Germany joined France on September 15 in expressing concern about reports of an agreement between Mali’s new military rulers and the Vagner Group, a Russian military contractor with ties to the Kremlin.

Germany has several hundred soldiers taking part in a United Nations peacekeeping mission and a European Union training program in the West African country.

"If Mali's government reaches such agreements with Russia, it contradicts everything that Germany, France, the EU, and the UN have been doing in Mali for eight years," said German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

“If cooperation between Mali and Russian mercenary groups is confirmed, that puts into question the mandate of the German military, the UN’s Mali mission MINUSMA, and the EU’s training mission,” she said, adding that there would be consequences.

France has been at the forefront of a broader counterterrorism operation in the Sahel region with about 5,000 troops ever since a coup in Mali in 2012 helped trigger an Islamist insurgency in the north.

But France announced plans earlier this year to reduce that force to 2,500 to 3,000 troops in the coming years.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed concern on September 14 about the possible use of Russian mercenary troops in Mali in comments to the National Assembly's Defense Committee.

"We are in Mali and will certainly remain so in the months and years to come," Parly said.

However, she said it would be "very worrying" if there was an agreement between Mali's junta and Russian mercenaries.

"[This would be] contrary to everything we have been doing for years to support the countries in the Sahel," she said.

The Vagner Group has reportedly neared a deal to train the Malian military, which seized power in a coup in May, and provide protection for senior officials.

Western governments have accused Moscow of using the Vagner Group as a paramilitary force in conflicts in Ukraine, Libya, Syria, and the Central African Republic. The mercenaries have also been accused of carrying out human rights abuses, including by the UN in the Central African Republic.

Earlier this year, Washington described the Vagner Group as "mercenaries working as an arm of Russia's Defense Ministry."

Russia denies a link between the government and the Vagner Group, often describing the paramilitary force as trainers or advisers despite evidence they have been engaged in combat operations.

In response to the reports about Mali, Russia denied any official military involvement in the West African country.

“There are no representatives of the Russian Armed Forces there, and no official negotiations are being held,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 15.

The Vagner Group is believed to be run by Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin.

With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters

The Hungarian government has issued rating guidelines to broadcasters that would place some films featuring homosexuality or gender issues under the same restrictions as violent horror films.

Under the regulations issued on September 15 by the Media Council of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH), films that have LGBT topics or gender issues as a "defining feature" would be "not recommended" for people under the age of 18.

"General gestures expressing tenderness, like a kiss on the cheeks, a hug, holding hands while walking, or a kiss cannot be considered problematic unless they are portrayed for their own sake or constitute a central element of the program," the guidelines state.

Films prominently featuring such themes would have the same rating as films such as the Saw slasher series or The Exorcist.

The new guidelines come in the wake of the adoption in June of a law banning the "display and promotion of homosexuality" to children under 18.

The law was modeled on the controversial "gay propaganda" law adopted by Russia in 2013. That law has been sharply criticized by Human Rights Watch as having "increased…social hostility" toward gays in Russia and as "a classic example of political homophobia."

The Hungarian law has also been criticized by rights groups, the United States, and the European Union.

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The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which has backed a strongly conservative social agenda, has said the legislation is needed to protect the "right of children to their gender identity received at birth."

Amnesty International's Budapest office issued a statement in June saying the law "will expose people already facing a hostile environment to even greater discrimination."

With reporting by Reuters, 24.hu, and AFP

Imprisoned Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has been included in Time magazine's annual list of "the 100 most influential people of 2021."

Navalny was included in the "Icons" section of the list with such luminaries as British Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, American pop star Britney Spears, Iranian lawyer and rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh, and Korean-American poet Cathy Park Hong.

The essay about Navalny in the magazine was written by chess grandmaster and exiled Russian opposition figure Garry Kasparov, who lauded Navalny for doing "the unimaginable this year" by returning to Russia in January after undergoing medical treatment in Germany for a life-threatening nerve-agent poisoning that he says was carried out by Russian security agents at the behest of authoritarian President Vladimir Putin.

Upon his arrival at the airport, Navalny was arrested. Weeks later he was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for a parole violation, an act he describes as retribution for his prominent opposition political activity.

"Navalny now sits in one of Russia's worst prisons, his life in the hands of a dictator who all evidence says already tried to kill him once for exposing the grotesque corruption of his regime," Kasparov wrote. "Navalny saw no alternative to risking everything to make a difference in his country."

Kasparov called Navalny "a single man without fear."

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Putin, who was not included in this year's list of most influential people, was named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2007.

"He's not a good guy, but he's done extraordinary things," Time managing editor Richard Stengel said at the time. "He's a new tsar of Russia, and he's dangerous in the sense that he doesn't care about civil liberties."

After imprisoning Navalny, the government declared his Anti-Corruption Foundation and his network of regional offices to be "extremist organizations."

Many activists associated with the organizations were barred from participating in the September 17-19 elections to the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament. Many senior Navalny colleagues were forced to flee the country under threat of criminal prosecution.

Navalny has said his treatment in prison amounts to torture, as guards wake him every hour during the night because he has been designated a "flight risk."

With reporting by Reuters

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the bloc will maintain pressure on members Poland and Hungary to uphold democratic values, including possible legal actions and funding cuts.

She said during a speech in Brussels on September 15 that actions by Warsaw and Budapest that harshly restrict migration, discriminate against women and LGBT people, restrict the media, or constrain the independence of the judiciary are antithetical to the basic values of the 27-member bloc.

"These values are now enshrined in European treaties," von der Leyen said. "This is what we all signed up to when we became part of this union as free and sovereign countries. We are determined to defend these values."

The bloc has long been at odds with the nationalist and euroskeptic governments in Hungary and Poland.

The two countries are among nine member states whose national spending plans have not yet been approved by the European Commission, a step that is necessary to unlock billions of euros earmarked to help restart economic growth stalled by the coronavirus pandemic.

Von der Leyen also repeated support for a proposal to tie access to EU funds to respect for the rule of law.

"We will do whatever we can to protect the EU budget," she said, adding that the commission would be sending out warnings under the new mechanism to member states in the near future.

Speaking in Warsaw the same day, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the ruling Law and Justice party, said that Poland's future was inside the EU, but that it must remain a "sovereign country."

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

MOSCOW -- Moscow police have detained four activists and a reporter over a brief protest in support of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny held on Red Square.

Sergei Lukashov, Svetlana Lukashova, Sergei Rednikov, and Ilya Yermakov were detained on September 15, seconds after they unfolded a large banner saying "Free Navalny! Putin, go to jail," and chanting "Free Aleksei Navalny!"

Yevgeny Yevsyukov, who recorded the protest on video, was also detained. The OVD-Info human rights group said police confiscated Yevsyukov's journalist ID and beat Yermakov.

An ambulance was called to treat Yermakov, it said.

The protest was held as Russia prepares for elections on September 17-19.

In response to opposition efforts to loosen the hold of the ruling, Kremlin-backed United Russia party, the authorities have unleashed a sweeping crackdown against Navalny's allies and supporters, as well as the independent media, in recent months.

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Navalny, who is Putin's most vocal domestic critic, is serving a 2 1/2-year jail sentence for parole violations for a conviction he says was trumped-up. His foundation has been designated an "extremist" organization.

His jailing has strained Moscow's relations with the West, which has demanded that he be freed and has criticized the "extremist" label.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called on French President Emmanuel Macron to take "decisive action in solving the Belarus crisis."

Speaking in Paris on September 15, the first day of a four-day trip to France to bolster support for her movement, Tsikhanouskaya said, "democratic countries have to be firm and principled."

Tsikhanouskaya was the main opposition candidate in the disputed August 2020 presidential election, which handed longtime leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth term. The opposition and the West have refused to recognize the results and called for a new, independently monitored vote.

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.

Following the election, mass protests broke out against the alleged fraud, and the demonstrations were met by a brutal crackdown from the Lukashenka government. Fearing for the safety of her family, Tsikhanouskaya left Belarus and currently lives in Lithuania.

The Vyasna human rights center says there are currently 671 political prisoners in Belarus.

"Belarusians need new energy and fuel to go forward," Tsikhanouskaya told journalists. "We do not have the right to lose momentum."

Tsikhanouskaya was not scheduled to meet with Macron during the visit, but she did hold talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Le Drian said after the meeting that he wanted to send a "strong message of solidarity" and promised France would continue its efforts to find a political solution to the Belarus conflict.

Earlier, Tsikhanouskaya emphasized the continued need for international support.

"This support of world leaders helped the people in Belarus to believe they are not alone in their fight for freedom and democracy," she said. "However, the repressions have not stopped for one day in Belarus since last year."

She urged the West to continue and strengthen a policy of "nonrecognition of Lukashenka" and repeated her position that the "only solution" to the standoff in her country was new elections. She added that France could be a part of a "mediation platform" to facilitate another vote.

Tsikhanouskaya met on September 14 with Austrian Minister for EU Affairs Karoline Edtstadler in Vilnius.

"Austria supports civil society in Belarus," Edtstadler wrote on Twitter. "We are definitely on the side of democracy and Justice."

With reporting by AFP

The investigative journalism group Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) says it has halted its operations in Russia to shield its journalists from an ongoing government crackdown on independent media in the country.

The OCCRP said on September 15 that most of its Russian partners cooperating with it had been labeled as "foreign agents" or "undesirable" organizations, putting them at risk, given the current conditions.

It added that it had proposed its employees in Russia move to other countries, while those who stayed received severance payments and assistance in finding new jobs.

"We will not stop reporting on the kleptocracy but increasingly there is little gained from being there and great risks to the freedom of employees. We will work with journalists outside," OCCRP co-founder and editor Drew Sullivan tweeted.

"We thank the dedicated journalists who sought hard to tell the real truth and to counter the murderous misinformation machine that is the Russian government. They are true heroes. The people of that great country deserve more," another tweet said.

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The OCCRP is a noncommercial organization that unites more than 50 independent media outlets across the world and publishes more than 100 investigative reports each year.

