their words, saying that the tests show that 'in a short time there will be no one to treat'… seem worth paying attention to," he added.
The 44-year-old said he has been examined twice by "civilian doctors" and that he will take 24 days to gradually return to a normal eating routine.
"I am losing sensitivity in parts of my arms and legs and I want to understand what is causing it and how to treat it," Navalny said.
"According to the guidelines, it will take another 24 days to end the hunger strike, and they say this will be even harder. So, wish me luck."
In his statement on Instagram, Navalny said he especially wanted to thank the people who joined his hunger strike, including representatives of the Mothers of Beslan, a group uniting the majority of mothers of 189 children killed in the 2004 standoff between hostage-takers and Russian security forces in the North Caucasus city of Beslan.
"One more reason [to stop the hunger strike] that became probably even more important to me was the move of several people, including representatives of the Mothers of Beslan, to start a hunger strike in solidarity with me. My eyes watered when I read about it. I don't even know these people and they are doing that for me. My friends, my heart is full of love and gratitude to you, but I do not want someone to physically suffer because of me," Navalny wrote.
More than 100 people signed up on Facebook to join in a mass hunger strike in solidarity with Navalny, including five parents whose children died in the 2004 school siege in Beslan, the legacy of which still resonates in Russia's North Ossetia region.
"They've taken a man hostage and are destroying him. Our children were also taken hostage in 2004 and no one saved them," one of them, Ella Kesayeva, told the Novaya gazeta newspaper on April 21 in explaining why the parents joined the hunger strike.
Navalny's move comes two days after thousands of Russians from Vladivostok in the Far East to Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea joined protests called by leaders of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), who feared he could be harmed "irreparably" if he doesn't get adequate medical treatment.
OVD-Info, which monitors the detention of political protesters and activists, reported almost 2,000 detentions across the country, with about half the detentions in St. Petersburg, in what Amnesty International described as being part of a "shocking crackdown on basic freedoms."
Police detained at least 10 journalists and harassed others in relation to their coverage of protests, according to media freedom watchdogs.
Navalny was arrested on January 17 upon his return to Russia from Germany, where he received life-saving treatment for a poisoning attack in Siberia in August.
He has insisted that his poisoning with a Soviet-style chemical nerve agent was ordered directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin has denied any role in the poisoning.
In February, 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 prison 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 the government's crackdown on demonstrators earlier this year at rallies protesting Navalny's arrest.
Germany Urges Serbia, Kosovo To Work Harder To Normalize Ties
Germany has called on Serbia and Kosovo to step up efforts toward a normalization of their relationship, more than two decades after Belgrade lost control of its former southern province in 1999.
"The time is right for continuing the normalization process -- and to achieve results," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at a live-streamed news conference after meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on April 23.
"It is important not to hold this dialogue just for dialogue's sake, there must be results. Germany stands ready to help in this respect," Maas added.
For his part, Vucic said that Serbia wants to reach a compromise solution with Kosovo and was ready to continue the dialogue.
"Serbia is not looking for excuses to refuse to reach a compromise," Vucic said, adding that Belgrade believes that a frozen conflict is always in danger of being reignited.
Serbia was forced to cede control over Kosovo in 1999 after a U.S.-led NATO campaign ended Belgrade's crackdown against Kosovo's ethnic Albanian separatists. More than 10,000 people died in the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict.
Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but Belgrade does not recognize this. Most EU members and the United States have recognized Kosovo's independence, but not Serbia's allies Russia and China.
Vucic, in an April 22 interview from Belgrade with the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank, said he was also actively seeking stronger ties with the United States.
Vucic, who has met U.S. President Joe Biden five times, described the U.S. president as "politically the best prepared man I ever talked to."
Vucic, however, admitted there are difficulties in the bilateral relationship, especially differing views on peace talks with Kosovo.
Biden has considerable Balkan experience and was engaged with the region while serving as vice president from 2009 to 2017.
With reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Russia Announces Start Of Troop Pullback From Occupied Crimea
Russia says it has started moving troops from the annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea to their permanent bases following a major buildup around the areas of eastern Ukraine that had raised concerns in Kyiv and the West.
A senior U.S. defense official said on April 23 that the United States is seeing some Russian personnel withdrawing, but added: "It's a bit too soon to tell exactly what forces are withdrawing and exactly what equipment appears to be left behind.”
Moscow's announcement of the troop redeployment alone is "insufficient to give us comfort," the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“But I can just tell you, we're looking very, very closely," the official said.
The Russian troop buildup came amid stepped-up violations of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014, and prompted the West to urge Moscow to pull its forces back.
Ukraine and many other countries refuse to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, and consider it a violation of international law and Russian-signed agreements safeguarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on April 23 that "military units and groups [in Crimea] are moving to railway stations and airports, boarding military vessels, railway platforms, and military aircraft” following the conclusion of large-scale military drills.
The ministry also announced that more than 20 ships from its Black Sea fleet had returned to their permanent base after taking part in military exercises near Crimea.
The statements came a day after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the withdrawal from areas close to the Ukrainian border, where thousands of military personnel had been brought in recent weeks for what Moscow described as a "snap inspection of military personnel."
Shoigu said that the objectives of the snap inspection "have been fully achieved" and that the troops would return to their bases by May 1.
However, it was unclear from Shoigu's announcement if the return order covered all of the troops involved in the buildup near Russia's southern border and in Crimea.
The Defense Ministry has said that its drills involved more than 60 ships, over 10,000 troops, around 200 aircraft, and about 1,200 military vehicles.
But the military hasn't reported the total number of additional troops that have been moved to the region.
Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said on April 19 that Russia had massed some 100,000 troops near the border, while Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned on April 20 that the Russian buildup across the border was continuing and was "expected to reach a combined force of over 120,000 troops" in about a week if it didn't stop.
Russia has argued that it has the right to deploy its forces anywhere on its territory and claimed that they don't threaten anyone.
Shoigu said the military had to be ready to respond quickly in case of "unfavorable" developments arising from NATO's DEFENDER-Europe 21 exercises, an annual, U.S. Army-led, multinational joint exercise across 26 countries in Europe and Africa, including Estonia -- which shares a border with Russia -- Bulgaria and Romania.
Last week, Russia announced the closing of large areas of the Black Sea near Crimea to foreign naval ships and state vessels until November, prompting protests from Ukraine and raising Western concerns.
Moscow also announced restrictions on flights near Crimea this week, arguing that they fully conform with international law.
Moscow also warned Kyiv against trying to retake by force its territories controlled by the separatists, saying that Russia could step in to protect civilians in the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on April 21 signed an order allowing the call-up of reservists for military service without announcing a mobilization.
With reporting by TASS, Interfax, Reuters, AP, and AFP
- By RFE/RL
Moscow Expels Five Polish Diplomats After Russians Expelled By Warsaw
Russia has expelled five staff members at Poland's embassy in Moscow in a tit-for-tat move after Warsaw declared three Russian diplomats in Poland personae non gratae for violating their diplomatic status.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on April 23 it had summoned Poland's ambassador to Russia, Krzysztof Krajewski, to the ministry in Moscow where he was informed of the decision.
It said the move, which gives the Polish diplomats until May 15 to leave Russia, was made because Warsaw was "consciously pursuing a course toward the further degradation and destruction of our bilateral relations."
Poland's Foreign Ministry described Russia's decision as “another example of aggressive policies” and “a deliberate gesture meant to inflame relations with the neighbors and the entire international community."
The ministry said it reserved the right to “an appropriate response."
The Polish government expelled the three Russian Embassy staff members on April 15 for violating their diplomatic status and "conducting activities harmful to Poland."
Russia's move to expel Polish diplomats came as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania ordered the expulsion of a total of four Russian diplomats.
The three Baltic countries said they acted in solidarity with the Czech Republic, which is engaged in a tense diplomatic showdown with Moscow involving the expulsions of scores of diplomats over Russia's alleged role in a deadly 2014 explosion at a Czech arms depot.
The Czech Republic, the Baltic states, and Poland are all European Union and NATO members.
- By RFE/RL
Orban Says Hungary To Begin Reopening Services As Inoculation Nears 40 Percent
Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Hungary will reach a vaccination rate of 40 percent by the middle of next week -- a turning point that would allow it to reopen the services sector to a great extent.
Orban, who faces a contested election next year, told state radio on April 23 that starting from next week, holders of vaccination cards will be able to go to hotels, indoor restaurants, theaters, cinemas, gyms, sports events, public baths and other places.
Hungary, whose economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic, began gradually reopening shops and services earlier this month after inoculating a quarter of its population in a move that the Hungarian Medical Chamber called premature.
Despite a relatively successful vaccination campaign, Hungary has wrestled with a high infection and fatality rate until recently. The Central European country of 9.8 million has registered almost 761,000 infections and 26,000 deaths.
Based on reporting by Reuters and Mediaklikk.hu
- By RFE/RL
Moscow, Prague To Keep Equal Number Of Staff At Each Other's Embassies, Says Czech Foreign Minister
PRAGUE -- Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek says the number of people that will be allowed by Prague and Moscow at their respective embassies will be 32, as tensions between the two continue to simmer over Russia's alleged role in a deadly 2014 explosion at a Czech arms depot.
"[The Czech Republic's and Russia's embassies] should have seven diplomats and 25 administrative and technical staff each," Kulhanek said in an interview with Czech daily Blesk.
The Czechs announced a day earlier that Russia won't be allowed to have more diplomats in Prague than the Czechs currently have at their embassy in Moscow.
The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania -- all of whom are NATO members and former Soviet republics -- said on April 23 they were expelling a total of four Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czechs.
The dispute flared on April 17 when Prague expelled 18 Russian staff, whom it identified as spies. Russia responded the next day by expelling 20 Czech staff from Prague's embassy in Moscow.
Kulhanek said in the interview that Russia has been given until the end of May to cut the number of its embassy’s personnel by 63 people. He also said that the changes will not affect the number of diplomats and technical personnel at Russian consulates in Brno and Karlovy Vary, as well as at Czech consulates in several Russian cities.
The tit-for-tat moves over the Czech allegations have triggered Prague's biggest dispute with Russia since the 1989 end of communist rule, putting the small Central European NATO member at the center of rising tensions between Moscow and the West.
The Czechs have alleged that two Russian intelligence officers accused of a nerve-agent poisoning in Britain in 2018 were also behind an explosion at a Czech ammunition depot in 2014 that killed two people.
Russia has denied the Czech accusations.
Lithuania's Foreign Ministry said it was expelling two members of Russia’s Embassy staff to show solidarity over the "unprecedented and dangerous incident" in the Czech Republic, while Latvia and Estonia said one diplomat would be sent home from each of their countries.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova promised a response from Moscow, saying "the authorities of these countries can rest assured of our response. Their diplomats can already start mulling who exactly will have to pack up," according to the state news agency TASS.
The Czechs pushed Moscow to allow the expelled Czech diplomats to be able return to work by noon on April 22, but the deadline was ignored. Russian officials had called the ultimatum "unacceptable."
"Our offer to Russia to reverse the expulsion of our people was made in good faith. But Russia did not use the opportunity we offered. As the head of diplomacy, I am not at all pleased with the state of Czech-Russian relations," Kulhanek told Blesk, adding that Russia's expulsion of personnel had left the Czech Embassy in Moscow "paralyzed."
Kulhanek noted that Russian Embassy staff members not included in the original 18 expelled could "theoretically" return to the Czech Republic in the future since they have not been given the status of persona non grata.
With reporting by Blesk.cz, Reuters, and TASS
- By RFE/RL
Russian Military Court Sentences Former Top Security Agent To Prison For Massive Fraud
A Moscow military court on April 22 sentenced a former senior officer in the Federal Security Service (FSB) to seven years in prison after he and two others were caught with tens of millions of dollars worth of cash in 2019.
Kirill Cherkalin, a former lieutenant colonel in the security service’s so-called banking department, was arrested in April 2019, along with two other FSB officers, Dmitry Frolov and Andrei Vasilyev, on charges of bribe-taking and fraud.
The case gained prominence after investigators said they had found 12 billion rubles ($157 million) in cash hidden in the trio's properties at the time. Investigators also found 3.2 billion rubles cash ($42 million) in the apartment of Cherkalin's parents.
In addition to the prison time, which was cut to five years due to time served in pretrial detention, the court ordered Cherkalin to pay 318 million rubles ($4.2 million) each to two victims of the fraud.
He was also stripped of his rank and military awards.
Cherkalin admitted to the crime and cut a deal with investigators.
Prosecutors had asked the military court to sentence him to 11 years in prison.
The case echoed the arrest of a Moscow police officer Dmitry Zakharchenko who was apprehended in September 2016 after investigators found $120 million in various currencies at his Moscow apartment.
Zakharchenko was found guilty of bribe-taking and obstruction of justice and sentenced to 13 years in prison in June 2019.
- By RFE/RL
U.K. Lawmakers Declare China Is Committing Genocide Against Uyghurs
The British House of Commons has approved a parliamentary motion declaring that crimes against humanity and genocide are being committed against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in China’s northwest Xinjiang Province.
The nonbinding declaration passed on April 22 does not compel the U.K. government to act, but is a sign of the growing outcry among lawmakers toward the Chinese government.
At least 1 million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities are believed to be held in camps in Xinjiang.
Numerous abuses have been documented in Xinjiang, including arbitrary detentions, forced sterilization of women, forced labor, and other systematic violations of basic freedoms.
The U.S. government and the parliaments of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Canada have accused Beijing of genocide.
In March, the United States, Britain, and Canada joined the European Union in announcing sanctions against Chinese officials and companies over human rights violations in Xinjiang.
The genocide label and Western sanctions have been met with swift condemnation and retaliation from China, which describes policies in Xinjiang as an internal affair. Beijing claims internment camps in the region provide vocational training and help fight Islamic extremism.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has avoided declaring a genocide in Xinjiang, although it admits "industrial-scale" human rights abuses are being committed. The government says any decision on declaring a genocide is up to national and international courts.
Conservative lawmaker Nus Ghani, one of five British lawmakers recently sanctioned by China for criticizing its treatment of the Uyghurs, insisted the government must take action.
“There is a misunderstanding that genocide is just one act -- mass killing. That is false,” she said, adding that all the criteria of genocide "are evidenced as taking place in Xinjiang.”
Ghani said detainees at internment camps are subjected to "brutal torture methods, including beatings with metal prods, electric shocks, and whips," all part of a policy meant to "indoctrinate and 'wash clean' brains."
She added up to 2 million people have reportedly been extrajudicially detained in prison factories and reeducation centers. She also said women in the region are subjected to forced sterilization and birth control to reduce the population of ethnic Uyghurs.
"I do not believe there is any other place on Earth where women are violated on this scale," Ghani said.
She said the Chinese government's own data showed that in 2014 over 200,000 birth control devices were inserted in women in Xinjiang, but by 2018 it had increased 60 percent.
"Despite the region accounting for just 1.8 percent of China's population, 80 percent of all birth control device insertions in China were performed in the Uyghur region."
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith added: "Why haven't we declared this a genocide? I do urge the government to rethink their position on this."
With reporting by AP, dpa, and Reuters
- By Todd Prince
Serbian Leader Talks Up Ties To Biden, Says 'No Interest' In 'Greater Serbia'
WASHINGTON -- Serbian President Aleksandr Vucic highlighted what he said were good personal relations with U.S. President Joe Biden amid expectations that the new U.S. administration could take a tougher stance on the rollback of democracy in the Balkan nation.
In an April 22 interview from Belgrade with the Washington-based think tank the Atlantic Council, Vucic said he was actively seeking stronger ties with the United States, but admitted there were difficulties in the bilateral relationship, especially differing views on peace talks with Kosovo.
Vucic, who has met Biden five times, described the U.S. president as "politically the best prepared man I ever talked to."
Biden has considerable Balkan experience and oversaw the region while serving as vice president from 2009 to 2017.
"He always had a good sense and he always wanted to listen to us, which was very good for [Serbia]," Vucic told the audience in English.
Vucic had expressed a preference for former President Donald Trump in the run-up to the divisive 2020 election, raising some concerns his comments could now impact his relationship with the Biden administration.
However, the Serbian leader sought to downplay talks of warm ties with the former U.S. president, saying he knows Biden "much better" than Trump and knows more people from his administration, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Vucic, who will seek reelection next year, has been accused of tightening his grip on power and clamping down on the media.
Biden has said he will make strengthening democratic institutions a key focus of his foreign policy, potentially setting the two up for a tough first call.
The two leaders have yet to speak since Biden took office on January 20.
Vucic admitted his country was "not perfect," but said his government was making progress on rule-of-law issues.
"I don't expect an easier time for Serbia because politics is not always about personal issues, but we will do our best to boost the friendship between our two countries," Vucic said.
The Serbian leader has installed a close confidant as ambassador to Washington, expanded the diplomatic mission in Chicago, and taken steps to open a mission in San Francisco as part of a larger attempt to enhance ties with the United States.
Vucic said Serbia needs U.S. support to achieve faster progress, including greater economic growth.
U.S.-Serbian relations were severely strained after the breakup of Yugoslavia three decades ago, though ties have gradually improved.
The United States led a NATO air campaign against Serbian forces in 1999 to stop a deadly crackdown on its ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo.
Washington then led an international campaign to recognize Kosovo's independence in 2008.
Serbia has yet to recognize Kosovo as an independent nation, preventing both countries from joining Western-led organizations, including the European Union and NATO.
During the April 22 talk, Vucic criticized the United States and Europe for its approach to a settlement between Belgrade and Pristina.
"They always just say 'we will just wait for Serbia to recognize Kosovo's independence.' When you ask someone what they offer, you hear nothing. No one can even guarantee you full-fledged membership status [in the EU]. No one can guarantee nothing to you when you ask them, ‘okay, what might Serbs get,'" Vucic said.
He said that, even if a Serbian politician were to cave in to Western demands, the Serbian people would not accept it.
Vucic criticized the European Union for not strongly backing a Belgrade-led plan to create an economic zone for free trade and travel throughout the Balkans.
Currently, only Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia are part of the free economic zone.
Vucic said other countries like Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina may worry that Serbia will dominate the free trade zone and garner most of the benefits.
"We need to understand their fears. We need to convince them that it’s not good for Serbia only, [but] that it’s even better for them," he said.
Vucic addressed the recent controversy that erupted following reports that Slovenian President Borut Pahor last month broached the possible "dissolution" of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The multiethnic country is governed as a Bosniak and Croat federation along with a Serb-majority entity called Republika Srpska.
Separately, a "nonpaper," supposedly by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, had been circulating proposing that proposed "the unification of Kosovo and Albania" and "joining a larger part of the Republika Srpska territory with Serbia.”
Vucic, who previously belonged to a radical nationalist party, said his government was "not interested in creating any kind of greater Serbia."
The president said his focus was on making Serbia "great" through economic growth led by foreign direct investment.
- By RFE/RL
Tchaikovsky Selection To Replace Banned Russian Anthem At Tokyo, Beijing Olympics
Russia's Olympic Committee (ROC) says a selection of music by 19th-century Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky will replace the Russian national anthem at this year’s Tokyo Olympic Games and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The International Olympic Committee has approved a fragment from Tchaikovsky’s Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 1, the ROC said in a statement on April 22.
In December 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially upheld a previous ruling by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that barred Russia's name, flag, and anthem from major sporting events for manipulating lab samples and doping test data.
The ban covers the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which have been postponed for one year because of the global pandemic, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8.
Russia is also barred from hosting international events for two years.
Navalny Expresses 'Pride And Hope' After Protests As Concerns About His Health Mount
MOSCOW – Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has expressed "pride and hope" after nationwide demonstrations calling for his release amid reports his health is deteriorating.
In a post to Instagram on April 22, Navalny called the thousands of Russians who took to the streets the previous day "the salvation of Russia."
Russian police detained more than 1,700 people during the rallies, including at least 10 journalists, in what Amnesty International described as being part of "shocking crackdown on basic freedoms."
Navalny, 44, has been in custody since January. He has been on hunger strike since March 31 to demand that doctors treat him for severe pain in his back and legs.
In a statement published on the Mediazona website, Navalny's doctors urged him to end the hunger strike, saying that if it "continues even a little longer, we will simply no longer have a patient to treat."
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called on Russia to release Navalny "immediately and in any event before the next 'human rights' meeting of the Committee of Ministers in June 2021."
Pending his release, President Vladimir Putin's most-vocal critic should be provided with "all necessary medical care, including examination and treatment by a doctor of his choice, and to ensure that his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights and domestic law are fully respected," according to a PACE resolution, which was backed by 105 parliamentarians during a session of the assembly in Strasbourg.
At total of 26 lawmakers from Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia voted against the resolution. Those who abstained included representatives from Turkey, Serbia, and one from the Czech Republic.
Thousands of Russians from Vladivostok in the Far East to Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea joined the April 21 protests called by leaders of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), who fear the Kremlin critic be harmed "irreparably" if he doesn’t get adequate medical treatment.
OVD-Info, which monitors the detention of political protesters and activists, reported more than 1,700 detentions across the country, with about half the detentions in St. Petersburg, in what Amnesty International described as being part of a "shocking crackdown on basic freedoms."
Police detained at least 10 journalists and harassed others in in connection with their coverage of the protests, according to media freedom watchdogs.
The number of protesters appeared smaller than previous rallies organized by Navalny's team amid a heavy police presence, a roundup of his allies early in the day, threats of arrest, and the closure of key meeting spots.
"There was less police violence and brutality on April 21 compared with the January and February pro-Navalny protests, but the authorities’ continued clampdown on freedom of assembly is wholly unjustified," said Damelya Aitkhozhina, a Russia researcher with Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Thousands Attend Pro-Navalny Protests Across Russia; More Than 1,700 Detained
"The authorities are quick to allege that without police interference so-called ‘unauthorized’ gatherings become violent, but the April 21 protests showed how baseless that allegation is."
Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Moscow office director, said that, in many cities, the authorities arrested protesters "en masse, often using excessive force” such as in St. Petersburg, where police "used tasers indiscriminately and in several instances beat detained protesters.”
The authorities' "attempts to trample dissent into dust are growing increasingly desperate -- from the ongoing detention of Navalny and the effort to ban his movement by branding it 'extremist,' to the violent targeting and mass arrest of his supporters," she added.
"There are simply not enough jail cells to lock up and silence every critical voice in Russia."
Gulnoza Said, the Committee to Protect Journalists' Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said Russian law enforcement "should ensure that journalists can do their jobs safely, and not resort to detention and harassment to interfere with coverage of events of national interest.”
Russia ranks 150th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
The nationwide demonstrations came just days after the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office asked a court last week to label as "extremist" three organizations tied to Navalny -- the FBK, the Citizens' Rights Protection Foundation, and Navalny's regional headquarters.
Prosecutors claim the organizations are "engaged in creating conditions for destabilizing the social and sociopolitical situation under the guise of their liberal slogans."
The FBK has rattled the Kremlin over the years with its video investigations exposing the unexplained wealth of top officials, including Putin.
The prosecutor’s request comes ahead of crucial parliamentary elections later this year, in which Navalny's organizations are seeking to organize citizens to vote against the ruling United Russia party at a time its ratings have tumbled amid growing frustration over eroding living standards.
Navalny was arrested on January 17 upon his return to Russia from Germany, where he received life-saving treatment for the poisoning attack in Siberia in August.
He has insisted that his poisoning with a Soviet-style chemical nerve agent was ordered directly by Putin. The Kremlin has denied any role in the incident
.In February, 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 have been politically motivated.
Navalny's 3 1/2-year suspended sentence from the case was converted to a prison term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison given time already served in detention.
The activist, who had been serving his term in a notorious prison about 100 kilometers east of Moscow before being transferred on April 18 to a prison with better medical facilities in the same region, went on a hunger strike three weeks ago to protest the inadequate medical treatment he has received while in detention.
Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying four doctors from outside Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) visited Navalny in the prison on April 20 and found no serious health problems.
In a letter to Council of Europe Secretary-General Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Moskalkova asserted that Navalny’s prison conditions and medical treatment were in compliance with international standards, Russian state media reported.
However, that assessment runs contrary to a letter to the FSIN last week by Anastasia Vasilyeva, Navalny's personal physician, and three other doctors, including a cardiologist, who said the opposition leader's health was rapidly deteriorating and his potassium count had reached a "critical level," meaning "both impaired renal function and serious heart rhythm problems can happen any minute."
U.S. lawmakers later on April 21 introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning the poisoning, "wrongful imprisonment and brutal treatment" of Navalny.
The United States and the European Union have already imposed sanctions on Russia for Navalny's poisoning.
His supporters are now calling on the West to impose new sanctions on Moscow for its treatment of the opposition leader.
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