rferl--2020-11-06--Former Slovak Police Officials Arrested In Probe Of Journalist's 2018 Death

Several former Slovak police officials have been arrested in raids carried out over the 2018 murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak .
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor ’ s office on November 5 said a special police unit arrested the men on suspicion of forming a criminal network , but she did not provide further details on their specific links to the case .
The Markiza television channel showed video of a former police chief being arrested during a raid at his residence .
Other media showed three other formerly high-ranking police officials being taken into custody .
The anti-graft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kusnirova , both 27 , were gunned down in their house outside the capital , Bratislava , in February 2018 .
The double homicide sparked massive protests that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico .
Kuciak had written about the corrupt links between politics and business .
Since the murder , Slovak police have been investigating corrupt networks in the judiciary and law enforcement .
Millionaire Marian Kocner was accused of having commissioned Kuciak 's murder .
Authorities allege he bribed and blackmailed judges and prosecutors in efforts to buy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , on September 3 , Kocner was acquitted of the charge of having ordered Kuciak 's murder .
Among his journalistic endeavors , Kuciak had reported on Kocner 's activities .
At the time , the International Press Institute ( IPI ) called the verdict “ a major setback for justice and the fight against impunity.
” The court did , however , convict Tomas Szabo , who drove the getaway vehicle , of murder and sentenced him to 25 years in prison for his role in the crime .
Based on @ @ @ @ @

A former top FBI counterintelligence agent pleaded guilty to charges related to his work for notorious Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, changing his plea after federal prosecutors filed new, reduced charges of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia by working for the billionaire industrialist.
The move by Charles McGonigal, made on August 15 before a federal judge in New York City, ends a prosecution that had stunned the FBI, where McGonigal had investigated Russian influence operations for years while climbing the bureau’s ranks.
The 55-year-old also still faces a separate set of foreign agent charges in Washington, D.C., related to work he did for Albanian officials.
McGonigal, who retired as head counterintelligence in the FBI's New York bureau in 2018, was originally indicted in January by a grand jury on more serious charges of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions.
Prosecutors alleged that McGonigal and a former Russian diplomat with whom he was associated, were paid more than $200,000 to do work for Deripaska, a wealthy Russian metals tycoon who has long been seen as a Kremlin insider. Deripaska was hit with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018.
U.S. authorities said McGonigal was hired to dig up negative information on Vladimir Potanin, a rival oligarch to Deripaska. McGonigal and the former diplomat, Sergei Shestakov, also worked to try and get Deripaska removed from U.S. sanctions lists.
Shestakov has pleaded not guilty to the more serious charges than had been originally filed against McGonigal.
They "attempted to conceal Deripaska's involvement by, among other means, not directly naming Deripaska in electronic communications, using shell companies as counterparties in the contract that outlined the services to be performed, using a forged signature on that contract, and using the same shell companies to send and receive payment from Deripaska," the Justice Department said in a press release after McGonigal entered his plea.
McGonigal could receive up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in December.
The separate case filed in Washington, D.C., by federal prosecutors centers on work McGonigal allegedly did on behalf of a former Albanian intelligence officer, for which he was paid $225,000.
McGonigal also allegedly lied to the FBI about his contacts with foreign nationals and foreign travel while he was still employed by the bureau.
Deripaska also faces charges of violating U.S. sanctions through real estate deals and a complicated scheme under which he allegedly arranged for his girlfriend to travel to the United States to give birth to two of their children.


rferl--2020-11-06--U.S. Appeals Court Orders Release Of Russian Woman Convicted Of Parental Kidnapping

A U.S. appeals court has ordered the immediate release of a Russian woman who was convicted of international parental kidnapping for moving her children from the United States to Russia amid a divorce from her American husband .
Bogdana Alexandrovna Osipova was convicted in Kansas last year on the kidnapping charge and two counts of attempting to extort money .
She was acquitted of the extortion convictions in August by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals , but the court upheld the parental kidnapping charge , sending the case back to a lower court for resentencing .
Federal prosecutors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ November 5 decision .
Osipova , who has been imprisoned since 2017 , sought her release because she had already served the maximum three-year prison sentence allowed on the kidnapping charge .
She filed an emergency appeal after the lower court judge failed to immediately free her .
The federal appeals court told a lower court judge to order her release and schedule a date for resentencing over videoconference , which has been scheduled for January 8 .
Osipova ’ s attorney , Craig Divine , did not immediately return an e-mail message @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who has dual Russian and U.S. citizenship , left Kansas in 2014 with her two children .
She gave birth to a third child soon after returning to Russia .
The Kansas judge awarded sole custody of the children to her ex-husband , Brian Mobley , because she had left without court approval or Mobley ’ s knowledge .
A Russian court awarded custody to Osipova .
Osipova was arrested in September 2017 after returning to the United States without her children to seek a change in child-support arrangements .
Russia demanded last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. Representative Ron Estes ( Republican-Kansas ) called on Russia to reunite the Kansas father with his children .

A U.S. appeals court has ordered the immediate release of a Russian woman who was convicted of international parental kidnapping for moving her children from the United States to Russia amid a divorce from her American husband.
Bogdana Alexandrovna Osipova was convicted in Kansas last year on the kidnapping charge and two counts of attempting to extort money.
She was acquitted of the extortion convictions in August by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, but the court upheld the parental kidnapping charge, sending the case back to a lower court for resentencing.
Federal prosecutors did not fight the appeals court's November 5 decision.
Osipova, who has been imprisoned since 2017, sought her release because she had already served the maximum three-year prison sentence allowed on the kidnapping charge. She filed an emergency appeal after the lower court judge failed to immediately free her.
The federal appeals court told a lower court judge to order her release and schedule a date for resentencing over videoconference, which has been scheduled for January 8.
Osipova’s attorney, Craig Divine, did not immediately return an e-mail message from RFE/RL seeking comment.
Osipova, who has dual Russian and U.S. citizenship, left Kansas in 2014 with her two children. She gave birth to a third child soon after returning to Russia.
The Kansas judge awarded sole custody of the children to her ex-husband, Brian Mobley, because she had left without court approval or Mobley’s knowledge. A Russian court awarded custody to Osipova.
Osipova was arrested in September 2017 after returning to the United States without her children to seek a change in child-support arrangements.
Russia demanded last year that Osipova be released, while U.S. Representative Ron Estes (Republican-Kansas) called on Russia to reunite the Kansas father with his children.
With reporting by AP


rferl--2020-11-05--Ruble Rebounds From Near-Record Lows On U.S. Election Bounce; Turbulence Seen On Horizon

The Russian ruble is expected to face continuing headwinds , despite the currency leading a post-U.S. election rally by emerging-market currencies .
The ruble jumped on November 5 and was on pace for one of its best weeks in months as it led a basket of emerging-market currencies in a risk-on environment following the U.S. election .
The ruble was trading at 76.9 to the dollar , an improvement from hovering above 80 on November 2 , a level near lows last seen at the height of the pandemic scare in March .
Sinking oil prices because of the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the U.S. election have put pressure on the ruble in recent months , making the Russian currency one of the worst-performing emerging-market currencies alongside with the Turkish lira and Brazilian real .
But investors are shrugging off U.S. election uncertainty to pile into everything from U.S. tech to emerging markets , turning nearly every asset class green .
The risk-on appetite is based on the bet that a likely Biden presidency with a Republican-controlled Senate will make a massive coronavirus stimulus package less likely and force the Federal Reserve to continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The ruble sank 7 percent in the three months leading up the U.S. elections , pulled down by looming sanctions over the poisoning of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and political turmoil following elections in Belarus .
The ruble 's troubles had been driven in part by the expectation that Biden would win the election and take a harder stance on Russia and impose sanctions .
Russia has also benefited from President Donald Trump 's commitment to oil over green energy , as well as his support for an OPEC+ deal to prevent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wins the presidency , the U.S. may reengage differently in the Middle East and [ eastern Mediterranean ] affairs and put both Russia and Turkey , for different reasons , under much closer scrutiny and possible review for sanctions , '' strategists at TD Securities wrote in a note .
Liam Peach , an emerging-market analyst at London-based Capital Economics Ltd , said the ruble had been under pressure from multiple fronts , regardless of the U.S. election outcome .
In addition to deteriorating relations with the West , U.S. fiscal policy is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` The ruble will struggle to regain much of its ground over the next few years regardless of who the next U.S. president is as there is likely to be a general worsening of relations with the U.S. and the West more generally , which feeds into our view on weak long-term growth prospects , '' he said .
The threat of sanctions and Russia ’ s fraying relationship with the West is unlikely to be an environment in which the ruble performs well , he said .
Anders Aslund , an economics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Council , said that under a Biden presidency U.S energy policy is likely to be more restrained , but that the impact of a green transformation may take years .
The shorter-term impact on Russia will come from U.S. sanctions policy , which will dampen Russia ’ s economic growth through even tighter credit and investment conditions , he said .