Critics have said Russia's law on "foreign agents," initially adopted in 2012 and amended several times since, is being used by the authorities against independent voices, especially in recent months with parliamentary elections approaching and the ruling, Kremlin-backed United Russia party slumping in opinion polls.

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The law requires nongovernmental organizations that are deemed to be receiving foreign assistance and engaged in political activity to be registered and to identify themselves as "foreign agents," as well as to submit to audits.

Organizations designated as "foreign agents" also have to carry out tedious administrative procedures, including clearly indicating their status to the public.

In July, the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, which is composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law, called on Russia to reject aspects of the "foreign agents" laws, saying they had a "significant chilling effect...on the free exercise of the civil and political rights which are vital for an effective democracy."

Russia has said the laws and new amendments are designed to increase transparency and enhance national security, but the Venice Commission said in its report that the results will be the exact opposite.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and several of its Russian-language news sites, including its flagship Russian-language television channel, Current Time, are on the "foreign agents" registry.

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Who Has Russia Labeled As A 'Foreign Agent'?

RFE/RL has not labeled its content, resulting in the Justice Ministry imposing tens of millions of dollars in fines. RFE/RL has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights and has also moved to shift some of its employees and operations out of Moscow to Kyiv and elsewhere.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly has said that Russia is attempting to fine RFE/RL's Moscow bureau out of existence with the penalties.

A corporation linked to a relative of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has received tens of millions of dollars from the country's sovereign wealth fund, an investigation by RFE/RL's Uzbek Service has revealed.

Orient Group, which is linked to Oybek Umarov -- a relative of Mirziyoev -- received the funds through the Uzbek Oman Investment Company (UOIC), the investigation showed.

Umarov, a founder and shareholder of Orient Group, is the younger brother of Otabek Umarov, who is married to Mirziyoev's daughter, Shahnoza.

Seventy-five percent of the UOIC's charter capital is owned by the Investment Authority of Oman. The remaining 25 percent is owned by Uzbekistan's Fund for Reconstruction and Development, which maintains the country's sovereign wealth fund.

According to the fund's official website, its capital reached $25 billion last year. The money -- which is generated by the government -- is meant for developing basic sectors of the country's economy and providing benefits for its citizens.

But the investigation by RFE/RL, in cooperation with the University of Ulster's Kristian Lasslett, shows the Orient Group was a major recipient of state money in recent years.

Lasslett researched the UOIC's investment portfolio in Uzbekistan between 2016 and 2020.

The research showed that 86 percent -- or about $161 million -- of the UOIC's total traceable investment in Uzbekistan during that period was made in companies, businesses, and projects that belong to the Orient Group.

Among them are Gold Dried Fruit Export, which received $25 million, and Binokor Temir Beton Servis, which got nearly $20 million in investments from the UOIC.

The Orient Group consists of at least 58 companies involved in various sectors, including banking, construction, retail, real estate, and a soccer club.

The UOIC states on its website: "We create partnerships and help investors to develop their businesses as well as accelerate the development of the economy of the country."

But it remains unclear why the majority of the company's investments focus only on the Orient Group.

RFE/RL contacted both the UOIC and the Orient Group for comment but received no response.

The investigation suggests Mirziyoev knows that the money from the sovereign wealth fund was given to the Orient Group by the UOIC because -- according to law -- any allocation of money or loans from the fund must be signed by the president.

Getting Rich Quick -- But Quietly

Oybek Umarov rose rapidly in the business world after his older brother married then-Prime Minister Mirziyoev's daughter in 2007.

In 2010, when just 24 years old, Oybek Umarov was registered as one of four founders of a major private bank, Orient Finans.

Some of Oybek Umarov's acquaintances from his childhood in Ferghana Province told RFE/RL they remember him as a little-known cattle trader whose fortunes changed after his brother joined the Mirziyoev family.

By June 2015, Oybek Umarov owned $13.6 million worth of shares in Finans Bank. After Mirziyoev became president in 2016 Oybek Umarov's business interests grew immensely.

His diverse portfolio includes several multimillion-dollar businesses in construction, tourism, banking, and the textile industry.

Despite the business empire linked to Oybek Umarov, he keeps a low profile in public and has no presence on social media.

But his brother is a keen user of social media, with 10 million followers on Instagram -- though Otabek Umarov makes no mention of his wealthy brother on social media or in public.

That has sparked speculation the first family doesn't want to attract attention to Oybek Umarov out of concern that his growing business empire could come under public scrutiny.

Perks Of Office

In Uzbekistan, the president enjoys unchecked power and controls the country's politics and its business sphere.

Several family members of former President Islam Karimov -- who ruled the country from 1991 until his death in 2016 -- were accused of exploiting their clout to amass vast fortunes.

Karimov's eldest daughter, Gulnara Karimova, has been imprisoned after being found guilty of extortion, money laundering, misappropriating property, and other financial crimes.

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Since taking office, Mirziyoev has pledged to clean up Uzbekistan’s reputation as a haven for corruption in the hope of attracting new foreign investment for Central Asia's most populous country.

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan's lower chamber of parliament, the Mazhilis, has approved the first reading of a bill that would allow the blocking of social networks and messaging apps if their owners fail to establish local offices in the Central Asian country.

According to a bill amending the law on the protection of children's rights, which was approved in its initial reading on September 15, foreign social networks and messaging services would be obliged to register in Kazakhstan and set up local offices to receive permission to operate in the country.

The bill still faces two further readings in parliament, and then must be approved by the legislature's upper chamber, the Senate, before it is signed into law by President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.

Companies affected will have six months to register in Kazakhstan and open local offices once the bill becomes law.

The bill was initiated by Mazhilis lawmakers Aidos Sary and Dinara Zakieva, who also proposed allowing regulators to block websites without a court ruling.

The leadership of the tightly controlled former Soviet republic has been concerned over anti-government rallies in recent years organized via Facebook and other social networks by the leader of the banned Democratic Choice Of Kazakhstan movement, Mukhtar Ablyazov, who lives in the European Union.

International human rights groups have said that Kazakhstan frequently blocks or restricts assessment to social networks. Freedom House in its annual report on the level of the Internet freedom in the world, defined Kazakhstan as a "not free" country.

Two more Kazakh activists have been sentenced to "restricted freedom," a parole-like sentence, for having links to the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement amid an ongoing crackdown on supporters of the opposition group and the associated Koshe (Street) party.

On September 15, a court in the southern city of Shymkent sentenced Lazzat Dosmambetova to 30 months of restricted freedom and barred her from involvement in public activities for five years after finding her guilty of the "creation of a branch of a banned group and taking part in its operations."

Dosmambetova rejected the charges as politically motivated and said she will appeal the court's decision.

The day before, a court in Nur-Sultan, the capital, sentenced activist Altyn Lesbaeva to two years of restricted freedom after convicting her of having links to the DVK and the Koshe party and propagating their ideas.

Lesbaeva was also barred from taking part in public activities for three years. She refused to admit guilt and vowed to appeal the ruling as well.

Many activists across the Central Asian country have been handed lengthy prison terms or parole-like "restricted freedom" sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of the DVK and Koshe, as well as for taking part in the rallies organized by the two groups.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the government. The authorities labeled the DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.

Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan's law on public gatherings contradicts international standards, as it requires preliminary permission from the authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies, even though the constitution guarantees citizens the right of free assembly.

QAPSHAGHAI, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan has approved a request for early release filed by jailed activist Almat Zhumaghulov, whom rights organizations in the Central Asian nation have recognized as a political prisoner.

Zhumaghulov's lawyer, Aidyn Tabyldiev, told RFE/RL that the Qapshaghai City Court in the southern region of Almaty agreed on September 15 to release Zhumaghulov on parole.

The court, which had rejected several previous parole requests by Zhumaghulov, did not say why it had granted parole this time.

Tabyldiev said his client had been diagnosed with a herniated disc, while Zhumgahulov’s family members have said his condition due to an ulcer has worsened in recent months.

Zhumaghulov was sentenced to eight years in prison in December 2018 after he and two other defendants were found guilty of planning a "holy war" because they were spreading the ideas of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) opposition movement.

Zhumaghulov pleaded not guilty, calling the case against him and his co-defendants politically motivated.

The DVK was founded by Mukhtar Ablyazov, an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government who has been residing in France for several years.

Ablyazov has been organizing unsanctioned anti-government rallies in Kazakhstan via the Internet while in exile.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has officially set the country's third parliamentary elections of 2021 for November 14, the same day voters will cast ballots in a presidential election.

The presidential press office said in a statement on September 15 that Radev will dissolve parliament and name an interim government on September 16.

The move was expected as Radev had indicated he favored saving time and money by holding the votes at the same time.

Bulgaria held parliamentary elections on April 4 and July 11. But no party in the divided legislature managed to put together a majority coalition needed to form a cabinet after either vote.

Bulgaria's National Assembly on September 2 scheduled the country's next presidential election to take place on November 14. Radev has said that he will run for a second term. So far, he is the only official candidate in the presidential race.

Two parties -- the Bulgarian Socialist Party and There Is Such A People -- have stated that they will support Radev's candidacy for a second term, rather than fielding their own candidates for the post.

The Smart Voting system created by jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has heavily backed Communist Party candidates to oust their Kremlin-backed opponents as Russians prepare to vote for a new lower house of parliament.

Smart Voting, an idea that Navalny came up with in 2018, is an online strategy designed to promote candidates that have the best chance to defeat those from United Russia, the Kremlin-linked ruling party.

It doesn't, however, promote any particular opposition party or candidates.

Russians vote on September 17-19 for a new State Duma, along with legislatures in 39 regions, and nine regional governors.

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The Smart Voting list, published by Navalny's associates on September 15, recommends 137 Communist Party nominees, 48 candidates from the A Just Russia party, 20 Liberal Democrats, and 10 from the liberal Yabloko party. A handful of candidates for other parties are also recommended.

Few genuine Kremlin critics have been allowed to run in the elections, seen as a key part of President Vladimir Putin's efforts to further cement his hold on power heading into the next presidential balloting, scheduled for 2024.

"Russia is holding elections to the State Duma from Sept. 17-19. United Russia will try to stay in power for another five years," Navalny's YouTube channel said in a video accompanying the recommendations.

"We can prevent this with the help of Smart Voting, a strategy that allows you to combine the voters' ballots against United Russia," it said.

Navalny's team has implemented the Smart Voting system twice in regional elections over the past two years -- with largely successful results. In 2019, it helped opposition candidates win 20 of 45 seats on the Moscow City Duma, while in regional elections last year United Russia lost its majority in legislatures in the cities of Novosibirsk, Tambov, and Tomsk.

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In the past, the strategy has been promoted mainly through e-mail and websites. This year, Navalny's team rolled out a downloadable app to help guide voters.

Navalny is hoping to build on those successes and the declining popularity of United Russia amid the Kremlin's flagging efforts to deal with an economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic and years of ongoing international sanctions.

In response to opposition efforts to loosen United Russia's hold, authorities have unleashed a sweeping crackdown against Navalny’s allies and supporters, as well as the independent media, in recent months.

Navalny, who is Putin's most vocal domestic critic, is serving a 2 1/2-year jail sentence for parole violations on a conviction he says was trumped-up. His foundation has been designated as an "extremist" organization.

His jailing has strained Moscow's relations with the West, which has demanded that he be freed.

Meanwhile, security officials have broken up -- sometimes violently -- rallies and demonstrations in support of Navalny.

The Moscow directorate of the Supreme Court's judicial department said earlier this month that almost 7,000 people were convicted and sentenced in the first half of this year alone for violations of the law on public gatherings in the Russian capital.

About 90 percent of those cases ended up with convictions. Of those convicted, 1-in-5 were handed jail sentences.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Human rights activists in Kazakhstan have launched a campaign to collect signatures for a petition demanding that President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev release jailed dissident poet Aron Atabek, who has been behind bars since 2007 and is said to be in failing health.

Bakhytzhan Toreghozhina, a leading member of the Almaty-based human rights group Ar, Rukh, Khaq (Dignity, Spirit, Truth), told RFE/RL that the signatures will be collected for five days and then will be sent to Toqaev, who has the authority to pardon inmates.

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The 68-year-old poet, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of helping organize protests that resulted in the death of a police officer, is said to be suffering from heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

Atabek has maintained his innocence. He rejected a 2012 government pardon offer that would have required him to admit guilt.

"The president of the republic may, at his own discretion, pardon a convict or a person who has served the sentence," the petition says. "We ask you to exercise this right and have mercy on Aron Yedigeev (Atabek)."

Within hours of its posting on Facebook on September 15, the petition had dozens of signatures.

Kazakh authorities have shown little, if any, tolerance toward criticism, whether it comes from the independent press, activists, or political opponents.

Human rights groups in Kazakhstan have said that Atabek has been constantly tortured in prison, with guards intentionally splashing water with high concentrations of chlorine on the floor of his cell to damage his health.

For years, domestic and international rights organizations have demanded the Kazakh government release Atabek.

Last month, a picture of Atabek, taken by human rights activists who visited the dissident poet in prison, caused a public outcry. The poet looked exhausted and ill.

Atabek was transferred to solitary confinement in December 2012 and spent two years there after an article he wrote critical of then-President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his government was smuggled out of prison and published online.

Atabek and his relatives said in 2014 that prison guards had broken his leg, which the authorities denied.

PRISTINA -- The first case at a special court investigating alleged atrocities by ethnic Albanian separatists during the 1998-99 Kosovo War has begun in the Netherlands, with prosecutors saying they have irrefutable evidence of a former rebel commander's guilt in murdering and torturing suspected collaborators.

Salih Mustafa, a commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), faces charges of murder, torture, cruel treatment, and arbitrary detention allegedly committed in April 1999 against prisoners held in the village of Zllash, east of the capital, Pristina.

Prosecutors said in their opening statement that Mustafa and his men "brutalized and tortured" fellow ethnic Kosovar Albanians whom they accused of collaborating with Serbs in Zllash.

"These were not enemies of Kosovo. They were not spies," senior prosecutor Jack Smith told the court. "Their only crime was to have political views that differed from the [UCK] and its senior leaders."

Smith stressed that his team wasn't targeting the UCK, Kosovo, or its people, nor their struggle for independence.

"Nothing, nothing could be further from the truth," he told the court.

The 49-year-old Mustafa, who reiterated his plea of not guilty, was arrested last year while working as an adviser at Kosovo's Defense Ministry.

The case is the first to go to trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, which was established in The Hague in 2015 to probe allegations that members of the UCK committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war between ethnic Albanian rebels and Serbian forces.

The EU-backed court operates under Kosovar law but is based in the Netherlands to shield witnesses from intimidation.

At the September 15 session, the presiding judge read out the indictment to Mustafa, who was asked whether he wished to confirm his earlier not plea of not guilty.

"Yes, I am not guilty of any of the counts brought here before me by this Gestapo office," Mustafa, dressed in a black hoodie and track pants, told the court, referring to the the secret police of Nazi Germany.

Presiding judge Mappie Veldt-Foglia warned him that the court would "not allow the use of disrespectful language" at future hearings.

The court has said in statement that several hearings are scheduled during September and October, during which the prosecution intends to call 16 witnesses.

Among the other defendants facing trial are former Kosovar President Hashim Thaci; Kadri Veseli, a former speaker of parliament and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo; Rexhep Selimi, a Kosovar lawmaker; and Jakup Krasniqi, another former speaker of parliament.

They have been detained in The Hague since November 2020 and have pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after a 78-day NATO air campaign drove Serbian troops out and an international peacekeeping force moved in.

The conflict left more than 10,000 people dead -- most of them ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. More than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for.

Kosovo, which has a largely ethnic Albanian population, is recognized by many Western states but not Serbia or its allies Russia and China.

With reporting by AFP and AP

A group of bipartisan lawmakers is seeking to undo U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to waive sanctions on the Russian-owned operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in a last-ditch effort to stop it from pumping gas to Europe.

An amendment introduced on September 14 by Representatives Michael McCaul (Republican-Texas), Marcy Kaptur (Democrat-Ohio), and about eight other lawmakers orders the president to impose sanctions on any entity responsible for the planning, construction, or operation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. It also authorizes new mandatory sanctions to foreign entities and individuals responsible for the planning, construction, and operation of Nord Stream 2.

Completed just last week after Biden waived mandatory congressional sanctions in May, the Baltic Sea pipeline will bring Russian gas directly to Germany, bypassing land routes through Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries. However, it must first receive certification, a process that can take several months, holding out hope for some lawmakers that it can be stopped.

Critics say Nord Stream 2 is designed to deprive Ukraine of lucrative transit fees and will further strengthen Russia’s influence over Europe’s energy industry.

Ukraine and Poland vehemently oppose the project on the grounds that it is a national security threat, while Germany has steadfastly supported it. The U.S. Congress has sided with Kyiv and Warsaw, imposing two rounds of mandatory sanctions to stop its completion.

However, the Biden administration, in an attempt to improve frayed ties with Germany, agreed to waive the sanctions in exchange for commitments from Berlin to invest in Ukraine’s energy industry and push the Kremlin to continue to export some gas through the country.

The amendment sponsored by McCaul and Kaptur was submitted to defense funding legislation under consideration by the House Rules Committee.

The legislation, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), has been used the past two years to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2, delaying its completion by more than a year.

The Rules Committee has a meeting scheduled for September 20 to decide whether to include the Nord Stream 2 amendment in the NDAA. Lawmakers have the option to defer to the House Foreign Affairs Committee as it did last year when similar legislation was proposed.

There is overwhelming bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives for reimposing sanctions. Democrats allied with Biden hope to stop the amendment from being added to the bill by either committee.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has wrapped up her farewell trip to the Balkans by pledging in Tirana that "regardless of how the German elections turn out, any new German chancellor will have a heart for the region."

Merkel traveled to the Albanian capital on September 14, the second day of a two-day trip to the Western Balkans as she prepares to leave office after German elections later this month.

She met with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and the leaders of five other Western Balkan states that strive for membership in the European Union.

The previous day, in Belgrade, she said one of Germany's goals was to see all six states -- Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo -- join the European Union, but that they had a "long way" to go before entering the bloc.

However, in Tirana, Merkel criticized some "old" EU countries for showing signs of "enlargement fatigue."

"If the conditions for accession or for the start of accession talks are met, then the EU must keep its word," Merkel said. She added that it was not fair for individual EU members to "keep making up new conditions because they don't feel like dealing with potential new members for domestic political reasons."

The six Balkan countries have for decades sought EU membership, but the bloc’s interest in enlargement has stalled.

Slovenia, which holds the EU rotating presidency, is preparing a summit of countries from the region in October to relaunch the enlargement process. The Western Balkan countries are at different stages of the process.

After a veto by EU-member Bulgaria, membership negotiations for Albania and North Macedonia were postponed, despite the two states having fulfilled all criteria.

Montenegro and Serbia are the most advanced, having opened accession negotiations and chapters, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidate countries.

With reporting AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said Kyiv expects to receive a second tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under a $5 billion loan program before the end of the year, even as the nation’s crucial judicial reform stumbles.

An IMF mission will arrive in Kyiv on September 18 to evaluate Ukraine’s progress on several key reforms, including judicial, central bank, and anti-corruption legislation, that the loans are contingent upon.

The IMF last year approved the 18-month loan to help the country deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Ukraine received its first tranche totaling $2.1 billion in June and is seeking a second tranche of $750 million.

“Ukraine has fulfilled all the conditions, met all the benchmarks that were underlined in the memorandum with the IMF," Shmyhal said. "We expect this mission will go smoothly, which will be the final one in preparation for the next tranche.”

Ukraine’s parliament in July passed judicial reform, which has been a top priority for the nation’s Western backers because it is seen as essential to enhancing the rule of law and curbing corruption.

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The reform calls for the creation of two panels consisting of six experts each, including three foreigners, who will oversee the two bodies responsible for selecting and choosing candidates for judicial vacancies.

Ukraine’s judiciary has opposed the reform, saying the inclusion of foreign experts in the process comprises the nation’s sovereignty and is seeking to overturn it in the Constitutional Court.

Civil society activists say outside experts are necessary because the nation’s judicial system is deeply corrupt and incapable of reforming itself, pointing to past failures to rid itself of compromised judges.

International business associations say Ukraine’s corrupt judiciary is a major hinderance to foreign investment.

Ukraine’s judicial reform took a step forward when the country’s Western backers on September 10 selected its three candidates for each of the two panels.

However, Ukraine’s Council of Judges on September 13 announced that it had failed to select experts for one of the two panels, sparking accusations it was seeking to undermine the reform.

"They are buying their time to bring the appeal to the Constitutional Court with the hope of canceling the reform,” Tetiana Shevchuk, legal counsel for the Kyiv-based Anti-Corruption Action Center, told RFE/RL.

Following the council’s decision, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for a meeting on September 16 -- two days before the IMF mission arrives -- with representatives of the judiciary and parliament as well as ambassadors from the Group of Seven (G7) nations who back the reform agenda.

The president said the purpose of the meeting is to prevent the legislation from being derailed.

“Every illegal action aimed at blocking judicial reform will be immediately evaluated and rebuffed. I will not allow judges who hamper the reform and the cleanup of the judicial system to deprive the Ukrainians of the right to justice,” Zelenskiy said on September 13.

Zelenskiy touted the passage of judicial legislation during his first official visit to Washington earlier this month as he sought to dismiss concerns about his nation’s commitment to the tough reform agenda.

Shevchuk said judicial reform is one of Zelenskiy’s “main achievements” during his two years in office and that he has to “show ownership” of the process to resolve the situation.

“Hopefully this meeting will be enough to persuade the judges to move ahead with the reform,” she said.

With reporting by the Kyiv Post

DUSHANBE -- Dozens of Afghan women residing in Tajikistan have rallied at Afghanistan's embassy in Dushanbe to protest against the erosion of human rights under the newly installed Taliban-led government and what they said was Pakistan's support of the militants.

The women chanted, "Pakistan, go away from Afghanistan!," "Stop killing Afghans," and, "We support resistance," among other slogans, as they gathered in front of the embassy on September 14, before entering the building.

The protesters told RFE/RL that they are concerned over Afghanistan's future and expressed hope that the resistance fighters led by Ahmad Masud in the country's north will be supported by other nations to battle against the Taliban.

Afghan Ambassador to Tajikistan Mohammad Zohir Akbar met with the protesting women and said he supported them, adding that the Taliban will be unable to maintain government structures.

After toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul a month ago, the hard-line Islamist group has told the world it has changed, including in its attitude toward women and girls. The group also promised inclusiveness and a general amnesty for former opponents.

But many Afghans remain deeply fearful, especially after the militants formed an all-male government led by hard-line Taliban veterans, banned protests, and cracked down on demonstrators and journalists.

Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry has summoned the U.S. ambassador to the Central Asian country, John Pommersheim, to make a verbal protest over President Joe Biden's recent comments about the country in relation with the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"A verbal note of protest was conveyed to the U.S. Ambassador in connection with the statements by the President of the United States of America Mr. Joe Biden during his visit to a fire station in Pennsylvania. The verbal note stated that such statements do not correspond to the spirit of friendly relations and partnership. The Republic of Tajikistan is interested in the development of mutually beneficial relations with the United States of America in the spirit of mutual support and mutual respect," a Tajik Foreign Ministry statement on September 14 said.

The protest was in response to Biden's comments on September 11 at a firehouse in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The president defended the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan despite chaotic scenes at the Kabul airport, where some Afghans desperate to leave the country died after trying to hang on to the landing gear of an aircraft as it took off.

"For example, if we were in Tajikistan and pulled up a C-130 and said we're going to let, you know, anybody who was involved with being sympathetic to us to get on the plane, you'd have people hanging in the wheel as well," Biden said.

Biden's statement caused a wave of reactions on social media by Tajik users, who criticized Biden's statement saying the two countries are very different and such parallels cannot be made.

PRAGUE -- The Prague City Court has remanded Russian citizen Aleksandr Franchetti, who is wanted by Ukraine on an international arrest warrant, in custody until a decision is made on his possible extradition to Kyiv.

Franchetti, who was detained at Prague's international airport on September 12, was taken to the Pankrac detention center in the Czech capital after the court handed down its ruling on September 14.

Franchetti is wanted by Ukraine for his alleged involvement in Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Black Sea region of Crimea.

His lawyer, Jan Schwartz, immediately appealed the court's decision.

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Franchetti has admitted to being an active participant in the events in Crimea in 2014. Just days before Russia’s military occupation of the region, he created a paramilitary formation called North Wind, which helped seize power lines and gas pipelines.

In an interview posted on YouTube, Franchetti said he acted in coordination with Russia’s naval command at the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

According to media reports, Franchetti was granted permanent residence in the Czech Republic in 2000 and has worked there as a fitness trainer. He says he has never violated international law.

With reporting by iDnes and TASS

More than 150 media and nongovernmental organizations in Russia have launched a petition urging the authorities to cancel the controversial “foreign agent” law, which is widely seen as a tool used by the Kremlin to stifle civil society and independent media.

The Russian law, first passed in 2012 and amended several times since, requires designated media organizations to label all of their content with an intrusive disclaimer.

The petition says that, since January, the Justice Ministry has added six media outlets, 20 journalists, and seven NGOs to the registry of "foreign agents." Between 2013 and 2020, a total of 221 groups and individuals were put on the list.

As of September 14. almost 8,000 people had signed the petition, which is located on the Change.org website.

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Who Has Russia Labeled As A 'Foreign Agent'?

"We consider the ongoing situation as an action of the state's pressure on media and public organizations. The law itself and the way it is being used aim to weaken civil society institutions," the statement says. "The law on foreign agents must be fully annulled."

The designation carries ominous Soviet-era connotations and comes with onerous labeling requirements that have threatened the financing of some media outlets.

Some media have complied, even amid fears that the labels would scare off advertisers. At least one designated Russian news outlet has closed, while Meduza has resorted to crowdfunding to continue operating.

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The designation has also gained in prominence as Russians prepare to head to the polls for elections on September 17-19.

Some critics say that with support for the Kremlin-backed United Russia party slumping badly, officials are using the law to muzzle the voices of opposition candidates by curbing independent media outlets.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and several of its Russian-language news sites, including its flagship Russian-language television channel, Current Time, are on the registry.

RFE/RL has not labeled its content, resulting in the Justice Ministry imposing tens of millions of dollars in fines. RFE/RL has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights and has also moved to shift some of its employees and operations out of Moscow to Kyiv and elsewhere.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly has said that Russia is attempting to fine RFE/RL's Moscow bureau out of existence with the penalties.

MOSCOW -- The Moscow-based human rights center Memorial has recognized two Chechen brothers held in Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya as political prisoners.

Memorial said on September 14 that Ismail Isayev and Salekh Magamadov have been persecuted for their criticism of the authorities in Chechnya and for being homosexual.

The brothers have been held in a detention center in the Chechen capital, Grozny, since February on a charge of supporting illegal armed groups by providing them with food.

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"The case against Isayev and Magamadov is marred with blatant violations -- they were not allowed to see their lawyers, legal deadlines in the case have been ignored, pressure has been imposed on the brothers and their relatives, and the two were tortured," the statement says, adding that the case against Isayev and Magamadov is politically motivated and unlawful.

Isayev and Magamadov were initially detained last year over their opposition Telegram channel, through which they criticized Chechen authorities.

After their arrest, a video showing them apologizing for their criticism of the authorities appeared on the Internet. In the video, the young men appeared to have been beaten, according to Memorial.

In July 2020, the Russian LGBT Network helped the two men move to the city of Nizhny Novgorod, from which they planned to leave Russia for an unspecified foreign country.

However, they were abducted and brought to Chechnya in February, where they were charged with supporting terrorists.

Isayev and Magamadov have complained that they were beaten and tortured while in custody.

Chechen authorities have said the two men lied about their sexual orientation to make it easier for them to get asylum abroad, which they and human rights organizations reject.

The volatile region's government and its leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya since 2007, are frequently accused by Russian and international activists of overseeing grave human rights abuses that include abductions, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

Kremlin critics say Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned a blind eye to the alleged abuses and violations of the country's constitution by Kadyrov because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiment and violence in Chechnya, the site of two devastating post-Soviet wars and an Islamist insurgency that spread to other mostly Muslim regions in the North Caucasus.

A court in Moscow has ordered Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram to pay more fines for failing to delete content banned by Russian law amid a government campaign to gain more control over the Internet.

A magistrate court in Moscow's Taganka district on September 14 fined Facebook 21 million rubles ($288,000), Telegram 9 million rubles ($123,400), and Twitter 5 million rubles ($68,500) for failing to abide by requests to delete the content as requested by Russian Internet regulator Roskomnadzor.

In recent months, Moscow courts have fined Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, and TikTok over content, as well as for refusing to localize the personal data of its users in Russia.

The total fines Moscow courts have ordered Facebook to pay since January now surpass 90 million rubles ($1.23 million), while the total amount of fines Telegram and Twitter are obliged to pay are 40 million rubles ($550,000) and 60 million rubles ($822,700), respectively.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused social-media and other tech giants of flouting the country's Internet laws, including a push seeking to force foreign firms to open offices in Russia.

Many critics say the push has nothing to do with "Internet integrity" and instead accuse the authorities of trying to quell dissent with parliamentary elections looming on September 19 and the ruling United Party's popularity slumping.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax