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Russia Pledges Support For Tajikistan Amid Concern Over Afghanistan
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia is working on strengthening its military base in Tajikistan to boost regional security as the situation escalates in Afghanistan.
During a meeting with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon on May 8, Putin also said that Russia is helping to “strengthen Tajikistan’s armed forces.”
Rahmon raised concerns over the rising tensions in neighboring Afghanistan since the U.S. announcement last month that it will pull out all remaining American troops by September 11.
"I know you are concerned about this situation…. For our part, we are doing everything we can to support you," Putin told Rahmon.
Tajikistan hosts about 7,000 troops from Russia’s 201st Motor Rifle Division that are stationed in three facilities.
Tajikistan, one of the poorest former Soviet countries, has close economic ties with Russia as hundreds of thousands of Tajiks work in Russia to support families at home.
Rahmon was in Moscow to attend Victory Day ceremonies on May 9 to mark the 76th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Russia and many other former Soviet countries commemorate the May 9 anniversary with parades and celebrations.
Rahmon, who has ruled Tajikistan with an iron since 1992, maintains close relations with Moscow.
Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS
Ukrainian President Marks WWII Anniversary In Village Near Russian Border
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has paid tribute to the victims of World War II in a visit to the village of Milove along the Russian border, where tensions had escalated during a recent Russian military buildup.
Zelenskiy laid flowers at a memorial in the village, the president’s press service said.
Since 2015, Ukraine marks May 8 as a Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation for those who lost their lives during World War II. It marks Victory Day on May 9.
Milove is located in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, much of which has been under the control of Russia-backed separatists since 2014. The separatists also hold a large part of the adjacent Donetsk region.
“Ukrainians fought together with dozens of peoples against Nazism...and definitely not for war to take the lives of our people 76 years later,” Zelenskiy said during the visit.
Tensions heightened between Moscow and Kyiv in recent weeks, when Russia moved troops along its border with Ukraine and in the Black Sea Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
Kyiv said the buildup included paratroopers, electronic warfare systems, ballistic missiles, and other potentially offensive capabilities.
The Russian military claimed on April 29 that almost all its troops had now returned to their permanent bases after participating in massive drills.
Russia has provided military, economic, and political support to the separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Moscow maintains it is not involved in Ukraine's domestic affairs.
More than 13,000 people have been killed during seven years of fighting between the separatists and Ukrainian forces.
Based on reporting by AP and unian.info
Gorbachev Ally And Soviet Anti-Alcohol Crusader Dies At 100
Yegor Ligachyov, a former member of the Soviet Communist Party's Politburo who was once seen as Kremlin leader Mikhail Gorbachev's right-hand man, has died at the age of 100.
Ligachyov, who in November 2020 became the first former top Soviet official to reach the century mark and was known for coming up with Gorbachev's hugely unpopular anti-alcohol campaign, died in a Moscow hospital in the evening of May 7.
He was considered in the late 1980s as the second-most-powerful official in the Soviet Union after President Gorbachev, with whom he initially was seen as a close ally.
Ligachyov later became associated with anti-perestroika forces and was excluded from the Central Committee of the party in 1990.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ligachyov expressed regret for supporting Gorbachev and joined the leadership of the Communist Party.
Ligachyov was a lawmaker from 1999 to 2003.
- By RFE/RL
Czech PM Asks European Council To Condemn Russian Involvement In Arms-Depot Blast
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said that he has asked the European Council to condemn Russia for its involvement in the deadly explosion of an arms depot on Czech soil in 2014.
Asked whether he had brought up the explosion during an informal two-day summit of EU leaders taking place in Portugal, Babis told journalists on May 8 that he had "called for the [European] Council to condemn and declare such actions as unacceptable" when it presents its concluding statements at an EU summit scheduled to take place in Brussels later this month.
Babis said that he called on the council to make it clear "that it is impossible to accept such actions, and that we must view an attack on one [EU] member state as an attack on all."
Babis on April 17 announced that investigators from the Czech intelligence and security services had provided "unequivocal evidence" that there was "reasonable suspicion regarding a role of members of Russian military intelligence GRU's unit 29155 in the explosion of the munition depot in Vrbetice in 2014."
Two men were killed in the blast.
In response, the Czech government announced the expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats it considered to be spies, setting off a string of tit-for-tat moves between Prague and Moscow.
Russia has denied involvement in the explosion.
Putin, Merkel Mark Anniversary Of End Of World War II
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent congratulations to fellow members of the Commonwealth of Independent States over their roles in the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, and called for "brotherly friendship and mutual assistance" to mold their future relations.
The message, delivered on May 8, came as Western Europe celebrated the 76th anniversary of the war and ahead of Moscow's Victory Day parade scheduled for May 9.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the anniversary with a Twitter message saying that "it remains our everlasting responsibility to keep alive the memory of the millions of people who lost their lives during the years of National Socialist tyranny."
On May 7, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also addressed Nazi crimes, saying: "Confronting National Socialism and the memories of injustice and guilt do not weaken our democracy. On the contrary, it strengthens its resistance and resilience."
Based on reporting by dpa and TASS
Two Russians Plead Guilty To Cybercrimes That Targeted U.S. Banks, Companies
Two Russian nationals are among four men who have pleaded guilty to cybercrimes that targeted banks and companies across the United States, resulting in millions of dollars of losses, the Justice Department said on May 7.
The four men -- Aleksandr Grichishkin, 34, and Andrei Skvortsov, 34, of Russia; Aleksandr Skorodumov, 33, of Lithuania; and Pavel Stassi, 30, of Estonia -- provided so-called “bulletproof hosting” services to a network of cybercriminals, according to court documents.
The bulletproof hosting operation rented Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, servers, and domains to cybercriminal clients who in turn used the technical infrastructure to disseminate malware that could gain access to victims’ computers and steal banking credentials, the Justice Department said in a news release.
“Over the course of many years, the defendants facilitated the transnational criminal activity of a vast network of cybercriminals throughout the world by providing them a safe-haven to anonymize their criminal activity,” said Special Agent in Charge Timothy Waters of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office.
The malware hosted by the organization attacked U.S. companies and financial institutions between 2009 and 2015, the Justice Department said.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid said organizations that aid cybercriminals in deploying malware are “no less responsible for the harms these malware campaigns cause, and we are committed to holding them accountable.”
According to court filings and statements made by the defendants, Grichishkin and Skvortsov were founding members of the operation and its proprietors.
All four pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to engage in a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) in U.S. District Court in Michigan. Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison at their sentencing hearing later this year.
Law enforcement partners in Germany, Estonia, and the United Kingdom assisted the FBI in its investigation.
- By Mike Eckel
U.S. Seeks 17-Year Sentence For Former Green Beret Who Pleaded Guilty To Spying For Russia
U.S. prosecutors said they were seeking a 17-year prison sentence for a former U.S. Army Green Beret who pleaded guilty last year to years of providing classified information to a Russian military intelligence agent.
The filing on May 7 in U.S. federal court in Virginia follows Peter Debbins’s guilty plea last November to a federal Espionage Act charge.
According to the court filing, Debbins, 46, had a 15-year relationship with Russian intelligence dating back to 1996 when he was an exchange student from the University of Minnesota and on a visit to Russia for an independent study program gave an alleged Russian handler the names of four Roman Catholic nuns he had visited in Russia.
Two years prior, according to U.S. prosecutors, Debbins, whose mother was born in the Soviet Union, traveled to Russia for the first time and met his current wife in the central city of Chelyabinsk. Debbins’s father-in-law was a colonel in the Russian air force.
Debbins told Russian intelligence he considered himself a “son of Russia,” and “thought that the United States was too dominant in the world and needed to be cut down to size,” according to the indictment filed last year.
Court filings show that Debbins joined the U.S. Army as an active duty officer in 1998 and served through 2005, the last two years as a Special Forces officer.
While on assignment in Azerbaijan, he was discharged and lost his security clearance after violating protocols. That included bringing his wife with him to Azerbaijan and allowing her to use a government-issued cell phone, according to the court filing.
After being discharged from the military, he worked as a civilian for U.S. military contractors, in some cases in counterintelligence, including work as a Russian linguist.
The original charging indictment alleged that he provided information and names of his fellow Special Forces members while he was on assignment in Azerbaijan and Georgia.
According to his guilty plea, Debbins admitted that the Russian agents used the information he provided to evaluate whether other Special Forces officers could be persuaded to cooperate with Russia.
It wasn’t immediately clear when Debbins will be sentenced.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Government Seized Phone Data Of Journalists Who Wrote About Trump Campaign's Russia Ties
The Justice Department secretly obtained the phone records of three Washington Post reporters who wrote about the federal investigation into ties between Russia and former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, the newspaper said on May 7.
The action appears to have been aimed at identifying the reporters’ sources for stories published in 2017 during the early months of Trump’s administration as federal investigators scrutinized whether Trump’s 2016 campaign had coordinated with Russia to sway the election.
The newspaper said the three reporters received notice that their phone records had been seized in letters dated May 3.
The Post said the Justice Department did not specify the purpose of the subpoena to obtain the records or identify any articles at issue, but the newspaper said the period in question was April 15, 2017, to July 31, 2017.
During that time The Washington Post published a story about classified U.S. intelligence intercepts indicating that in 2016 Jeff Sessions, who would later become Trump’s attorney general, had discussed campaign issues with Russia's then-ambassador, Sergei Kislyak.
The phone records include who called whom, when calls were made, and how long calls lasted, but do not include what was said in the calls.
The letters sent to the reporters do not say when the Justice Department approved the decision to subpoena their records, but a department spokesman said it happened in 2020 before the end of the Trump administration.
Cameron Barr, The Washington Post's acting executive editor, demanded that the Justice Department say why it seized the data.
"We are deeply troubled by this use of government power to seek access to the communications of journalists,” Barr said in a statement. “The Department of Justice should immediately make clear its reasons for this intrusion into the activities of reporters doing their jobs, an activity protected under the First Amendment.”
Justice Department guidelines for leak investigations mandate that such actions are allowed only when other avenues for obtaining the information have been exhausted, and that the affected reporters must be notified unless it's determined that it would interfere with national security.
“While rare, the Department follows the established procedures within its media guidelines policy when seeking legal process to obtain telephone toll records and non-content e-mail records from media members as part of a criminal investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified information,” department spokesman Marc Raimondi said in a statement quoted by the Post.
Raimondi said the targets of such investigations are not the reporters but “those with access to the national defense information who provided it to the media and thus failed to protect it as lawfully required.”
The Justice Department also said it had received a court order to get e-mail records from the reporters but did not obtain them. The e-mail records sought would have indicated who e-mailed whom and when but would not have included the contents of the e-mails.
With reporting by The Washington Post and AP
- By RFE/RL
Blinken Makes Veiled Dig At Russia, China During UN Security Council Meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made a veiled dig at Russia and China when he told the UN Security Council that the actions of some big powers are sending a wrong message to other countries.
In a virtual session on May 7 attended by the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers, Blinken stressed the need to uphold international commitments, focus on human rights, and respect the principle of equality of all nations.
Blinken said that when UN member states -- particularly permanent council members -- violate these rules and block attempts to hold accountable those who violate international law, it sends the message that others can break those rules with impunity.
He didn’t name any countries, but his remarks appeared aimed especially at China and Russia, which along with the United States and its allies France and Britain are permanent, veto-wielding powers of the 15-member council.
The foreign ministers of Russia and China, Sergei Lavrov and Wang Yi, both stressed the importance of maintaining the United Nations as the center of multilateralism, which the U.S. top diplomat did not.
The session came amid spiraling tensions between Washington and Moscow over issues including Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region, the conflicts in eastern Ukraine and Syria, alleged meddling in elections in the United States and other democracies, cyberattacks allegedly from Russian hackers, and the poisoning and jailing of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny.
WATCH: U.S. Doesn't Accept 'Spheres Of Influence,' Blinken Says In Comments Aimed At Russia
Washington and Beijing are also at odds over influence in the Indo-Pacific region and human rights in Hong Kong and the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where the treatment of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups has drawn condemnation from the international community.
Blinken said countries don't respect a founding UN principle of sovereign equality -- according to which every sovereign state possesses the same legal rights as any other sovereign state in international law -- when they “purport to redraw the borders of another” country, threaten force to resolve territorial disputes, claim entitlement to a sphere of influence, or target other countries with disinformation, meddle in elections, and go after journalists or dissidents.
Blinken also said that governments that insist what they do within their own borders is their own business don’t have “a blank check to enslave, torture, disappear, ethnically cleanse their people, or violate their human rights in any other way.”
Addressing the Security Council session, Lavrov accused Western nations of developing their own rules and trying to impose them across the world.
“Not all of our partners are guided by the imperative of working honestly to establish genuine multilateral cooperation.”
Wang of China called for “equity and justice, not bullying or hegemony,” and stressed that international law must apply to all “and there should be no room for exceptionalism or double standards.”
With reporting by Reuters and AP
- By RFE/RL
Biden Says He's 'Confident' About Meeting Putin In June
U.S. President Joe Biden has said that the time and place for his proposed summit with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, are still being worked out.
"I'm confident we'll be able to do it. We don't have any specific time or place. That's being worked on," Biden told reporters at the White House on May 7 when asked about meeting Putin in June -- during his planned trip to Europe.
He said that Russia's massive buildup of military forces near Ukraine’s border and in annexed Crimea “does not impact my desire to have a one-on-one meeting” with Putin.
“And you'll notice he had more troops before. He's withdrawn troops."
Biden in April offered a meeting in a third country to discuss spiraling tensions over issues including military threats to Ukraine, the SolarWinds cyberattack on U.S. computers, and Russia's treatment of jailed opposition activist Aleksei Navalny.
"We're working through the question of some logistics - place, location, time, agenda, all the specifics - that was always going to happen at a staff level. It's really up to them what they want to achieve," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on May 7.
The Kremlin said it was studying the possibility of a Putin-Biden meeting.
"We continue to analyze the situation," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked whether the Russian side has officially agreed to the proposed summit.
Putin's top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, on April 25 said that planning for a face-to-face meeting between the two presidents was underway, adding: "June is being named, there are even concrete dates.”
Biden has repeatedly stated that while he will be tough on Russia over any hostile policies, he is also seeking to cooperate where the two sides have mutual interests. This includes on such issues as nuclear proliferation, climate change, the Iran nuclear deal, North Korea, and fostering peace and stability in Afghanistan.
During a trip to London on May 3, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington wants a “more stable, more predictable relationship” with Moscow but that will depend on Kremlin policies and how “recklessly or aggressively” it decides to act.
On May 7 in Kyiv, Blinken denounced Moscow's "reckless" actions against Ukraine and said the United States is considering Ukraine’s request for "additional" military assistance to help deter Kremlin aggression.
WATCH: U.S. Doesn't Accept 'Spheres Of Influence,' Blinken Says
Last month, Russia amassed tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine's borders as well as in Crimea, the biggest mobilization since Moscow seized the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014 and war broke out in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is backing separatists.
For his first overseas trip since taking office in January, Biden plans to join the other leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized nations for a summit in Britain set for June 11-13.
He will then fly to Brussels to participate in a NATO summit on June 14 and attend an EU-U.S. meeting with the bloc’s 27 leaders.
With reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Three Jailed Iranian Journalists 'Denied Appropriate Treatment' For COVID
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is urging Iranian authorities to release from prison three journalists who it said are being denied appropriate medical care after “almost certainly” catching COVID-19 while in detention.
Baktash Abtin, Reza Khandan Mahabadi, and Kayvan Samimi Behbahani “must be freed at once,” the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said on May 7.
Abtin and Mahabadi are members of the Association of Iranian Writers, which has come under pressure by authorities who have summoned, threatened, and jailed its members.
Behbahani is the editor of Iran-i Farda (Tomorrow's Iran), the magazine of the Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists of Iran, a political group that presents itself as a "nonviolent, religious semi-opposition."
The three are serving sentences ranging from three to six years in prison on charges including anti-state propaganda and acting against Iran’s security.
The 48-year-old Abtin was transferred to the infirmary of Tehran’s Evin prison on April 4 with a serious pulmonary condition that was confirmed by X-ray, according to RSF.
It said Mahabadi, 59, and Behbahani, 72, also have COVID-19 symptoms and “their condition is also very worrying.”
Behbahani already served six years in prison after a previous arrest in 2009.
- By RFE/RL
Lukashenka Downplays Criminal Case Launched Against Him By Group In Germany
MINSK -- Belarus's authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka has downplayed a criminal complaint filed in Germany on behalf of 10 Belarusians alleging that the strongman has committed crimes against humanity.
Speaking two days before Belarus commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany, Lukashenka referred on May 7 to the German lawyers who filed the case as the "heirs of fascism" and said they were in no position to judge him.
The lawyers said on May 5 that, on behalf of "torture victims," they had submitted a complaint to federal prosecutors in the German city of Karlsruhe against Lukashenka "and other Belarusian security officers."
"Who are they to judge me? For protecting you and my country? I do not reproach them. But they are the heirs of the generations who unleashed that war," he was quoted by the official BelTA news agency as saying.
The 66-year-old Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, was officially declared the winner by a landslide of a disputed presidential election in August 2020. This triggered almost daily protests demanding that the longtime strongman step down and new elections be held.
The opposition says the vote was rigged, and the West has refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus.
Security officials have cracked down hard on the demonstrators, arresting thousands, including dozens of journalists who covered the rallies, and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country.
Several protesters have been killed in the violence and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used by security officials against some of those detained.
Lukashenka has refused to talk to the opposition about a new elections and responded on May 7 to a call from some U.S. lawmakers a day earlier for Belarus to hold a new vote by saying that he will do so only if the United States does the same.
"Let the Americans call early elections and we will call an election in Belarus that very same day," BelTA cited him as saying.
He added that he considers the results of last year's U.S. presidential election as having been "falsified," a claim pushed by former President Donald Trump and many of his supporters despite showing no proof to back up their words.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Lukashenka and other senior Belarusian officials over the bloody crackdown. The European Union has followed suit.
Lukashenka looked to placate protesters in December by saying that there needed to be constitutional amendments before an early presidential election could be held.
His opponents, however, have called Lukashenka's gesture a sham to help him cling to power.
Amnesty International Restores Navalny's 'Prisoner Of Conscience' Status
Amnesty International says it has decided to redesignate Aleksei Navalny as a “prisoner of conscience” after the human rights watchdog earlier this year stopped referring to the jailed opposition politician as such over past comments he made that reached "the threshold of advocacy of hatred."
Navalny “has not been imprisoned for any recognizable crime, but for demanding the right to equal participation in public life for himself and his supporters, and for demanding a government that is free from corruption,” the London-based human rights group said in a statement on May 7.
“These are acts of conscience and should be recognized as such.”
There was no immediate reaction from Navalny, but a close associate, Leonid Volkov, tweeted that "the ability to acknowledge mistakes and move forward is the most important thing that distinguishes normal people from Putins," referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Amnesty International announced in February it would stop referring to the Kremlin foe as a “prisoner of conscience” on the grounds that in the past he had made comments over his alleged advocacy of violence and discrimination and comments that included hate speech.
But the group said in its latest statement that the Russian government and its supporters used that decision to “further violate” Navalny’s rights.
As a result, Amnesty International launched a review of its approach to the use of the designation “prisoner of conscience” and decided as an interim step to “not exclude a person…solely based on their conduct in the past.”
“We recognize that an individual’s opinions and behavior may evolve over time. It is part of Amnesty’s mission to encourage people to positively embrace a human rights vision and to not suggest that they are forever trapped by their past conduct.”
Amnesty International said it made a "wrong decision" and apologized "for the negative impacts this has had on Aleksei Navalny personally, and the activists in Russia and around the world who tirelessly campaign for his freedom."
By confirming Navalny’s status as “prisoner of conscience,” the watchdog is “highlighting the urgent need for his rights, including access to independent medical care, to be recognized and acted upon by the Russian authorities,” according to the statement.
It added that the designation of an individual as “prisoner of conscience” doesn’t imply the endorsement of their views by Amnesty.
Navalny is serving a 2 1/2 year prison sentence on embezzlement charges that he says were trumped up because of his political activity.
He recently ended a hunger strike that he had been holding to demand he be examined by his own doctors amid what he has described as a “deliberate campaign” by Russian prison officials to undermine his health.
The 44-year-old has been in custody since January, when he returned to Russia following weeks of medical treatment in Germany for a nerve-agent poisoning in August 2020 that he says was carried out by operatives of the Federal Security Service (FSB) at the behest of Putin. The Kremlin has denied any role in the poisoning.
His incarceration sparked numerous protests across Russia which were violently dispersed by police.
Navalny's anti-corruption organization has targeted many high-profile Russians, including high-ranking government officials.
In the course of his political career, he has also come under criticism for his association with ethnic Russian nationalists and for statements seen as racist and dangerously inflammatory.
Fire Destroys Historic Tatar Village In Siberia
KARAKUL, Russia -- A wildfire has ravaged a 16th century Tatar village in Siberia that authorities had planned to turn into a tourist attraction.
The Omsk Tatars National and Cultural Autonomy group said the fire that started on the afternoon of May 6 lasted for about 15 hours and completely destroyed 25 buildings, including 14 private houses and a shop in the village of Karakul in the Omsk region that borders with Kazakhstan.
Firefighters were brought to the site as the wildfire reached the village, but they couldn't overcome heavy winds that fanned the flames across the village.
Karakul is a unique, centuries-old settlement of Siberian Tatars with very old wooden houses, carrying traditional Tatar carvings on the buildings' facades, windows, and doors.
The village is also known across Russia for preserving ancient Siberian Tatar culture and traditions going back to the time of the Khanate of Sibir.
The Omsk Tatars National and Cultural Autonomy group has launched a fundraising campaign to help restore the village.
- By RFE/RL
RFE/RL Calls On Russia To Stop 'Targeting' Journalists After Appeal Fails
PRAGUE -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has called on Russia to stop "targeting" journalists after one of its contributors lost an appeal against her inclusion on Russia’s controversial registry of “foreign agent” media.
The City Court in the western Russian city of Pskov on May 5 said the inclusion of RFE/RL contributor Lyudmila Savitskaya on the Justice Ministry’s list was lawful.
“Lyudmila is not a 'foreign agent' -- she, and RFE/RL journalists Denis Kamalyagin and Sergei Markelov, are Russian nationals providing objective news and information to their fellow citizens. We call on the Russian government to stop targeting journalists and blocking the Russian people's access to information,” RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in a statement late on May 6.
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. 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.
Activists have described the "foreign agent" legislation as “restrictive” and intended “to demonize independent groups.”
Savitskaya and four other people -- Sergei Markelov, a freelance correspondent for the North.Realities (Sever.Realii) of RFE/RL's Russian Service; Denis Kamalyagin, editor in chief of the online news site Pskovskaya gubernia and a contributor to RFE/RL's Russian Service; human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov; and artist and activist Darya Apakhonchich -- were included in the “foreign agent” media list in December 2020. The ministry did not give any justification for why these individuals were listed.
'You Have Turned Everything On Its Head'
In court on May 5, Justice Ministry representatives presented as evidence against Savitskaya articles she had written about anti-government protesters, alleged torture in Russian prisons, and the blocking of electronic communications in the areas around prisons.
They also presented a large number of documents marked “for official use only” from the Interior Ministry, the Prosecutor-General’s Office, and other agencies that Savitskaya and her attorneys were not allowed to examine. They have said they will appeal the case to a higher court.
In her closing statement at the appeal, Savitskaya ridiculed the country's justice system saying the Justice Ministry was "fighting against the wrong people" as all she was doing was "simply" reporting the facts and writing "in such a way that the authorities pay attention to the misfortunes of citizens and help them with their problems."
"You have turned everything on its head, Justice Ministry representatives. You call a person whose work is to help people a 'foreign agent.' But the real foreign agents are not here in this courtroom. They are in the Kremlin and the State Duma," she told the court.
"They are the ones who every day are passing repressive laws, taking away the rights to life and liberty from citizens, and barring people under the threat of prison from speaking the truth. They are the agents of some sort of foreign-to-us-all totalitarian state. They are. Not me. I am a journalist and I remain a journalist," she added.
Savitskaya’s defense argued that none of the materials presented indicated that she was working at the behest of any foreign power.
In her remarks, Savitskaya noted that the Justice Ministry "made an interesting selection of my articles" in an attempt to "make me out to be a politician."
"You cleverly forgot to include my articles about veterans who are living in rotting shacks; about the prisoners in concentration camps, who at the state’s orders are huddling in railway-station closets; about the child diabetics who are not being given the medicines they need; about the Pskov paratrooper who voted for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin his entire life and died during a military mission in Syria and about his wife, who was not granted his military pension," she said.
"People in judicial robes and military epaulets with ranks bow obsequiously to our jaded authorities, which remain nonetheless an insatiable conspiracy. The law is finished and only terror remains. 'Do you think this regime will last forever?' I asked in court. The three in epaulets and the one in the judge’s robe remained silent. They all understand -- it is just that today [the system] came for someone else," she added.
In 2017, the Russian government placed RFE/RL’s Russian Service, six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, and Current Time on the list.
Earlier this year, Russian courts began imposing large fines against RFE/RL for failing to mark its articles with a government-prescribed label as required by rules adopted in October 2020. RFE/RL is appealing the fines.
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.”
Member Of Russian Pussy Riot Detained In Moscow
MOSCOW -- Police in Moscow have detained Veronika Nikulshina, a member of the Pussy Riot protest group, without explanation.
Nikulshina wrote on Instagram on May 7 that four police officers apprehended her near her apartment block without saying why they were taking her into custody.
A video of the incident was distributed by the Open Media group on Telegram.
Nikulshina's lawyer, Mansur Gilmanov, told Open Media that his client was detained on suspicion of being disobedient toward the police.
The Interfax news agency cited a source in law enforcement as saying that Nikulshina was detained "to prevent possible provocations during rehearsals for a military parade" before Victory Day, which will be marked on May 9.
Pussy Riot members are well-known for various stunts they perform across Russia to challenge the policies of the authorities and raise human rights issues.
The group came to prominence in 2012 after its members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" for a stunt in which they burst into Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral and sang a "punk prayer" against Vladimir Putin, who was prime minister and campaigning for his return to the presidency at the time.
Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were close to the end of their two-year prison sentences when they were freed in December 2013 under an amnesty they dismissed as a propaganda stunt to improve Putin's image ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova founded Mediazona in 2014, with activist Pyotr Verzilov becoming publisher.
With reporting by Interfax
Blinken: Russia Undermining Press Freedom, Targeting RFE/RL
In an interview with RFE/RL during a one-day visit to Kyiv on May 6, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed to stand up “for the right of journalists to do their jobs.” His comments came as RFE/RL finds itself under increasing pressure in Russia, where authorities demand that it identify itself as a “foreign agent” in accordance with legislation that critics say is designed to crack down on independent media and NGOs. In recent weeks, RFE/RL has been confronted with multiple legal challenges and a record amount of fines for refusing to label its content. The targeting of RFE/RL has raised concerns the Russian government may be moving to shutter RFE/RL’s operations inside Russia. Blinken was asked whether he thought there was a chance to influence the situation.
More Than A Dozen Handed Sentences In Belarus Over Anti-Lukashenka Protests As Crackdown Continues
MINSK -- More than a dozen activists in Belarus, including a Russian citizen, have been handed prison sentences amid a continued crackdown following months of protests sparked by a disputed presidential election last August that authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka claims to have won.
Tens of thousands of Belarusians have taken to the streets after the presidential poll to demand Lukashenka step down and new elections be held. He has refused to hold talks with opposition leaders. Security officials have arrested thousands in the protests in a crackdown that has become more brutal with each passing month.
In the latest wave of court cases, the Moscow district court in the western city of Brest on May 7 sentenced a Russian citizen, Danila Chemodanov, to one year in prison for violating public order.
That came hours after seven Belarusian nationals -- Viktar Labko, Syarhey Naulik, Kiryl Lud, Uladzislau Navitski, Radzivon Kandratsyuk, Viktoryya and Alena Lyskovich -- were sentenced to open prison terms of between 18 months and two years on similar charges.
The open prison system is known across the former Soviet Union as "khimiya" (chemistry), a name that goes back to the late 1940s when convicts were sent to work at dangerous industries, mainly chemical factories, and allowed to live in special dormitories instead of being incarcerated in penitentiaries.
These days, a "khimiya" sentence means that a convict will stay in a dormitory not far from their permanent address and work either at their workplace as usual or at a state entity defined by the penitentiary service.
Six other Belarusian citizens -- Alena Hnauk, Maryya Skakavets, Vasil Charnteski, Yury Chubryk, Valyantsina Zhukouskaya, and Lyudmila Lutskaya -- were handed parole-like "freedom limitation" sentences for periods between 18 months and two years.
The 14 defendants were found guilty of "active participation in unsanctioned rallies that disrupted public order" in Brest on September 13.
One of the defendants in the case, the 24-year-old Chemodanov, pleaded guilty, while five defendants pleaded partially guilty, and the remaining eight pleaded not guilty.
A day earlier, the Frunze district court in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, sentenced 45-year-old Syarhey Sikorski to nine years in prison after finding him guilty of taking part in mass disorder and the possession and distribution of illegal drugs.
Sikorski was among demonstrators in Minsk on August 11 who protested against the official results of an August 9 presidential election that handed victory to Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994. Opposition politicians say the vote was rigged and that their candidate, Svyatlana Tsikhaouskaya, won.
When riot police arrived to disperse one rally, demonstrators began pelting them with stones and other objects. Sikorski was present at the rally but said at the trial that he "did not do anything wrong" and was trying to assist people attacked by the police. It was not immediately clear if he had commented on the drug allegations.
Investigators said that when Sikorski was detained at his home in September, he was under the influence of drugs, which they claim was later confirmed by tests that found mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant drug of the amphetamine class, in his body.
The investigators also said that police found the drug in Sikorski's apartment and later investigations revealed that he sold the drugs at least once to an acquaintance.
Meanwhile, the Pershamay district court in the Belarusian capital on May 6 sent another protester, Yauhen Rapin, to three years in "open prison" on charges of damaging a security camera on the wall of a detention center in Minsk during an anti-Lukashenka rally in October.
Rapin, the father of three children, pleaded guilty and asked for a mitigated sentence.
Also on May 6, a court in the western city of Brest sentenced local resident Syarhey Zubovich to 18 months of "freedom limitation," a parole-like sentence for insulting online the then-chief of the Main Directorate for the Fight Against Organized Crime and Corruption, Mikalay Karpyankou, who currently serves as a deputy interior minister.
Zubovich pleaded guilty. The court also ruled that Zubovich's Samsung mobile phone must be confiscated since it was "a tool used to commit the crime."
In another western city, Pruzhany, a court on May 6 sentenced local resident Lyudmila Tsaranu to 18 months of "freedom limitation" for "distributing false information about a police officer via the Internet."
Tsaranu's posts on social networks targeted police officer Syarhey Urodnich, accusing him of "falsification of protocols and lying at the trials" of anti-Lukashenka activists.
Tsaranu rejected the charge, though she refused to testify at the trial.
Several demonstrators have been killed in the postelection violence and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used against some of those detained.
In response to the ongoing crackdown, the West has slapped sanctions on top Belarusian officials. Many countries, including the United States, as well as the European Union, have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of the former Soviet republic.
- By RFE/RL
Russia OKs Sputnik Light, One-Dose Version Of Its COVID-19 Vaccine, For Export
Russian regulators on May 6 approved Sputnik Light, a single-dose version of the country's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus.
The regulatory approval, which will allow it to be marketed and administered as a separate COVID-19 vaccine, came even though advanced testing to ensure its safety and effectiveness is still ongoing.
The two-dose Sputnik V will remain “the main source of vaccination in Russia,” said Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev, whose organization bankrolls the Sputnik vaccine.
Sputnik Light will be exported “to our international partners to help increase the rate of vaccinations in a number of countries in the face of the ongoing fight with the pandemic and new strains of coronavirus,” he said.
Dmitriev said in a statement that “the single dose regimen solves the challenge of immunizing large groups in a shorter time, which is especially important during the acute phase of the spread of coronavirus, achieving herd immunity faster.”
Russia faced criticism last year for authorizing Sputnik V before advanced trials had started and for offering it to medical workers while those trials were under way.
But Sputnik V, which has been approved in several countries, overcame initial international skepticism after peer-reviewed results published in the medical journal The Lancet showed it to be safe and 91.6 percent effective against COVID-19.
Russia's own vaccination drive is currently lagging. According to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, 13.4 million people in Russia, or just 9 percent of the country’s 146 million people, had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of May 6. About 6 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated.
Russia’s official death toll from COVID-19 along with those of several other countries came under question on May 6 in a new estimate by researchers at the University of Washington.
The university’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation puts the number of COVID-19 deaths at 6.9 million globally -- more than double that of a widely cited tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The estimate is based on a comparison of pre-pandemic death trends with deaths from all causes during the pandemic adjusted to remove deaths that couldn’t be directly attributed to the virus.
It has long been acknowledged that official government figures likely are undercounts because not all deaths occur in hospitals and because not all COVID-19 deaths can be confirmed by a test.
The University of Washington researchers believe the largest undercounts are in India, which may have close to three times more deaths than the official 221,000, and Russia, which the researchers calculate has had more than five times the 109,000 official government count.
“The one that’s been the most underrecorded is the Russian Federation,” Christopher Murray, director of institute, said.
The data also suggest the U.S. death count is more than 905,000, far higher than the 580,000 estimated deaths in the Johns Hopkins tally.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Iran, World Powers Hold New Round Of Talks On Bringing U.S. Back To Nuke Deal
Iran held a fourth round of high-level talks with world powers on May 7 aimed at returning the United States back into a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.
The negotiations, which kicked off in Vienna in early April, are focused on creating a road map for Washington to lift sanctions on Iran and for Tehran to reinstate restrictions on its nuclear program that were laid out in the agreement.
Under the accord known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran had pledged to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for an easing of international sanctions. But former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact in May 2018, saying it needed to be renegotiated, and started reimposing sanctions on Iran.
Iran reacted by stepping up its violations of the accord by enriching uranium to a greater purity, stockpiling more than allowed, and introducing more advanced centrifuges.
Tehran also pushed the remaining parties in the deal -- France, Britain, Russia, and China -- for economic relief.
The deal is intended to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Iranian officials have consistently denied Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear ambitions are purely for civilian purposes.
U.S. President Joe Biden has said he wants to rejoin the deal, but that Iran needs to return to compliance.
When asked at the White House on May 7 if he thought Tehran was serious about the talks in Vienna, Biden said: "Yes, but how serious, and what they are prepared to do is a different story. But we're still talking."
Earlier, Iranian state television quoted the country’s top negotiator as saying Washington had expressed its readiness to lift many of its sanctions, but that Tehran is demanding more.
"The information transferred to us from the U.S. side is that they are also serious on returning to the nuclear deal and they have so far declared their readiness to lift a great part of their sanctions," Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said.
"But this is not adequate from our point of view and therefore the discussions will continue until we get to all our demands.”
Russian delegate Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted that the delegations “agreed on the need to intensify the process” and “seem to be ready to stay in Vienna as long as necessary to achieve the goal.”
Alain Matton, a spokesperson for the EU delegation in Vienna, said the expert talks will continue in the coming days.
Because the United States is currently out of the deal, there is no American representation at the talks. Diplomats from the participating countries involved are shuttling between the Iranian side and a delegation from Washington elsewhere in Vienna.
On the eve of the latest round of talks, a senior U.S. administration official laid out all of the steps Washington is prepared to take in order to rejoin the nuclear deal.
The official, who spoke to reporters on a conference call on May 6, said Iran shouldn't expect major new concessions, and success or failure now depends on Iran making the political decision to accept those concessions and to return to compliance with the accord.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview it was unclear whether Iran is prepared to make the decisions necessary to return to full compliance with the agreement.
“They unfortunately have been continuing to take steps that are restarting dangerous parts of their program that the nuclear agreement stopped. And the jury is out on whether they’re prepared to do what’s necessary,” he said in an interview broadcast on May 6 on NBC.
Araqchi said after the third round of talks ended on May 1 that Tehran stands by its demand for the United States to lift sanctions across a range of sectors, including oil, banking, and most individuals and institutions.
In parallel with the nuclear talks, Iranian media reported last weekend that there was an agreement between Tehran and Washington for the release of prisoners held by each side.
Washington and London have dismissed or downplayed the reports, as well as others that have said the United States is considering unfreezing some Iranian assets.
With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and dpa
Latvia Recognizes Armenian Genocide
Latvia has recognized the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide, drawing an angry response from Turkey.
The Baltic nation’s parliament passed a resolution on May 6 condemning and recognizing the tragedy with 58 of 100 lawmakers voting for the measure.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry slammed the decision as a "null and void attempt to rewrite history for political motives."
National governments and parliaments in some 30 countries have formally recognized the Armenian Genocide.
U.S. President Joe Biden did so in a statement released on April 24 -- Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
During and immediately after World War I, Armenians and many historians say as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed, in what Armenians call "The Great Crime." Armenians have documented mass murder, banditry, raping of women, pillaging of property, and other atrocities.
As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide and says that hundreds of thousands of Muslims also died in Anatolia at the time due to combat, starvation, cold, and disease.
- By RFE/RL
Tsikhanouskaya Calls For 'Crucial' International Conference On Belarus
Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called for a high-level international conference on resolving the crisis in her country.
Tsikhanouskaya said on Twitter it is “crucial” to hold such a conference with the participation of the Belarusian “democratic forces, national governments, parliaments, and civil society groups from the European Union, Russia, Britain, and the United States” along with representatives of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime.
Tsikhanouskaya on May 6 also called on the European Union to publish a comprehensive plan for Belarus that will help civil society and the country’s economy.
Tsikhanouskaya said she sent these requests in a letter to the foreign ministers of the European Union and the foreign relations committees of the EU countries on May 4.
Earlier on May 6, Tsikhanouskaya testified virtually before a U.S. congressional commission, also requesting a high-level conference in her remarks.
She called on the United States to use diplomacy “to further isolate Lukashenka, to underscore his point of political no-return has passed.”
Describing human rights abuses and “relentless political repression" in her country, she asked Congress to increase its support for civil society, independent media, and human rights defenders in exile and in Belarus.
The opposition leader claims to have won last August’s presidential election and has sought to unite opposition forces in the face of a brutal crackdown on mass protests by Lukashenka’s regime.
The United States and the EU have imposed sanctions on senior figures in Lukashenka’s government over what they say was a fraudulent election and ongoing human rights abuses.
In April, the United States said it would not renew a special license authorizing transactions with nine state-owned Belarusian companies.
Tsikhanouskaya called those sanctions "among the most effective measures," but she called on Washington to punish other entities and regime figures in her country, namely those responsible for human rights violations in Belarus.
Tsikhanouskaya also noted the strain on her family since her husband, vlogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski, was arrested last year after he and other opposition politicians and activists demanded election officials allow independent candidates to register for the election.
Tsikhanouski, who ran a popular YouTube channel called The Country For Life, faces many more years in prison if convicted of the charges against him related to his attempt to participate in the election.
"For almost a year, my children have been asking me every day where their father is and when he will be back," said Tsikhanouskaya, who ran in her husband’s place after he was arrested.
Tsikhanouski is one of more than 300 political prisoners caught up in the crackdown. Almost 30,000 people have been detained since the election, according to human rights groups. Tsikhanouskaya put the number of people detained at more than 35,000 and said there were more than 3,000 criminal cases. At least eight people have been killed, she said.
With reporting by AFP and dpa
U.S. Considering 'Additional' Military Assistance To Ukraine, Blinken Tells RFE/RL
KYIV -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States is considering Ukraine’s request for "additional" military assistance to help deter Kremlin aggression following a massive buildup of Russian forces near their shared border and in annexed Crimea.
Kyiv has requested U.S. air defense systems and anti-sniper technology, along with a possible deployment of Patriot missiles in Ukraine.
Blinken told RFE/RL on May 6 in an interview in the Ukrainian capital, where he met with the country's top leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that the Pentagon is "looking at what additional assistance -- beyond the very significant assistance that we've already provided, including equipment -- would be helpful to Ukraine right now. That’s a very active consideration."
The United States has provided nearly $5 billion in financial, humanitarian, and military aid -- including lethal, anti-tank weapons -- to Ukraine since 2014, when Russia forcibly annexed Crimea and backed separatists in two of its eastern provinces, sparking a war that has killed more than 13,000.
Blinken's first trip to Kyiv since being tapped by President Joe Biden earlier this year to lead the State Department comes just weeks after Russia deployed more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and in annexed Crimea in what the United States called an act of intimidation.
Russia has withdrawn some of the troops and equipment, but much still remains, posing a serious and immediate threat to Ukraine, Blinken said.
"Russia has the capacity on pretty short notice to take further aggressive action, so we're being very vigilant about that...and also making sure that we're helping Ukraine have the means to defend itself," Blinken said in the RFE/RL interview.
Ukraine has called on the United States to threaten to exclude Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system as a way to deter Kremlin aggression.
Some analysts say exclusion from SWIFT, which facilitates secure and fast communications between financial institutions, would be a significant blow to Russia’s economy.
Blinken said the United States "will consider every reasonable option" to deter Kremlin aggression against Ukraine, but declined to comment directly on the possibility of using SWIFT.
The top U.S. diplomat reiterated the Biden administration’s message that the United States is not seeking an escalation with Russia.
However, he said the United States does not accept the concept of "spheres of influence" and will respond to any Kremlin aggression that threatens Washington’s interests or those of its partners.
"If we allow those principles [of no spheres of influence] to be violated with impunity, then that is going to send a message, not just to Russia. It's going to send a message in other parts of the world as well, that those rules don't matter, that countries can behave any way they want,” he said.
Blinken said it was “a recipe for an international system that falls apart.”
Last month, the United States and the European Union sought to send a global message about its stance on human rights and democracy when it announced coordinated sanctions against Russian officials over the incarceration on Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Those sanctions came on the heels of punishments imposed on a series of Russian individuals and companies in connection with the Kremlin's alleged poisoning of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny with a nerve agent and the hacking of U.S. government agencies.
Those alleged actions have increased the already severe strains in ties between Russia and the West, long seen by both as being close to, at, or below Cold War lows since the start of aggression against Ukraine in 2014.
Russia has continued to pressure Navalny and his supporters even after this imprisonment, seeking to shut down his network, which has published journalistic investigations into alleged corruption among the nation's top officials.
To that end, in the May 6 interview, Blinken condemned Russia’s mounting pressure on independent media, including RFE/RL, saying it was a sign of Kremlin weakness.
"I think that countries that deny freedom of the press are countries that don't have a lot of confidence in themselves or in their systems. What is there to be afraid of in informing the people and in holding leaders accountable?" he asked.
Over 150 Endangered Caspian Seals Found Dead On Daghestan Coast
Russian researchers say more than 150 endangered seals have been discovered washed up dead on the shores of the Caspian Sea over the course of several days.
Viktor Nikiforov of the Moscow Marine Mammals research center said on May 6 that the Caspian seals have been found on the shores of the sea in the region of Daghestan.
The exact cause of the deaths is still unknown.
They may have been caused by "industrial pollution, fishing, or poaching when seals get caught in the nets," Nikiforov said, adding: "Maybe this is the consequence of climate change or several causes at the same time."
Alimurad Hajiyev, the director of the Institute of Ecology and Sustainable Development of the Daghestan State University, said that many of the marine mammals were found entangled in fishing nets.
The researchers said the seals were discovered some 100 kilometers south of the regional capital, Makhachkala, and 50 kilometers north of the city.
The Federal Fisheries Agency in the North Caucasus said it had dispatched inspectors to carry out a count.
The Investigative Committee said it was also looking into the matter.
The Caspian seal is the only mammal living in the Caspian Sea, the world's largest inland body of water.
The endemic species has for decades suffered from overhunting and industrial pollution in the sea, and their number is now estimated at less than 70,000, down from more than 1 million in the early 20th century.
In December 2020, Russian authorities reported the death of more than 300 seals on Dagestan's Caspian shore.
Listed as a threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2008, the seal was included in Russia’s Red Data Book of endangered and rare species this year.
The Caspian Sea, shared by five riparian states -- Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan -- boasts vast oil and gas reserves.
Pollution from hydrocarbon extraction and declining water levels are posing a threat to many local species and putting the future of the sea itself at risk.
With reporting by AFP and TASS
- By RFE/RL
Legal Group Appeals Moscow Court Ruling To Restrict Activities Of Navalny's FBK
Lawyers of the Team 29 (Komanda 29) judicial group have appealed a decision to restrict the activities of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK)
The Team 29 said in a statement that its lawyers Maksim Olenichev and Valeria Vetoshkina filed the appeal with the Moscow First Court of Appeals on May 6.
The Moscow City Court ruled on April 27 that the activities of the FBK and another group associated with Navalny, the Citizens’ Rights Defense Foundation (FZPG), must be temporarily banned from using media, placing materials on the Internet, taking part in elections and referendums, and carrying out some banking operations.
A day earlier, the Moscow prosecutor halted all activities of Navalny's regional offices and petitioned the court to do the same for the FBK and FZPG as the prosecutors didn't have the authority to do so on their own.
The move is part of a broader initiative by the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office, which seeks to have the Moscow City Court label the FBK, the FZPG, and Navalny’s regional headquarters, as “extremist.”
That proposal has been condemned by international and domestic human rights groups who say that if the Navalny organizations are labeled as "extremist," their employees and those passing on information about them could face arrest and lengthy prison terms.
Vetoshkina said in the May 6 statement that some of the restrictions could not be imposed by a court.
"For instance, within current laws, the ban to hold public events is irrelevant for a foundation since it cannot organize them by law. Therefore, the court went beyond the current legislation, which indicates that its goal is to create maximum obstacles for the organization’s activities. It is obvious that the FBK's operations do not impose any danger to the rights, freedoms and lawful interests of a wide number of people because they fully correspond to legal requirements," Vetoshkina said.
The leader of Team 29, noted that Russian lawyer Ivan Pavlov was briefly detained in Moscow on April 30 and accused of disclosing classified information about the ongoing investigation of one of his clients, former journalist Ivan Safronov.
A Moscow court then barred Pavlov from using the Internet, mobile telephones, and communicating with witnesses in Safronov's case, which caused a public outcry across Russia.
On May 3, Pavlov issued a statement, saying he and his team will continue to defend all their clients, including Navalny’s groups, despite the restrictions imposed on him.
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