The Russian ruble is expected to face continuing headwinds, despite the currency leading a post-U.S. election rally by emerging-market currencies.
The ruble jumped on November 5 and was on pace for one of its best weeks in months as it led a basket of emerging-market currencies in a risk-on environment following the U.S. election.
The ruble was trading at 76.9 to the dollar, an improvement from hovering above 80 on November 2, a level near lows last seen at the height of the pandemic scare in March.
Sinking oil prices because of the coronavirus pandemic and a prospective Joe Biden victory in the U.S. election have put pressure on the ruble in recent months, making the Russian currency one of the worst-performing emerging-market currencies alongside with the Turkish lira and Brazilian real.
But investors are shrugging off U.S. election uncertainty to pile into everything from U.S. tech to emerging markets, turning nearly every asset class green.
The risk-on appetite is based on the bet that a likely Biden presidency with a Republican-controlled Senate will make a massive coronavirus stimulus package less likely and force the Federal Reserve to continue to provide liquidity through market and rate interventions.
The ruble sank 7 percent in the three months leading up the U.S. elections, pulled down by looming sanctions over the poisoning of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and political turmoil following elections in Belarus.
The ruble's troubles had been driven in part by the expectation that Biden would win the election and take a harder stance on Russia and impose sanctions. Russia has also benefited from President Donald Trump's commitment to oil over green energy, as well as his support for an OPEC+ deal to prevent a crude collapse.
"If Biden wins the presidency, the U.S. may reengage differently in the Middle East and [eastern Mediterranean] affairs and put both Russia and Turkey, for different reasons, under much closer scrutiny and possible review for sanctions," strategists at TD Securities wrote in a note.
Liam Peach, an emerging-market analyst at London-based Capital Economics Ltd, said the ruble had been under pressure from multiple fronts, regardless of the U.S. election outcome. In addition to deteriorating relations with the West, U.S. fiscal policy is likely to impact the Russian currency.
"The ruble will struggle to regain much of its ground over the next few years regardless of who the next U.S. president is as there is likely to be a general worsening of relations with the U.S. and the West more generally, which feeds into our view on weak long-term growth prospects," he said.
The threat of sanctions and Russia’s fraying relationship with the West is unlikely to be an environment in which the ruble performs well, he said.
Anders Aslund, an economics expert and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said that under a Biden presidency U.S energy policy is likely to be more restrained, but that the impact of a green transformation may take years.
The shorter-term impact on Russia will come from U.S. sanctions policy, which will dampen Russia’s economic growth through even tighter credit and investment conditions, he said.
With reporting by Bloomberg


rferl--2020-11-05--Kosovo's Former President In Detention In The Hague Over War Crimes Charges

PRISTINA -- Former Kosovar President Hashim Thaci has been transferred to a detention facility in the Netherlands , hours after he resigned to face an indictment at a war crimes court there .
Thaci , a guerrilla leader during the country 's war for independence from Serbia in the 1990s , and two other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army ( UCK ) were `` transferred to the detention facilities of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers '' ( KSC ) in The Hague , the court said in a statement late on November 5 .
Thaci , a commander of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resigned earlier in the day after learning the KSC had confirmed an indictment for war crimes and crimes against humanity against him .
`` As I have pledged , under no circumstances will I allow for the president of the Republic of Kosovo to appear before the court .
Therefore , in order to protect the integrity of the presidency of the Republic of Kosovo , the integrity of the state of Kosovo , the integrity and dignity of the citizens of Kosovo , the people of Kosovo , and to respect the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resign today , '' Thaci said .
After officially taking over the function of acting president , parliament speaker Vjosa Osmani called for unity in a video message , saying Kosovo needed `` strong leadership and a unified state reaction . ''
`` We have not given up our commitment to consolidate the state and cultivate democratic values .
Despite the challenges , we have remained strong in our faith , which I call on you to prove even in these difficult moments , '' she said .
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SPO ) is a court of Kosovo , located in The Hague .
The KSC is mandated to look into allegations that members of the Kosovo Liberation Army ( UCK ) committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1998-99 war to gain independence from Serbia .
It operates under Kosovar law but is based in the Netherlands to shield witnesses from intimidation .
The SPO in June accused Thaci and other suspects of being `` criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders , '' as well as the `` enforced disappearance of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' The alleged crimes involved `` hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian , Serb , Roma , and other ethnicities and include political opponents , '' according to the SPO .
Kosovo 's war of independence from Serbia left more than 10,000 people dead -- most of them ethnic Albanians from Kosovo .
More than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for .
The fighting ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbia .
Kosovo , which has a largely ethnic Albanian population , declared independence from Serbia in 2008 , a move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Serbia or its allies Russia and China .
The KSC said on November 5 that a pretrial judge confirmed the indictment against Thaci , and three other former UCK members -- Kadri Veseli , Rexhep Selimi , and Jakup Krasniqi -- on October 26 .
Veseli , the former speaker of parliament and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo , and Selimi , a Kosovar lawmaker , were also transferred to The Hague on November 5 .
Krasniqi , an ex-speaker of parliament and former guerrilla commander , was taken into custody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operation by Hague-based war crimes prosecutors in cooperation with local police in Pristina and taken to The Hague .
The KSC said Krasniqi ’ s initial appearance before the pretrial judge would take place on November 9 .
Information about the date of the appearances of Thaci , Veseli , and Selimi is to be announced later .
Salih Mustafa , one of the founders of the UCK , had already been transferred to The Hague to face similar charges .
Two more suspects , Nesim Haradinaj and Hysen Gucati , are also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but their indictment has yet to be confirmed .
The European Union said it `` welcomes the fact that [ Thaci ] has agreed to cooperate '' with the KSC & SPO .
`` Full cooperation with these institutions is essential as an important demonstration of Kosovo 's commitment to the rule of law , which in turn is a core element for Kosovo 's progress on its European path and for EU 's engagement with the Western Balkans as a whole , '' spokesman Peter Stano said in a statement .
Following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the representatives of Kosovo to ensure the continuity of the institutions as spelled out in Kosovo law , '' he added .
London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International said the indictment against Thaci `` brings hope for thousands of victims of the Kosovo war who have waited for more than two decades to find out the truth about the horrific crimes committed against them and their loved ones . ''
However , U.S. Representative Eliot Engel ( Democrat-New York ) , chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs , expressed `` serious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SPO was carrying out its mandate , saying that `` it appears to be operating as an ethnic court -- one that only pursues Albanians alleged to have committed crimes . ''
“ I want to be clear : Anyone who commits serious war crimes must be prosecuted , regardless of ethnicity , '' Engel said in a statement .
`` But , the vast majority of crimes committed in Kosovo during this period were carried out by [ Serbian forces ] during its genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing . ''
Earlier on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parliament and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo , Kadri Veseli , also confirmed his indictment by the SPO .
On November 4 , another ex-speaker of parliament , former guerrilla commander Jakup Krasniqi , was taken into custody and transferred to The Hague to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity .
With reporting by AP , Reuters , AFP , dpa , and RFE/RL ’ s Balkan Service

PRISTINA -- Former Kosovar President Hashim Thaci has been transferred to a detention facility in the Netherlands, hours after he resigned to face an indictment at a war crimes court there.
Thaci, a guerrilla leader during the country's war for independence from Serbia in the 1990s, and two other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) were "transferred to the detention facilities of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers" (KSC) in The Hague, the court said in a statement late on November 5.
Thaci, a commander of the UCK during the 1998-99 war, resigned earlier in the day after learning the KSC had confirmed an indictment for war crimes and crimes against humanity against him.
"As I have pledged, under no circumstances will I allow for the president of the Republic of Kosovo to appear before the court. Therefore, in order to protect the integrity of the presidency of the Republic of Kosovo, the integrity of the state of Kosovo, the integrity and dignity of the citizens of Kosovo, the people of Kosovo, and to respect the partnership with the international community, I resign today," Thaci said.
After officially taking over the function of acting president, parliament speaker Vjosa Osmani called for unity in a video message, saying Kosovo needed "strong leadership and a unified state reaction."
"We have not given up our commitment to consolidate the state and cultivate democratic values. Despite the challenges, we have remained strong in our faith, which I call on you to prove even in these difficult moments," she said.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office (KSC & SPO) is a court of Kosovo, located in The Hague.
The KSC is mandated to look into allegations that members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1998-99 war to gain independence from Serbia.
It operates under Kosovar law but is based in the Netherlands to shield witnesses from intimidation.
The SPO in June accused Thaci and other suspects of being "criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders," as well as the "enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture."
The alleged crimes involved "hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities and include political opponents," according to the SPO.
Kosovo's war of independence from Serbia left more than 10,000 people dead -- most of them ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. More than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for. The fighting ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbia.
Kosovo, which has a largely ethnic Albanian population, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move recognized by many Western states but not Serbia or its allies Russia and China.
The KSC said on November 5 that a pretrial judge confirmed the indictment against Thaci, and three other former UCK members -- Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi -- on October 26.
Veseli, the former speaker of parliament and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, and Selimi, a Kosovar lawmaker, were also transferred to The Hague on November 5.
Krasniqi, an ex-speaker of parliament and former guerrilla commander, was taken into custody late on November 4 in a special operation by Hague-based war crimes prosecutors in cooperation with local police in Pristina and taken to The Hague.
The KSC said Krasniqi’s initial appearance before the pretrial judge would take place on November 9.
Information about the date of the appearances of Thaci, Veseli, and Selimi is to be announced later.
Salih Mustafa, one of the founders of the UCK, had already been transferred to The Hague to face similar charges.
Two more suspects, Nesim Haradinaj and Hysen Gucati, are also in detention in the Dutch city, but their indictment has yet to be confirmed.
The European Union said it "welcomes the fact that [Thaci] has agreed to cooperate" with the KSC & SPO.
"Full cooperation with these institutions is essential as an important demonstration of Kosovo's commitment to the rule of law, which in turn is a core element for Kosovo's progress on its European path and for EU's engagement with the Western Balkans as a whole," spokesman Peter Stano said in a statement.
Following Thaci's resignation, "we trust the representatives of Kosovo to ensure the continuity of the institutions as spelled out in Kosovo law," he added.
London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International said the indictment against Thaci "brings hope for thousands of victims of the Kosovo war who have waited for more than two decades to find out the truth about the horrific crimes committed against them and their loved ones."
However, U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (Democrat-New York), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, expressed "serious concerns" about how the KSC & SPO was carrying out its mandate, saying that "it appears to be operating as an ethnic court -- one that only pursues Albanians alleged to have committed crimes."
“I want to be clear: Anyone who commits serious war crimes must be prosecuted, regardless of ethnicity," Engel said in a statement. "But, the vast majority of crimes committed in Kosovo during this period were carried out by [Serbian forces] during its genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing."
Earlier on November 5, a former speaker of parliament and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Kadri Veseli, also confirmed his indictment by the SPO.
On November 4, another ex-speaker of parliament, former guerrilla commander Jakup Krasniqi, was taken into custody and transferred to The Hague to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa, and RFE/RL’s Balkan Service


rferl--2020-11-06--Bulgaria Dispute Threatens To Delay North Macedonia's EU Path

SOFIA -- Bulgaria is threatening to delay North Macedonia 's path toward European Union membership over a history and language dispute with its neighbor .
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry announced on November 6 it had informed the European Commission that Sofia will block the so-called negotiating framework for North Macedonia , which is due to be the basis for the formal launch of EU accession talks .
Bulgaria wants Skopje to acknowledge that both its identity and language have Bulgarian roots , thereby ending any claims that there is a distinct Macedonian minority in Bulgaria .
Skopje has long insisted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that forms part of the country 's culture and national identity , while Sofia says Macedonian is merely a regional dialect of Bulgarian .
In its statement , Bulgaria ’ s Foreign Ministry insisted that Sofia ’ s demands should be included in the EU negotiating framework .
It rejected a declaration of the EU Council accompanying the framework , saying such a document “ is not a legally binding instrument and does not provide the legal guarantees sought by Bulgaria.
” Officials of the two countries have held talks in the past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ differences ahead of a meeting of EU member states ' foreign ministers later this month .
That meeting , initially scheduled for November 10 , has been postponed by a week .
The dispute poses yet another challenge for Skopje , which signed a historic agreement with Athens in 2018 under which North Macedonia changed its name from Macedonia , removing a barrier to potential EU membership .
In March , EU leaders gave North Macedonia -- and Albania -- formal approval to begin talks to join the bloc .

SOFIA -- Bulgaria is threatening to delay North Macedonia's path toward European Union membership over a history and language dispute with its neighbor.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry announced on November 6 it had informed the European Commission that Sofia will block the so-called negotiating framework for North Macedonia, which is due to be the basis for the formal launch of EU accession talks.
Bulgaria wants Skopje to acknowledge that both its identity and language have Bulgarian roots, thereby ending any claims that there is a distinct Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.
Skopje has long insisted Macedonian is a distinct South Slavic language that forms part of the country's culture and national identity, while Sofia says Macedonian is merely a regional dialect of Bulgarian.
In its statement, Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry insisted that Sofia’s demands should be included in the EU negotiating framework.
It rejected a declaration of the EU Council accompanying the framework, saying such a document “is not a legally binding instrument and does not provide the legal guarantees sought by Bulgaria.”
Officials of the two countries have held talks in the past two weeks to try to resolve their differences ahead of a meeting of EU member states' foreign ministers later this month. That meeting, initially scheduled for November 10, has been postponed by a week.
The dispute poses yet another challenge for Skopje, which signed a historic agreement with Athens in 2018 under which North Macedonia changed its name from Macedonia, removing a barrier to potential EU membership.
In March, EU leaders gave North Macedonia -- and Albania -- formal approval to begin talks to join the bloc.


rferl--2020-11-06--Belarus Extends Pretrial Detention Of Opposition Figure Kalesnikava

MINSK -- Belarusian authorities have prolonged the pretrial detention of Maryya Kalesnikava , an opposition figure who is facing national-security charges , for two months .
The press service of jailed Belarusian politician Viktar Babaryka said on November 6 that investigators had extended Kalesnikava 's detention until January 8 .
Kalesnikava 's lawyer Lyudmila Kazak said earlier in the day that her client 's bail request had been rejected .
Kalesnikava is a key member of the Coordination Council , a body set up by Belarus 's political opposition to facilitate a transfer of power in the country following a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says was rigged and the West has refused to accept .
Babaryka is a former bank manager whose bid to run for president was derailed when he and his son were arrested on embezzlement charges that supporters say were trumped up .
Mass demonstrations have swept across Belarus since the August 9 disputed vote that gave Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth consecutive term .
Lukashenka has directed a brutal postelection crackdown that has included thousands of arrests , beatings , and other mistreatment of peaceful protesters , as well as expulsions of foreign journalists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ streets of Minsk in September by masked men along with two staffers .
The three were driven early on September 8 to the border , where authorities told them to cross into Ukraine .
Security officers failed to deport Kalesnikava because she ripped her passport into small pieces after they arrived in a no-man ’ s land between Belarus and Ukraine .
Her two associates continued on and have been in Ukraine since then .
Kalesnikava was brought back to Minsk and charged with calling for actions aimed at damaging the country 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She could be sentenced to up to five years in prison if convicted .
A dozen human rights watchdogs based in Belarus have recognized Kalesnikava and two detained associates as political prisoners and called for their immediate release from custody .

MINSK -- Belarusian authorities have prolonged the pretrial detention of Maryya Kalesnikava, an opposition figure who is facing national-security charges, for two months.
The press service of jailed Belarusian politician Viktar Babaryka said on November 6 that investigators had extended Kalesnikava's detention until January 8.
Kalesnikava's lawyer Lyudmila Kazak said earlier in the day that her client's bail request had been rejected.
Kalesnikava is a key member of the Coordination Council, a body set up by Belarus's political opposition to facilitate a transfer of power in the country following a presidential election in August that the opposition says was rigged and the West has refused to accept.
Babaryka is a former bank manager whose bid to run for president was derailed when he and his son were arrested on embezzlement charges that supporters say were trumped up.
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.
Mass demonstrations have swept across Belarus since the August 9 disputed vote that gave Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth consecutive term.
Lukashenka has directed a brutal postelection crackdown that has included thousands of arrests, beatings, and other mistreatment of peaceful protesters, as well as expulsions of foreign journalists.
Kalesnikava herself was snatched from the streets of Minsk in September by masked men along with two staffers. The three were driven early on September 8 to the border, where authorities told them to cross into Ukraine.
Security officers failed to deport Kalesnikava because she ripped her passport into small pieces after they arrived in a no-man’s land between Belarus and Ukraine. Her two associates continued on and have been in Ukraine since then.
Kalesnikava was brought back to Minsk and charged with calling for actions aimed at damaging the country's national security via media and the Internet.
She could be sentenced to up to five years in prison if convicted.
A dozen human rights watchdogs based in Belarus have recognized Kalesnikava and two detained associates as political prisoners and called for their immediate release from custody.


rferl--2020-11-06--EU Blacklists Lukashenka, Son, 13 Others Over Crackdown In Belarus

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Alyaksandr Lukashenka , his son Viktar , and 13 other high-ranking Belarusian officials held responsible for “ violence , unjustified arrests , and falsification ” of the presidential election nearly three months ago .
The EU Official Journal on November 6 published the names of the 15 individuals subject to visa bans and asset freezes .
They joined the names of 40 other Belarusian officials who were targeted by similar restrictive measures in early October for their alleged role in the brutal repression of protesters and the opposition , as well as fraud @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Canadian government later announced it had imposed sanctions against an additional 13 Belarusian government officials over the `` systematic campaign of repression and state-sponsored violence against public protests and the activities of opposition groups '' in Belarus .
Mass demonstrations have swept across Belarus since the disputed presidential election that the opposition says was rigged and the West has refused to accept , ratcheting up pressure on Lukashenka , who has ruled the country for 26 years .
Thousands of people have been arrested since authorities declared Lukashenka the winner of the vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country .
The EU said it considers Lukashenka “ responsible for the violent repression by the state apparatus ” carried out before and after the presidential election , citing “ the dismissal of key opposition candidates , arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of peaceful demonstrators , as well as intimidation and violence against journalists.
” Viktar Lukashenka , a national-security adviser to his father and member of the Security Council of Belarus , is accused of being responsible for “ the repression and intimidation campaign.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of EU sanctions also include Ihar Sergyaenka , chief of staff of the presidential administration ; Ivan Tertel , the head of the State Security Committee , the KGB ; and Investigative Committee Chairman Ivan Naskevich .
The chairman of the Constitutional Court , Pyotr Miklashevich , was also blacklisted due to a court decision “ by which the results of the fraudulent elections were legitimized.
” Asset freezes and visa bans were imposed by the EU on Lukashenka and hundreds of other Belarusian officials in early 2011 following a crackdown on demonstrators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential election .
Most of the measures , including those on Lukashenka , were lifted in 2016 after the bloc concluded that Minsk had released all political prisoners and EU-Belarus relations had improved .
The blacklisting of Lukashenka and 14 others comes after a report found “ massive and systematic ” human rights violations in Belarus before and in the wake of the presidential vote , including election fraud , excessive police violence and systematic torture , as well as widespread arrests of peaceful protesters .
The report , prepared by an independent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) , called for new elections , the immediate release of all political prisoners , and the establishment of an independent , international investigation into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment .
“ This is an extremely important and timely report that captures a wide range of repression and cruelty that Belarusian authorities have unleashed on peaceful democracy protesters and their supporters , ” Rachel Denber , deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch , said in a statement on November 6 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report “ as a blueprint for action , to ensure that no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of accountability for the human rights crimes that continue in Belarus.
” Meanwhile , the Committee to Protect Journalists ( CPJ ) urged Belarusian authorities to stop “ trying to intimidate the media with beatings , jail sentences , fines , and criminal prosecutions.
” “ This war of attrition on Belarusian journalists is unproductive at best .
The political crisis in Belarus persists and journalists will , rightfully , persist in covering it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Europe and Central Asia Program coordinator , said in a statement .
As of November 5 , nine journalists were in detention for covering protests that erupted after the election , the New York-based media freedom watchdog quoted the Belarusian Association of Journalists ( BAJ ) as saying .
Three of them face criminal charges .
Since election day on August 9 , a total of 320 journalists have been detained , according to the BAJ .

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Alyaksandr Lukashenka, his son Viktar, and 13 other high-ranking Belarusian officials held responsible for “violence, unjustified arrests, and falsification” of the presidential election nearly three months ago.
The EU Official Journal on November 6 published the names of the 15 individuals subject to visa bans and asset freezes.
They joined the names of 40 other Belarusian officials who were targeted by similar restrictive measures in early October for their alleged role in the brutal repression of protesters and the opposition, as well as fraud during the August 9 vote.
The Canadian government later announced it had imposed sanctions against an additional 13 Belarusian government officials over the "systematic campaign of repression and state-sponsored violence against public protests and the activities of opposition groups" in Belarus.
Mass demonstrations have swept across Belarus since the disputed presidential election that the opposition says was rigged and the West has refused to accept, ratcheting up pressure on Lukashenka, who has ruled the country for 26 years.
Thousands of people have been arrested since authorities declared Lukashenka the winner of the vote. Most of the country's opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country.
The EU said it considers Lukashenka "responsible for the violent repression by the state apparatus" carried out before and after the presidential election, citing "the dismissal of key opposition candidates, arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of peaceful demonstrators, as well as intimidation and violence against journalists."
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.
Viktar Lukashenka, a national-security adviser to his father and member of the Security Council of Belarus, is accused of being responsible for "the repression and intimidation campaign."
Those targeted by the second batch of EU sanctions also include Ihar Serhyaenka, chief of staff of the presidential administration; Ivan Tertel, the head of the State Security Committee, the KGB; and Investigative Committee Chairman Ivan Naskevich.
The chairman of the Constitutional Court, Pyotr Miklashevich, was also blacklisted due to a court decision "by which the results of the fraudulent elections were legitimized."
Asset freezes and visa bans were imposed by the EU on Lukashenka and hundreds of other Belarusian officials in early 2011 following a crackdown on demonstrators in the wake of the December 2010 presidential election.
Most of the measures, including those on Lukashenka, were lifted in 2016 after the bloc concluded that Minsk had released all political prisoners and EU-Belarus relations had improved.
The blacklisting of Lukashenka and 14 others comes after a report found “massive and systematic” human rights violations in Belarus before and in the wake of the presidential vote, including election fraud, excessive police violence and systematic torture, as well as widespread arrests of peaceful protesters.
The report, prepared by an independent expert under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), called for new elections, the immediate release of all political prisoners, and the establishment of an independent, international investigation into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment.
"This is an extremely important and timely report that captures a wide range of repression and cruelty that Belarusian authorities have unleashed on peaceful democracy protesters and their supporters," Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on November 6.
Denber urged governments to use the report "as a blueprint for action, to ensure that no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of accountability for the human rights crimes that continue in Belarus."
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged Belarusian authorities to stop "trying to intimidate the media with beatings, jail sentences, fines, and criminal prosecutions."
"This war of attrition on Belarusian journalists is unproductive at best. The political crisis in Belarus persists and journalists will, rightfully, persist in covering it," Gulnoza Said, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia Program coordinator, said in a statement.
As of November 5, nine journalists were in detention for covering protests that erupted after the election, the New York-based media freedom watchdog quoted the Belarusian Association of Journalists as saying. Three of them face criminal charges.
Since election day on August 9, a total of 320 journalists have been detained, according to the Belarusian association.


rferl--2020-11-06--Prominent Russian Satirist, Stand-Up Performer Mikhail Zhvanetsky Dies At 86

Prominent Russian satirist , author , and stand-up performer Mikhail Zhvanetsky has died at the age of 86 .
Zhvanetsky @ @ @ @ @ media reports about the death of the entertainer on November 6 .
Zhvanetsky was known @ @ @ @ @ for decades for his satire performances , often mocking contradictions in the communist system .
@ @ @ @ @ his jokes made their way into colloquial Russian .
In the late 1980s , during @ @ @ @ @ Mikhail Gorbachev , Zhvanetsky created the Moscow Theater of Impressions where he , along with @ @ @ @ @ perform satirical performances touching on the social , economic , and political situation in the @ @ @ @ @ Duty In the Country television show , where he continued to perform jokes based on @ @ @ @ @ almost two decades until 2019 , were very popular across the country .
Last month @ @ @ @ @ decision to officially retire .
`` One must age at home , '' he said @ @ @ @ @ on reporting by RBK , TASS , Interfax , and Dozhd

Prominent Russian satirist, author, and stand-up performer Mikhail Zhvanetsky has died at the age of 86.
Zhvanetsky's spokesman Oleg Stashkevich confirmed media reports about the death of the entertainer on November 6.
Zhvanetsky was known in the former Soviet Union for decades for his satire performances, often mocking contradictions in the communist system.
Many phrases he used in his jokes made their way into colloquial Russian.
In the late 1980s, during the reforms of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Zhvanetsky created the Moscow Theater of Impressions where he, along with his colleagues, continued to perform satirical performances touching on the social, economic, and political situation in the country.
His monthly On Duty In the Country television show, where he continued to perform jokes based on the situation in Russia for almost two decades until 2019, were very popular across the country.
Last month, Zhvanetsky announced about his decision to officially retire.
"One must age at home," he said at the time.
Based on reporting by RBK, TASS, Interfax, and Dozhd


rferl--2020-11-06--In 'Symbolic Action,' Fence Around Kyrgyz Government Building Torn Down

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz authorities have torn down the iron fence and gates around the main government building in Bishkek that houses the presidential office and parliament in a move the capital 's acting mayor , Balbak Tulobaev , called `` symbolic . ''
Tulobaev said on November 6 that the decision was made at the request of parliament Chairman Talant Mamytov , who was also present at the site .
`` The idea was initiated by the Prime Minister and acting President Sadyr Japarov .
The move can be defined as a symbolic action showing that all barriers between the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tulobaev said .
Tulobaev also said that a section of the iron fence that contains a large plaque commemorating those citizens who died during the anti-government protests that toppled President Kurmanbek Bakiev in 2010 will not be removed .
The Kyrgyz parliament named Japarov , 51 , prime minister last month after mass protests against official results of October 4 parliamentary elections ousted the government and led to the resignation of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov , the third popular revolt to topple a leader in the Central Asian nation since 2005 .
After Jeenbekov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ handed presidential powers to Japarov , who was released in the wake of the protests from a Bishkek prison , where he was serving a lengthy term on kidnapping charges .
Japarov has initiated amendments to the constitution to change the rules for elections .
He also signed legal changes that postponed fresh parliamentary elections tentatively set for December 20 to an unspecified date in 2021 despite a requirement that such a vote should come within two months .
That move cleared the way for an early presidential election on January 10 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in an acting or interim capacity as president may not then run in an election for the post .
But Japarov has argued that he will become eligible by stepping down in December .
As of November 6 , seven other politicians had officially informed the Central Election Commission ( BShK ) of their intentions to run for president .
They are former parliament chairman Kanatbek Isaev ; opposition Butun ( United ) Kyrgyzstan party leader Adakhan Madumarov ; the leader of the El Uchun ( For the People ) party , Arstanbek @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Egemen ( Sovereign ) Kyrgyzstan party , Bektur Asanov ; historian Kuban Choroev ; political analyst Bakyt Baketaev ; and opposition activist Nazarbek Nyshanov .

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz authorities have torn down the iron fence and gates around the main government building in Bishkek that houses the presidential office and parliament in a move the capital's acting mayor, Balbak Tulobaev, called "symbolic."
Tulobaev said on November 6 that the decision was made at the request of parliament Chairman Talant Mamytov, who was also present at the site.
"The idea was initiated by the Prime Minister and acting President Sadyr Japarov. The move can be defined as a symbolic action showing that all barriers between the authorities and people are gone," Tulobaev said.
Tulobaev also said that a section of the iron fence that contains a large plaque commemorating those citizens who died during the anti-government protests that toppled President Kurmanbek Bakiev in 2010 will not be removed.
The Kyrgyz parliament named Japarov, 51, prime minister last month after mass protests against official results of October 4 parliamentary elections ousted the government and led to the resignation of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, the third popular revolt to topple a leader in the Central Asian nation since 2005.
Quiz: What Color Is Your Revolution? Test your knowledge! Begin
After Jeenbekov's resignation in mid-October, the parliament handed presidential powers to Japarov, who was released in the wake of the protests from a Bishkek prison, where he was serving a lengthy term on kidnapping charges.
Japarov has initiated amendments to the constitution to change the rules for elections.
He also signed legal changes that postponed fresh parliamentary elections tentatively set for December 20 to an unspecified date in 2021 despite a requirement that such a vote should come within two months.
That move cleared the way for an early presidential election on January 10.
Under current Kyrgyz law, anyone serving in an acting or interim capacity as president may not then run in an election for the post. But Japarov has argued that he will become eligible by stepping down in December.
As of November 6, seven other politicians had officially informed the Central Election Commission (BShK) of their intentions to run for president.
They are former parliament chairman Kanatbek Isaev; opposition Butun (United) Kyrgyzstan party leader Adakhan Madumarov; the leader of the El Uchun (For the People) party, Arstanbek Abdyldaev; the former leader of the Egemen (Sovereign) Kyrgyzstan party, Bektur Asanov; historian Kuban Choroev; political analyst Bakyt Baketaev; and opposition activist Nazarbek Nyshanov.


rferl--2020-11-07--Lukashenka Says Belarus To Become 'Nuclear Power' At Power Plant Opening

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has officially opened the first and only nuclear power plant in Belarus , boasting the Eastern European country `` will become a nuclear power . ''
`` The Astravets nuclear power station is a new step into the future , toward ensuring the energy security of the state , '' Lukashenka said in comments broadcast on state television on November 7 .
Built by Russian state-owned firm Rosatom and financed by Moscow with a $ 10 billion loan , construction of the power plant near the city of Astravets , in the western Hrodna region , was opposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is just 50 kilometers away .
Astravets draws water for its cooling reactors from the Nevis River , which also supplies drinking water in Lithuania .
Belarus began operating the plant earlier this week , prompting Lithuania to halt electricity imports from its neighbor .
The plant 's construction has also been divisive among Belarusians , who suffered greatly from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster .
Belarus saw a quarter of its territory contaminated in the world 's worst civilian nuclear accident .
Andrey Sannikau , a Belarusian opposition figure who was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , wrote on Twitter that the plant was a `` geopolitical weapon '' for Lukashenka and the Kremlin against the European Union and a `` radioactive danger for Belarus and Europe . ''
The inauguration comes as Belarus witnesses nearly daily protests and strikes since an August 9 presidential election the opposition and the West says was rigged .
Lukashenka , who has been in power since 1994 , has rejected the accusations and dismissed opposition calls for him to step down .
The United States , the European Union , Canada , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus .
The EU on November 6 added Lukashenka , his son Viktar , and 13 other officials to its blacklist of Belarusian officials for their alleged role in falsifying the vote and the government 's crackdown on protesters .

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has officially opened the first and only nuclear power plant in Belarus, boasting the Eastern European country "will become a nuclear power."
"The Astravets nuclear power station is a new step into the future, toward ensuring the energy security of the state," Lukashenka said in comments broadcast on state television on November 7.
Built by Russian state-owned firm Rosatom and financed by Moscow with a $10 billion loan, construction of the power plant near the city of Astravets, in the western Hrodna region, was opposed by Lithuania, whose capital, Vilnius, is just 50 kilometers away.
Astravets draws water for its cooling reactors from the Nevis River, which also supplies drinking water in Lithuania.
Belarus began operating the plant earlier this week, prompting Lithuania to halt electricity imports from its neighbor.
The plant's construction has also been divisive among Belarusians, who suffered greatly from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Belarus saw a quarter of its territory contaminated in the world's worst civilian nuclear accident.
Andrey Sannikau, a Belarusian opposition figure who was imprisoned after running against Lukashenka in 2010, wrote on Twitter that the plant was a "geopolitical weapon" for Lukashenka and the Kremlin against the European Union and a "radioactive danger for Belarus and Europe."
The inauguration comes as Belarus witnesses nearly daily protests and strikes since an August 9 presidential election the opposition and the West says was rigged.
Lukashenka, who has been in power since 1994, has rejected the accusations and dismissed opposition calls for him to step down.
The United States, the European Union, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus.
The EU on November 6 added Lukashenka, his son Viktar, and 13 other officials to its blacklist of Belarusian officials for their alleged role in falsifying the vote and the government's crackdown on protesters.
With reporting by Reuters


rferl--2020-11-07--Ukraine Secures $100 Million From World Bank For Conflict-Hit Donbas

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says his country has secured a $ 100 million loan from the World Bank for reconstruction @ @ @ @ @ region , badly hit by the six-year military conflict with Russian-backed separatists .
In a @ @ @ @ @ , Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to the World Bank `` for supporting Ukraine 's territorial integrity @ @ @ @ @ that a fragile cease-fire between the Ukrainian Army and Russia-backed forces , which has lasted @ @ @ @ @ , could become permanent and help settle the conflict that has killed more than 13,000 @ @ @ @ @ and prompted Western countries to impose sanctions on Russia .
The World Bank has committed @ @ @ @ @ finance about 70 projects in Ukraine since 1992 .

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says his country has secured a $100 million loan from the World Bank for reconstruction efforts in the eastern Donbas region, badly hit by the six-year military conflict with Russian-backed separatists.
In a Twitter post on November 7, Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to the World Bank "for supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity."
He said earlier that a fragile cease-fire between the Ukrainian Army and Russia-backed forces, which has lasted for more than three months, could become permanent and help settle the conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people, destroyed infrastructure, and prompted Western countries to impose sanctions on Russia.
The World Bank has committed approximately $13 billion to finance about 70 projects in Ukraine since 1992.
Based on reporting by Reuters


rferl--2020-11-07--UN Agency Calls On Iran To Speed Probe Into Downing Of Ukraine-Bound Plane

A UN agency has called on Iran to speed up its investigation into a Kyiv-bound passenger plane mistakenly shot down in January , killing 176 people .
The International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ) Council on November 6 urged Iran to `` expedite the accident investigation '' into the deadly crash of the Ukrainian jet .
`` We have had several exchanges with the Iranian CAA [ Civil Aviation Authority ] in which we urged its authorities to expedite the accident investigation in accordance with ICAO Annex 13 provisions , '' ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano said .
Annex @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be issued within 12 months of a crash .
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran 's main airport on January 8 .
Iranian officials eventually admitted that the country 's forces accidentally shot down the Kyiv-bound flight .
A misaligned missile battery and miscommunication between soldiers and superior officers were to blame for incident , according to Iran 's aviation authorities .
Flight 752 was downed the same night that Iran had launched a ballistic-missile attack that targeted U.S. soldiers in Iraq , and Tehran 's air @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time in case of retaliation .
Iran 's missile attack was in response to a U.S. drone strike that had killed the powerful commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps , Major General Qasem Soleimani , in Baghdad five days earlier .
Both ICAO 's Sciacchitano and Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau cited the `` grief and expectations '' of the families of Flight 752 's crash victims .
Canada is involved because it lost 55 nationals and 30 permanent residents in the crash .
It has demanded answers from Tehran after its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explain why it fired missiles at the craft .
The Iranian representative to ICAO , Farhad Parvaresh , told Reuters that he had reported to the council on the progress of the investigation .
With reporting by Reuters and AFP

A polytechnic school in Russia’s Tatarstan, a region some 900 kilometers east of Moscow, is using manufacturing facilities that are part of a nearby special economic zone to assemble Iranian attack drones and are increasingly turning to underage students as laborers, many of whom often work in exploitative conditions.
The revelations at Alabuga Polytechnic University raise troubling implications about the lengths that Russian authorities are going to in order to boost the war effort and how the advanced Iranian weaponry -- which is increasingly used to bombard Ukrainian cities and has only recently begun to be manufactured inside Russia -- could contribute to escalating tensions and rising civilian casualties.
The use of underage students as drone factory workers and the details of the manufacturing facilities were first reported by Russian independent media outlets Protokol and Razvorot, which published a series of investigations in July.
Since then, RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities has spoken with students who describe grueling working conditions and interviewed dozens of parents whose children have been enrolled at Alabuga Polytechnic University -- some as young at 15 -- who say that their children were forced to work exceedingly long hours, often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health.
“My son enrolled and 2 1/2 months later he called for me to take him away,” Zhanna, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect against reprisals for speaking about the operation, told RFE/RL. “He said to me on the phone, ‘Come and get me or I’ll die,’ so I picked him up immediately.”
Zhanna, who asked that her underage son’s name also not be used, says that she sent him from Nizhny Novgorod to study at Alabuga Polytechnic University in 2022 because of its reputation as a leading technical institution inside Russia.
The school offered students -- often between the ages of 15-18 -- an opportunity to get vocational training as part of a dual program that combines a classroom education with practical work experience. Students were also promised an opportunity to work and earn a locally competitive salary of up to 70,000 rubles ($700) a month as part of the work experience program that could further their career growth.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
But, instead, those enrolled were encouraged and in some cases pressured into working at the drone facility, where the salaries of the mostly underage laborers are contingent on meeting tough production quotas.
“This is a textbook definition of what constitutes exploitation,” Sergei Podsytnik, an investigative journalist at Protokol who worked on the series of reports, told RFE/RL. “[Students] assemble drones, with the work taking priority over their studies.”
The pressure to fulfill these quotas has allegedly led to strenuous back-to-back days -- with some shifts lasting up to 15 hours -- with little time for sleep or adequate sustenance. Overtime work is often unpaid, further highlighting potential labor violations. Exhausted students also reported not always meeting their quotas, which led to them not earning the salary initially promised by the school. Many students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and relied on their earnings to cover costs for tuition, room, and board and would send the remainder home.
Other parents, such as Marina, said she decided to take her daughter out of the program when she discovered that she was working in apparent unsafe conditions and that staff from the school had instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work.
“This was the last straw for me,” Marina, who also asked for her identity to be concealed, told RFE/RL. “This is a dangerous production process that involves dangerous chemicals. They also forbid the kids from telling everything to their parents.”
RFE/RL sent multiple requests for comment to various staff and administrators at Alabuga Polytechnic University but received no replies.
Making Iranian Drones In Russia
The complicated and concerning dynamic at Alabuga Polytechnic University stems from growing military cooperation between Iran and Russia that has accelerated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since. However, U.S. intelligence officials have warned for months of continued deliveries and deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, saying the two sides were exploring how to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian drones inside Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an Iranian delegation visited Yelabuga in Tatarstan on January 5, touring a potential site for such a factory at the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.
Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting, but has turned increasingly to Tehran for attack drones.
After being forced to abandon Ukrainian territory that its troops captured in the early stretches of the war, Moscow shifted to a strategy of relentless air assaults on Ukrainian cities. These attacks often rely on a combination of cruise missiles and self-detonating drones packed with explosives to knock out electricity and running water for the civilian population in Ukraine.
So far, Iran has provided Russia mostly with so-called "suicide" drones, known as the Shahed-136, that contain a modest amount of explosives that can detonate when the drones crash into targets, military experts say.
In acquiring its own domestic assembly line, Russia could dramatically increase its stockpile of the relatively inexpensive but highly destructive weapons systems.
WATCH: Russia has resorted to using Shahed-136 drones from Iran in its war on Ukraine. Ukraine says it's already downed many of the drones, which work by slamming into their intended target, laden with explosives. Ordinary Ukrainians say they can already recognize the sound of the drones, which use two-stroke engines like lawnmowers or motorbikes. Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia.
The arrangement also offers substantial economic and political benefits for Iran, which has sought to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine war. The appearance of Iranian-made drones over Ukrainian cities, however, has triggered threats of new economic sanctions from the West. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have also all issued rules in recent months designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.
The Washington Post reported in November 2022, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that the agreement to deliver Iranian drone schematics and materials for manufacture in Russia resulted from Iranian leaders believing that the arrangement would allow Tehran to avert new sanctions.
Foreign Recruitment And Patriotic Education
Alabuga Polytechnic University is formally not a college. All of its students are officially enrolled at nearby Yelabuga Polytechnic College, with the Alabuga institution existing on paper as a specialized program for students looking to break into high-tech industries.
Currently, about 1,000 students are studying at Alabuga Polytechnic University, with several hundred of them -- most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 17 -- involved in assembling the Iranian drones.
In addition to the work on the drones, there are other signs that point to blurred lines in Russia between the education system and the country’s military amid the war in Ukraine.
According to current and former Alabuga Polytechnic University students, team-building and organized extracurricular activities through the school often take on a “patriotic” character that may be designed to expose students to official government narratives of international events or echo talking points from state television.
Organized paintball games have become a mainstay for students, especially first-year arrivals, in which they are encouraged to compete against one another and then play together against more experienced outside players. Teachers and administration officials regularly refer to paintball as being part of a “patriotic” education needed to complement the technical aspect of their studies.
In one instance, a group of new students competed in paintball as Soviet soldiers against outside players who were dressed as troops from Nazi Germany in a capture-the-flag competition meant to simulate the World War II battle of Stalingrad. According to one student, the Nazi flag contained the compass symbol used by the NATO military alliance instead of the swastika used by Nazi Germany.
Other instances of political teachings from staff are more direct. In a recording obtained by RFE/RL from June 16, a senior administrator can be heard telling the teenagers that NATO launched a hybrid war against Russia back in 2011 and that it has slowly become more overt. The man then goes on to tell students that their hard work and exceeding long days at the drone factory are part of a nationwide struggle against the West and that their patriotism will be rewarded.
Several students and parents identified the man in the recording as Timur Shagivaleev, the director-general of the special economic zone where Alabuga Polytechnic University and the drone factory operate.
Shagivaleev did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
The man in the recording then goes on to tell students not to take holidays and to continue working “even if it's mom's birthday,” before ending his speech with, “Long live our great country.”
WATCH: Amid a new wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, analysts in Kyiv are gaining useful intelligence from a collection of downed Russian aerial weapons. They have been studying the remains of Iranian Shahed drones and Russian Kinzhal missiles, among others.
Multiple current and former students told RFE/RL that students who work in the drone factory are often praised by staff, while those who have refused or asked to be reassigned due to the high workload are often publicly shamed. In some instances -- according to recordings heard by RFE/RL -- staff even encourage students to bully others who are not deemed “patriotic” enough.
According to Protokol and Razvorot’s investigations, Alabuga Polytechnic University has also turned toward recruiting foreign students to enroll. The majority of them come from African countries, but also from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, where they are promised “world class” salaries as part of the dual-track world experience program.
However, these foreign students are then given low-skill and menial tasks around the campus and the special economic zone, such as janitorial work, and are also paid lower salaries than initially promised.
Written by Reid Standish based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities


rferl--2020-11-07--Armenia Considers Tripling Compulsory Payments To Army Insurance Fund

Armenia 's Ministry of Defense has proposed tripling the amount of money working Armenians pay to a special fund set up for compensation paid to the families of soldiers killed or seriously wounded in war .
The ministry cited an increase in the number of military casualties due to fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh as grounds for the proposal .
Since 2017 working Armenians have been required to pay 1,000 drams ( about $ 2 ) per month to the Army Insurance Fund .
The ministry suggests the payments be tripled to 3,000 drams ( $ 6 ) beginning in January 2021 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ addition to onetime payouts of between 5 million and 10 million drams ( $ 10,000 and $ 20,000 ) , the families of killed or maimed army officers , contract soldiers , and conscripts receive monthly pensions ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 drams ( $ 200- $ 600 ) for 20 years .
The proposal has yet to be submitted to parliament , but earlier this week was made public .
Since the outbreak of the latest fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 27 , Armenians in Armenia and around the world have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increase their contributions to it .
Armenian authorities have confirmed the deaths of 1,177 servicemen in battles that have escalated to involve heavy artillery , rockets , and drones .
The death toll is expected to rise as hostilities continue .
Authorities have not provided statistics for the number of wounded soldiers , but it is believed that there are at least hundreds .
Artak Manukian , a member of the pro-government My Step faction in parliament , said on November 6 that raising compulsory payments to the Army Insurance Fund was needed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem and fix it in the future . ''
The opposition Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia factions have not yet presented their final positions on the bill , but representatives of both factions said they considered it unfair that all workers would be taxed the same regardless of their incomes .
`` It would be unfair if I , as a member of parliament with a high salary , contributed the same amount as those who receive a minimum or average salary , '' Prosperous Armenia 's Naira Zohrabian said .
Bright Armenia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ favor of requiring people with higher incomes to pay more .
But Varuzhan Avetikian , director of the Army Insurance Fund , said the proposal of opposition lawmakers can not be implemented when many citizens do not fully declare their real incomes .
Avetikian said that the fund had already started paying compensation to the families of those killed or wounded in the current fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh .

Armenia's Ministry of Defense has proposed tripling the amount of money working Armenians pay to a special fund set up for compensation paid to the families of soldiers killed or seriously wounded in war.
The ministry cited an increase in the number of military casualties due to fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh as grounds for the proposal.
Since 2017 working Armenians have been required to pay 1,000 drams (about $2) per month to the Army Insurance Fund. The ministry suggests the payments be tripled to 3,000 drams ($6) beginning in January 2021.
Under the compensation schemes, in addition to onetime payouts of between 5 million and 10 million drams ($10,000 and $20,000), the families of killed or maimed army officers, contract soldiers, and conscripts receive monthly pensions ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 drams ($200-$600) for 20 years.
The proposal has yet to be submitted to parliament, but earlier this week was made public.
Since the outbreak of the latest fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 27, Armenians in Armenia and around the world have been urged to donate to the fund or increase their contributions to it.
Armenian authorities have confirmed the deaths of 1,177 servicemen in battles that have escalated to involve heavy artillery, rockets, and drones. The death toll is expected to rise as hostilities continue.
Authorities have not provided statistics for the number of wounded soldiers, but it is believed that there are at least hundreds.
Artak Manukian, a member of the pro-government My Step faction in parliament, said on November 6 that raising compulsory payments to the Army Insurance Fund was needed "to mitigate the [compensation] problem and fix it in the future."
The opposition Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia factions have not yet presented their final positions on the bill, but representatives of both factions said they considered it unfair that all workers would be taxed the same regardless of their incomes.
"It would be unfair if I, as a member of parliament with a high salary, contributed the same amount as those who receive a minimum or average salary," Prosperous Armenia's Naira Zohrabian said.
Bright Armenia faction leader Edmon Marukian also spoke in favor of requiring people with higher incomes to pay more.
But Varuzhan Avetikian, director of the Army Insurance Fund, said the proposal of opposition lawmakers cannot be implemented when many citizens do not fully declare their real incomes.
Avetikian said that the fund had already started paying compensation to the families of those killed or wounded in the current fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.


rferl--2020-11-06--Russian Spy Chief Says Navalny Poisoned By West; Siberian Police Disagree

Contradicting statements by Russian officials have suggested either that Western nations could be behind the poisoning in August of opposition politician and outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny , or that he was not poisoned at all , and just suffered from `` acute pancreatitis . ''
News agency RIA Novosti on November 6 published an interview with the chief of Russia 's Foreign Intelligence Service ( SVR ) , Sergei Naryshkin , who said that Western intelligence agencies had taken into account assassinating a Russian opposition leader `` to revive the withered protest movement in Russia . ''
Navalny fell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Siberian city of Tomsk shortly after the plane took off on August 20 , and the airliner made an emergency landing in Omsk , where Navalny was hospitalized before Russian authorities permitted him to be airlifted to Berlin for treatment .
He was released from the Charite hospital in the German capital on September 22 after spending 32 days in the clinic .
Naryshkin said that he does not have direct evidence proving Western countries ' involvement in Navalny 's poisoning .
But he insisted that the possible assassination of a Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Navalny could be the victim of such a plot .
He did not provide any evidence or identify the countries involved .
Naryshkin said that Western intelligence had used such methods in Yugoslavia and Ukraine in the past , again without providing any evidence .
Meanwhile , the Interior Ministry 's Siberian branch said on November 6 that Navalny 's falling ill might have been caused by the `` exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis . ''
The ministry also said that its investigators did not find any traces of poison on Navalny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a hotel in Tomsk and at the Siberian city 's airport .
The statement also accused three of Navalny 's associates of refusal to show up for questioning .
The three were with him before he left Tomsk for Moscow aboard a plane on August 20 .
Last month , the European Union and Britain imposed asset freezes and travel bans against six senior Russian officials believed to be responsible for the `` attempted assassination '' of Navalny , as well as one entity involved in the program that has produced a group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ( OPCW ) earlier in October confirmed the findings of specialized laboratories in Germany , France , and Sweden that Navalny was poisoned with a substance of the Novichok group .
Novichok was identified by British authorities as the toxin used in the near-fatal poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter , Yulia , in 2018 in the English city of Salisbury .
Navalny rejected the ministry ’ s November 6 statement , saying on Twitter that he was `` completely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the plane , adding that he had never suffered from any medical conditions .
Meanwhile , the Interior Ministry issued two more statements on November 6 , one of them saying that German officials `` have refused to provide [ Russia ] with any material evidence , including his biological samples and results of the tests performed on them , proving that Navalny was poisoned with the notorious Novichok . ''
In another statement , the ministry called the situation around Navalny 's poisoning `` an amateur-directed performance with a main goal to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Navalny called statements by Naryshkin and the Interior Ministry `` the Kremlin 's exacerbation . ''
`` It is funny that they , in one day , have Naryshkin say I was poisoned by NATO states , and the Interior Ministry that says there was no poisoning , '' Navalny wrote on Twitter .
Navalny has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering the poison attack , while the Kremlin has denied any involvement .

Contradicting statements by Russian officials have suggested either that Western nations could be behind the poisoning in August of opposition politician and outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, or that he was not poisoned at all, and just suffered from "acute pancreatitis."
News agency RIA Novosti on November 6 published an interview with the chief of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, who said that Western intelligence agencies had taken into account assassinating a Russian opposition leader "to revive the withered protest movement in Russia."
Navalny fell violently ill while on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk shortly after the plane took off on August 20, and the airliner made an emergency landing in Omsk, where Navalny was hospitalized before Russian authorities permitted him to be airlifted to Berlin for treatment.
He was released from the Charite hospital in the German capital on September 22 after spending 32 days in the clinic.
Naryshkin said that he does not have direct evidence proving Western countries' involvement in Navalny's poisoning.
But he insisted that the possible assassination of a Russian opposition figure was discussed by Western countries, and Navalny could be the victim of such a plot. He did not provide any evidence or identify the countries involved.
Naryshkin said that Western intelligence had used such methods in Yugoslavia and Ukraine in the past, again without providing any evidence.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry's Siberian branch said on November 6 that Navalny's falling ill might have been caused by the "exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis."
The ministry also said that its investigators did not find any traces of poison on Navalny's clothes and items he used in a hotel in Tomsk and at the Siberian city's airport.
The statement also accused three of Navalny's associates of refusal to show up for questioning. The three were with him before he left Tomsk for Moscow aboard a plane on August 20.
Last month, the European Union and Britain imposed asset freezes and travel bans against six senior Russian officials believed to be responsible for the "attempted assassination" of Navalny, as well as one entity involved in the program that has produced a group of military-grade nerve agents known as Novichok.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) earlier in October confirmed the findings of specialized laboratories in Germany, France, and Sweden that Navalny was poisoned with a substance of the Novichok group.
Novichok was identified by British authorities as the toxin used in the near-fatal poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in 2018 in the English city of Salisbury.
Navalny rejected the ministry’s November 6 statement, saying on Twitter that he was "completely healthy on August 20" before boarding the plane, adding that he had never suffered from any medical conditions.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry issued two more statements on November 6, one of them saying that German officials "have refused to provide [Russia] with any material evidence, including his biological samples and results of the tests performed on them, proving that Navalny was poisoned with the notorious Novichok."
In another statement, the ministry called the situation around Navalny's poisoning "an amateur-directed performance with a main goal to impose more sanctions on Russia."
Navalny called statements by Naryshkin and the Interior Ministry "the Kremlin's exacerbation."
"It is funny that they, in one day, have Naryshkin say I was poisoned by NATO states, and the Interior Ministry that says there was no poisoning," Navalny wrote on Twitter.
Navalny has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering the poison attack, while the Kremlin has denied any involvement.


rferl--2020-11-07--Putin, Macron Discuss Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict As Armenia Claims Key Stronghold Shelled

Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh with his French and Turkish counterparts as Armenia reported `` fierce combat '' overnight near a key city in the disputed region .
During a November 7 phone call , Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed serious concern over the large-scale clashes between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the region and the involvement of fighters from Syria and Libya in the conflict , the Kremlin said in a statement .
The presidents said they would continue coordinated mediation efforts , including through the Organization for Security and Cooperation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Group , set up in 1992 to seek a peaceful resolution .
The Minsk Group is co-chaired by Russia , France , and the United States .
Later in the day , Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , who told the Russian leader that Armenia must withdraw from Azerbaijani lands and `` sit down at the negotiating table , '' according to a statement from Ankara .
Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists over control of Nagorno-Karabakh , a region that proclaimed its independence from Baku during a war in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ September .
At least 1,000 people and possibly many more have died in the nearly six weeks of fighting , representing the deadliest outbreak of hostilities over the region in more than a quarter-century .
Several attempts to declare a cease-fire have failed .
Turkey has been accused of sending mercenaries to Karabakh to support Azerbaijan in its fight against the separatists .
Analysts say Ankara wants a seat at the negotiating table that has long been dominated by Moscow .
Armenia has turned to its traditional ally , Russia , for help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization military alliance .
Earlier in the day Armenia said that numerous overnight attacks by Azerbaijani forces outside the town of Shushi ( Susa in Azeri ) , a key stronghold in the Nagorno-Karabakh region , had been thwarted .
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry called the claims it was shelling Shushi `` completely untrue . ''
The hilltop town of Shushi is located on a main road that links the breakaway region 's capital of Stepanakert with the territory of Armenia , which backs the separatists fighting for Karabakh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ September 27 between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists over control of Karabakh , a region that proclaimed its independence from Baku during a war in the 1990s .
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh with his French and Turkish counterparts as Armenia reported "fierce combat" overnight near a key city in the disputed region.
During a November 7 phone call, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed serious concern over the large-scale clashes between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the region and the involvement of fighters from Syria and Libya in the conflict, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The presidents said they would continue coordinated mediation efforts, including through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, set up in 1992 to seek a peaceful resolution. The Minsk Group is co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States.
Later in the day, Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told the Russian leader that Armenia must withdraw from Azerbaijani lands and "sit down at the negotiating table," according to a statement from Ankara.
Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that proclaimed its independence from Baku during a war in the 1990s, broke out in late September.
At least 1,000 people and possibly many more have died in the nearly six weeks of fighting, representing the deadliest outbreak of hostilities over the region in more than a quarter-century. Several attempts to declare a cease-fire have failed.
Turkey has been accused of sending mercenaries to Karabakh to support Azerbaijan in its fight against the separatists. Analysts say Ankara wants a seat at the negotiating table that has long been dominated by Moscow.
Armenia has turned to its traditional ally, Russia, for help. Armenia is a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization military alliance.
Earlier in the day Armenia said that numerous overnight attacks by Azerbaijani forces outside the town of Shushi (Susa in Azeri), a key stronghold in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, had been thwarted.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry called the claims it was shelling Shushi "completely untrue."
The hilltop town of Shushi is located on a main road that links the breakaway region's capital of Stepanakert with the territory of Armenia, which backs the separatists fighting for Karabakh's independence.
Clashes broke out on September 27 between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists over control of Karabakh, a region that proclaimed its independence from Baku during a war in the 1990s.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP


rferl--2020-11-07--Doctors Detained In Minsk To Prevent Protest Rally

At least 30 doctors were detained in the Belarusian capital on November 7 who , according to the Vyasna human @ @ @ @ @ to take part in a protest .
Video shows police in face masks escorting detained @ @ @ @ @ in Minsk confirmed that some of the demonstrators had been detained .
Belarusian leader Alyaksandr @ @ @ @ @ protests in which tens of thousands of Belarusians have regularly taken to the streets calling @ @ @ @ @ The opposition has accused Lukashenka of rigging a presidential election in August that granted him @ @ @ @

At least 30 doctors were detained in the Belarusian capital on November 7 who, according to the Vyasna human rights group, had gathered to take part in a protest. Video shows police in face masks escorting detained people into vans. Police in Minsk confirmed that some of the demonstrators had been detained. Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka has faced weeks of protests in which tens of thousands of Belarusians have regularly taken to the streets calling for him to resign. The opposition has accused Lukashenka of rigging a presidential election in August that granted him a sixth term.


rferl--2020-11-07--Jailed Iranian Rights Lawyer Sotoudeh 'Temporarily' Released Amid Health Concerns

Nasrin Sotoudeh , an Iranian human rights lawyer jailed on spying and propaganda charges , has been temporarily released from prison .
The move comes after warnings last month by human rights groups that her health had severely deteriorated after she staged a six-week hunger strike to demand the release of political prisoners and rights activists .
`` Nasrin Sotoudeh ... went on furlough with the agreement of the assistant superintendent of the women 's prison , '' the judiciary 's Mizan news agency reported on November 7 , without disclosing further details .
Iran has granted temporary release to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread of the coronavirus in jails in the Middle East 's worst-hit country .
Sotoudeh , 57 , who has represented opposition activists including women prosecuted for removing their mandatory head scarf , was arrested in 2018 and charged with spying , spreading propaganda , and insulting Iran 's supreme leader .
Sotoudeh , who denied the charges , was sentenced to a total of 38 1/2 years in prison and 148 lashes .
In September , she was transferred from a prison cell to a hospital north of Tehran following a hunger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ release of political prisoners .
Days later , Sotoudeh was taken back to Tehran 's Evin prison and ended her hunger strike after nearly 50 days due to deteriorating health , according to her husband .
The European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov Prize for human rights in 2012 .
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-11-08--Aliyev Says Azerbaijan Took Control Of Key Stronghold In Nagorno-Karabakh

President Ilham Aliyev says Azerbaijan 's forces have taken Shushi ( known as Susa in Azeri ) , the second-largest city in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave , while Armenian officials say fighting continues in the city .
Large crowds of people gathered in Baku to celebrate following Aliyev 's statement on November 8 , waving flags and chanting slogans while drivers sounded their car horns .
Armenian Defense Ministry representative Artsrun Hovhannisian said on Facebook on November 8 that the `` battle in Shushi continues ; wait and believe our troops . ''
Armenia had earlier reported `` fierce combat '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Shushi is located on a main road that links the breakaway region 's main city of Stepanakert with the territory of Armenia , which backs the separatists fighting for Nagorno-Karabakh 's independence .
Aliyev 's statement comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh with his French and Turkish counterparts .
During a November 7 phone call , Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed serious concern over the large-scale clashes between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the region and the involvement of fighters from Syria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kremlin said in a statement .
The presidents said they would continue coordinated mediation efforts , including through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 's ( OSCE ) Minsk Group , set up in 1992 to seek a peaceful resolution .
The Minsk Group is co-chaired by Russia , France , and the United States .
Later in the day , Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , who told the Russian leader that Armenia must withdraw from Azerbaijani lands and `` sit down at the negotiating table , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists over control of Nagorno-Karabakh , a region that proclaimed its independence from Baku during a war in the 1990s , broke out in late September .
At least 1,000 people and possibly many more have died in the nearly six weeks of fighting , representing the deadliest outbreak of hostilities over the region in more than a quarter-century .
Several attempts to declare a cease-fire have failed .
Turkey has been accused of sending mercenaries to Karabakh to support Azerbaijan in its fight against the separatists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the negotiating table that has long been dominated by Moscow .
Armenia has turned to its traditional ally , Russia , for help .
Armenia is a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization military alliance .
With reporting by Reuters and AFP

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President Ilham Aliyev says Azerbaijani forces have taken Shushi (known as Susa in Azeri), the second-largest city in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Armenian officials denied the report but confirmed fighting around the city, a hilltop settlement located on a main road overlooking the breakaway region's main city, Stepanakert.
Videos on social media showed lines of cars leaving Stepanakert on November 8, although the scope of the exodus could not be confirmed independently.
Large crowds of people gathered in Baku to celebrate following Aliyev's statement, waving flags and chanting slogans while drivers sounded their car horns.
Armenian Defense Ministry representative Artsrun Hovhannisian said in a Facebook post the same day that "battles in Shushi continue; wait and believe in our troops." Armenia had earlier reported "fierce combat" near the city.
Shushi is located on a road that links Stepanakert with the territory of Armenia, which backs the separatists fighting for Nagorno-Karabakh's independence.
Aliyev's statement comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh with his French and Turkish counterparts.
During a November 7 phone call, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed serious concern over the large-scale clashes between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the region and the involvement of fighters from Syria and Libya in the conflict, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The presidents said they would continue coordinated mediation efforts, including through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, set up in 1992 to seek a peaceful resolution. The Minsk Group is co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States.
Later in the day, Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told the Russian leader that Armenia must withdraw from Azerbaijani lands and "sit down at the negotiating table," according to a statement from Ankara.
Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that proclaimed its independence from Baku during a war in the 1990s, broke out in late September.
At least 1,000 people and possibly many more have died in the nearly six weeks of fighting, representing the deadliest outbreak of hostilities over the region in more than a quarter-century. Several attempts to declare a cease-fire have failed.
Turkey has been accused of sending mercenaries to Karabakh to support Azerbaijan in its fight against the separatists. Analysts say Ankara wants a seat at the negotiating table that has long been dominated by Moscow.
Armenia has turned to its traditional ally, Russia, for help. Armenia is a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization military alliance.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP