rferl--2020-01-15--U.S. Indicts Five Suspects For Smuggling U.S. Goods To Pakistan’s Nuclear Program

A federal court has indicted five men suspected of operating an international network of front companies to purchase goods in the United States for Pakistan ’ s nuclear and other weapons programs in violation of two legislative acts designed to protect U.S. national security , the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release .
The indictment , unsealed on January 15 , says the `` defendants smuggled U.S.-origin goods to entities that have been designated for years as threats to U.S. national security for their ties to Pakistan ’ s weapons programs , '' said Assistant Attorney General for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Control Reform Act are : Muhammad Kamran Wali ( Kamran ) , 41 , of Pakistan ; Muhammad Ahsan Wali ( Ahsan ) , 48 , and Haji Wali Muhammad Sheikh ( Haji ) , 82 , both of Canada ; Ashraf Khan Muhammad ( Khan ) of Hong Kong ; and Ahmed Waheed ( Waheed ) , 52 , of Britain .
All are associated with the front company Business World in Pakistan and the group allegedly procured `` 38 separate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an international web of firms that concealed the true destination of the goods in Pakistan , according to the indictment .
However , a multiagency law enforcement investigation established that the goods went to two Pakistani organizations whose activities `` are found to be contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests : the Advanced Engineering Research Organization ( AERO ) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission ( PAEC ) . ''
AERO was added to the Commerce Department 's entity list in 2014 after the U.S. government found that it had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ procure items for use in Pakistan 's cruise missile and strategic UAV [ unmanned aerial vehicle ] programs . ''
Arrest warrants for the five suspects are pending and none of them have been apprehended .

A federal court has indicted five men suspected of operating an international network of front companies to purchase goods in the United States for Pakistan’s nuclear and other weapons programs in violation of two legislative acts designed to protect U.S. national security, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release.
The indictment, unsealed on January 15, says the "defendants smuggled U.S.-origin goods to entities that have been designated for years as threats to U.S. national security for their ties to Pakistan’s weapons programs," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.
Accused of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Control Reform Act are: Muhammad Kamran Wali (Kamran), 41, of Pakistan; Muhammad Ahsan Wali (Ahsan), 48, and Haji Wali Muhammad Sheikh (Haji), 82, both of Canada; Ashraf Khan Muhammad (Khan) of Hong Kong; and Ahmed Waheed (Waheed), 52, of Britain.
All are associated with the front company Business World in Pakistan and the group allegedly procured "38 separate exports" from 29 U.S.-based companies through an international web of firms that concealed the true destination of the goods in Pakistan, according to the indictment.
However, a multiagency law enforcement investigation established that the goods went to two Pakistani organizations whose activities "are found to be contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests: the Advanced Engineering Research Organization (AERO) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)."
AERO was added to the Commerce Department's entity list in 2014 after the U.S. government found that it had "used intermediaries and front companies to procure items for use in Pakistan's cruise missile and strategic UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] programs."
Arrest warrants for the five suspects are pending and none of them have been apprehended.


rferl--2020-01-15--Putin Nominates Ex-Tax Chief Mikhail Mishustin As New Russian Prime Minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a surprise constitutional shakeup that could keep him in power beyond the end of his term in 2024 , and appointed a new prime minister after Dmitry Medvedev and his cabinet resigned .
Putin used his annual state-of-the-nation speech on January 15 to call for a referendum on substantial constitutional amendments that would strengthen parliament 's powers ahead of the end of his term in 2024 .
`` Given that the proposed reforms concern significant changes to the political system , the work of legislative , executive and judicial authorities , I believe it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the entire package of the proposed amendments to the Russian Constitution , '' Putin added without specifying any date for a vote .
Hours later , Putin named little-known Federal Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin as Russia 's new prime minister after Medvedev resigned following the president 's announcement .
Mishustin , 53 , has worked in the government since 1998 and has been head of the Federal Tax Service since 2010 .
Observers said the day 's dramatic events are likely preparing the ground for 2024 , when Putin , now 67 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has occupied the presidency or the prime minister 's job continuously since 1999 , and was reelected in 2018 for a final six-year term under the current constitution .
Announcing the moves in his address to Russia ’ s Federal Assembly , Putin said the country ’ s 1993 constitution should be amended , including giving the State Duma -- the lower house of parliament -- the right to name cabinet ministers and the prime minister , a power that currently belongs to the president .
At the same time , Putin said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ republic , '' with the president retaining powers such as the right to dismiss the prime minister and cabinet ministers , as well as naming top defense and security officials .
`` This will increase the role and significance of the country 's parliament , '' Putin said .
`` For my part , I want to thank you for everything that was done at this stage of our joint work .
I want to express satisfaction with the results that have been achieved , '' Putin said at the meeting with Medvedev @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was done , of course , but everything never works out completely , '' Putin added .
Medvedev announced his government 's resignation during the live broadcast of a cabinet meeting with Putin .
`` After the [ constitutional ] changes are adopted , and most likely this will be done after discussions , there will be significant changes…in the balance of power , '' Medvedev said .
`` In that context , we , as the government of the Russian Federation , must provide our country 's president with an opportunity to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conditions , I think the government of the Russian Federation made the proper move to resign , '' he added .
Russian news agencies said Putin plans to create the position of deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and that the post will be offered to Medvedev .
Observers say that Putin 's choice of Mishustin , who lacks any political weight , indicates that the latter will not play an independent role .
Mishustin will face a vote of approval in the Duma within one week .
Russia last conducted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the constitution under Putin 's predecessor , Boris Yeltsin .
Putin also suggested tightening the requirements for becoming president , saying any future Russian president should have lived in the country for at least 25 years and have no foreign citizenship or residency .
In addition , he also talked about a constitutional change that would enshrine the priority of domestic legislation over international law .
The speech came with the country still under Western sanctions for its actions in Ukraine and Syria , as well as its alleged election meddling in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country 's economic growth , leading to rising poverty rates and growing discontent highlighted by protests last summer in Moscow .
Aleksei Navalny , Russia 's most prominent opposition leader and Kremlin critic , tweeted that Putin 's speech clearly signaled his desire to stay in control after his term ends .
`` The only goal of Putin and his regime is to stay in charge for life , having the entire country as his personal asset and seizing its riches for himself and his friends , '' Navalny said .
Navalny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changes to be `` fraudulent crap . ''
The address at Moscow 's Manezh exhibition hall is one of three regularly scheduled national appearances that Putin makes each year -- the others being a lavish question-and-answer session with the public and a stage-managed annual press conference .
It is the 16th time Putin has delivered the address before an audience that also includes government ministers , judges from the constitutional and supreme courts , leading regional officials , and other members of the political elite .
In response to public discord , Putin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s declining population , which he characterized as a `` direct threat '' to the country ’ s future , including a nationwide hot-school-meals program .
Putin said low incomes remain an obstacle to increasing the population , now at about 147 million , as the country faces the consequences of the post-Soviet economic collapse that led to a steep drop in the birthrate .
`` We need to expedite achievement to meet the large-scale social , economic , and technological challenges our country faces , '' he said .
`` Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change .
People want development and are trying to make progress in the fields of vocation , knowledge , and well being , '' Putin said .
In his speech , Putin also boasted about Russian weaponry .
He claimed that Russia is leading in the global arms race and is no longer forced to “ catch up ” to other world powers .
With reporting by Interfax and TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a surprise constitutional shakeup that could keep him in power beyond the end of his term in 2024, and appointed a new prime minister after Dmitry Medvedev and his cabinet resigned.
Putin used his annual state-of-the-nation speech on January 15 to call for a referendum on substantial constitutional amendments that would strengthen parliament's powers ahead of the end of his term in 2024.
"Given that the proposed reforms concern significant changes to the political system, the work of legislative, executive and judicial authorities, I believe it is necessary to hold a plebiscite on the entire package of the proposed amendments to the Russian Constitution," Putin added without specifying any date for a vote.
Hours later, Putin named little-known Federal Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin as Russia's new prime minister after Medvedev resigned following the president's announcement.
Mishustin, 53, has worked in the government since 1998 and has been head of the Federal Tax Service since 2010.
Observers said the day's dramatic events are likely preparing the ground for 2024, when Putin, now 67, must leave the presidency. Putin has occupied the presidency or the prime minister's job continuously since 1999, and was reelected in 2018 for a final six-year term under the current constitution.
Announcing the moves in his address to Russia’s Federal Assembly, Putin said the country’s 1993 constitution should be amended, including giving the State Duma -- the lower house of parliament -- the right to name cabinet ministers and the prime minister, a power that currently belongs to the president.
At the same time, Putin said Russia must remain a "strong presidential republic," with the president retaining powers such as the right to dismiss the prime minister and cabinet ministers, as well as naming top defense and security officials.
"This will increase the role and significance of the country's parliament," Putin said.
"For my part, I want to thank you for everything that was done at this stage of our joint work. I want to express satisfaction with the results that have been achieved," Putin said at the meeting with Medvedev and his cabinet.
"Not everything was done, of course, but everything never works out completely," Putin added.
Medvedev announced his government's resignation during the live broadcast of a cabinet meeting with Putin.
"After the [constitutional] changes are adopted, and most likely this will be done after discussions, there will be significant changes…in the balance of power," Medvedev said.
"In that context, we, as the government of the Russian Federation, must provide our country's president with an opportunity to make all necessary decisions and in these conditions, I think the government of the Russian Federation made the proper move to resign," he added.
Russian news agencies said Putin plans to create the position of deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and that the post will be offered to Medvedev.
Observers say that Putin's choice of Mishustin, who lacks any political weight, indicates that the latter will not play an independent role.
Mishustin will face a vote of approval in the Duma within one week.
Russia last conducted a referendum in 1993 when it adopted the constitution under Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin.
Tightening Presidential Requirements
Putin also suggested tightening the requirements for becoming president, saying any future Russian president should have lived in the country for at least 25 years and have no foreign citizenship or residency.
In addition, he also talked about a constitutional change that would enshrine the priority of domestic legislation over international law.
The speech came with the country still under Western sanctions for its actions in Ukraine and Syria, as well as its alleged election meddling in the United States.
The sanctions have hampered the country's economic growth, leading to rising poverty rates and growing discontent highlighted by protests last summer in Moscow.
Aleksei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition leader and Kremlin critic, tweeted that Putin's speech clearly signaled his desire to stay in control after his term ends.
"The only goal of Putin and his regime is to stay in charge for life, having the entire country as his personal asset and seizing its riches for himself and his friends," Navalny said.
Navalny said he expected any vote on constitutional changes to be "fraudulent crap."
Social-Spending Measures
The address at Moscow's Manezh exhibition hall is one of three regularly scheduled national appearances that Putin makes each year -- the others being a lavish question-and-answer session with the public and a stage-managed annual press conference.
It is the 16th time Putin has delivered the address before an audience that also includes government ministers, judges from the constitutional and supreme courts, leading regional officials, and other members of the political elite.
In response to public discord, Putin spelled out social-spending measures to counter Russia’s declining population, which he characterized as a "direct threat" to the country’s future, including a nationwide hot-school-meals program.
Putin said low incomes remain an obstacle to increasing the population, now at about 147 million, as the country faces the consequences of the post-Soviet economic collapse that led to a steep drop in the birthrate.
"We need to expedite achievement to meet the large-scale social, economic, and technological challenges our country faces," he said.
"Our society is clearly demonstrating a demand for change. People want development and are trying to make progress in the fields of vocation, knowledge, and well being," Putin said.
In his speech, Putin also boasted about Russian weaponry. He claimed that Russia is leading in the global arms race and is no longer forced to “catch up” to other world powers.
With reporting by Interfax and TASS


rferl--2020-01-17--Second Russian Prison Guard Sentenced In High-Profile Torture Case

The second of at least 17 Russian prison guards charged in a high-profile inmate torture case has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison .
A court in Yaroslavl , some 250 kilometers northeast of Moscow , on January 17 convicted Maksim Yablokov of abuse of authority for beating three inmates .
The court handed down the sentence the same day .
Two days earlier , former prison guard Sergei Yefremov , who made a deal with investigators , was sentenced to four years in prison .
Yablokov , who also made a deal with investigators , was arrested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Correctional Colony No .
1 in Yaroslavl in 2018 in the wake of public outcry after the Moscow-based independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta released a video that showed a group of guards severely beating an inmate as he was pinned face down on a table .
Russian authorities announced at the time that similar complaints by inmates across Russia would be investigated .
Another probe was launched months later into the alleged torture of 25 inmates in a second prison in the Yaroslavl region .
The cases have shone a spotlight on what activists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian prisons .
Valery Maksimenko , deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service ( FSIN ) , said in 2018 that the country needs more prisons to hold police officers , prison guards , and other law enforcement agents who have been convicted of crimes .
He said that two new prisons that were opened for such prisoners earlier in 2018 were already full .
`` It looks like an anti-corruption effort is under way , a cleansing is under way , '' Maksimenko said .
In Russia and some other former Soviet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , prison guards , judges , and prosecutors serve their terms in detention facilities that are separate from regular prisons .

The second of at least 17 Russian prison guards charged in a high-profile inmate torture case has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.
A court in Yaroslavl, some 250 kilometers northeast of Moscow, on January 17 convicted Maksim Yablokov of abuse of authority for beating three inmates. The court handed down the sentence the same day.
Two days earlier, former prison guard Sergei Yefremov, who made a deal with investigators, was sentenced to four years in prison.
Yablokov, who also made a deal with investigators, was arrested along with other prison guards of the Correctional Colony No. 1 in Yaroslavl in 2018 in the wake of public outcry after the Moscow-based independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta released a video that showed a group of guards severely beating an inmate as he was pinned face down on a table.
Russian authorities announced at the time that similar complaints by inmates across Russia would be investigated.
Another probe was launched months later into the alleged torture of 25 inmates in a second prison in the Yaroslavl region.
The cases have shone a spotlight on what activists say is widespread abuse and torture in Russian prisons.
Valery Maksimenko, deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), said in 2018 that the country needs more prisons to hold police officers, prison guards, and other law enforcement agents who have been convicted of crimes.
He said that two new prisons that were opened for such prisoners earlier in 2018 were already full.
"It looks like an anti-corruption effort is under way, a cleansing is under way," Maksimenko said.
In Russia and some other former Soviet republics, convicted former law enforcement officers, prison guards, judges, and prosecutors serve their terms in detention facilities that are separate from regular prisons.
With reporting by Mediazona


rferl--2020-01-17--Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport Opens New Terminal With Annual Capacity Of 20 Million

The first part of a new terminal at Moscow 's Sheremetyevo International Airport has opened with an operational capacity able @ @ @ @ @ many as 20 million travelers annually .
Terminal C-1 opened on January 17 in the @ @ @ @ @ terminal complex after being combined with Terminal B for domestic flights .
The new terminal @ @ @ @ @ airport 's overall capacity to 80 million passengers per year , airport officials have said @ @ @ @ @ , an equivalent of almost $ 520 million was spent to build the terminal with @ @ @ @ @ Aleksandr Ponomarenko , the chairman of the Sheremetyevo International Airport Joint Stock Company , told @ @ @ @ @ the opening of the new terminal that a second section , C-2 , will be @ @ @ @ @ 's southern complex consists of terminals D , E , and F and the Aeroexpress @ @ @ @ @ Russia 's biggest airport and the main hub of the country ’ s largest airline @ @ @ @ @ reporting by Forbes , Interfax , and TASS

The first part of a new terminal at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport has opened with an operational capacity able to provide services for as many as 20 million travelers annually.
Terminal C-1 opened on January 17 in the north of the airport's terminal complex after being combined with Terminal B for domestic flights.
The new terminal is expected to increase the airport's overall capacity to 80 million passengers per year, airport officials have said.
According to the officials, an equivalent of almost $520 million was spent to build the terminal with parking for 2,500 vehicles.
Aleksandr Ponomarenko, the chairman of the Sheremetyevo International Airport Joint Stock Company, told reporters at a ceremony marking the opening of the new terminal that a second section, C-2, will be built by 2026.
Sheremetyevo's southern complex consists of terminals D, E, and F and the Aeroexpress train station.
It is Russia's biggest airport and the main hub of the country’s largest airline, Aeroflot.
Based on reporting by Forbes, Interfax, and TASS


rferl--2020-01-17--Lavrov Blames Washington's 'Aggressive' Policies For Rise In Global Tensions

Acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has blamed “ aggressive ” U.S. policies for heightened global tensions and called on Washington and Tehran to de-escalate their feud .
Speaking at his annual news conference in Moscow on January 17 , Lavrov called the downing of a Ukrainian passenger by Iranian air defense systems a “ very serious red flag ” and a warning signal to begin calming the situation instead of resorting to “ constant threats.
” `` An increase in tensions between Iran and the United States will not help settle any single crisis in the region , if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' he said .
The downing of the Ukraine International Airlines ( UIA ) flight on January 8 , which killed all 176 people on board , came as the United States and Iran appeared headed for war .
The tragedy occurred hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq , in response to the targeted killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. air strike earlier this month .
Iranian authorities initially denied any responsibility , but three days after the tragedy it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unintentionally . ''
In wide-ranging comments , Lavrov said that while he was not making “ excuses for anyone , ” the `` unprecedented '' U.S. operation `` undermined and put into question all imaginable norms of international law.
” Lavrov said there were reports of `` at least six [ U.S. ] F-35 fighters in the air at the Iranian border '' at the time of the incident .
`` This information has yet to be verified , '' he said , `` but I 'd like to underline the edginess that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also chided Britain , France , and Germany for triggering a dispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers , citing Tehran 's reduced compliance with the accord , which the United States unilaterally abandoned in 2018 .
He said the three took a “ dangerous turn ” by caving into threats of increased tariffs from the White House and setting off the dispute mechanism , which could result in UN and European Union sanctions on Tehran .
Iran has taken several steps away from meeting its commitments under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump pulled his country out of the agreement and implemented crippling sanctions on Iran .
The remaining parties to the accord -- the three European powers , plus China and Russia -- have pledged to keep it alive .
But European partners have been unable to offer Tehran a way to sell its crude oil abroad despite the U.S. sanctions , which caused the value of Iran 's currency to plummet and sent its inflation rate soaring .
Lavrov also reaffirmed that Russia would like to extend the New START nuclear-arms treaty with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to expire in February 2021 .
However , he said Moscow has not seen `` any clear , coherent signals '' from the United States on its intentions regarding the accord .

Acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has blamed “aggressive” U.S. policies for heightened global tensions and called on Washington and Tehran to de-escalate their feud.
Speaking at his annual news conference in Moscow on January 17, Lavrov called the downing of a Ukrainian passenger by Iranian air defense systems a “very serious red flag” and a warning signal to begin calming the situation instead of resorting to “constant threats.”
"An increase in tensions between Iran and the United States will not help settle any single crisis in the region, if only because the tensions will be increasing," he said.
The downing of the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight on January 8, which killed all 176 people on board, came as the United States and Iran appeared headed for war.
The tragedy occurred hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq, in response to the targeted killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. air strike earlier this month.
Iranian authorities initially denied any responsibility, but three days after the tragedy it admitted the plane was shot down "unintentionally."
In wide-ranging comments, Lavrov said that while he was not making “excuses for anyone,” the "unprecedented" U.S. operation "undermined and put into question all imaginable norms of international law.”
Lavrov said there were reports of "at least six [U.S.] F-35 fighters in the air at the Iranian border" at the time of the incident.
"This information has yet to be verified," he said, "but I'd like to underline the edginess that always accompanies such situations."
Lavrov also chided Britain, France, and Germany for triggering a dispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers, citing Tehran's reduced compliance with the accord, which the United States unilaterally abandoned in 2018.
He said the three took a “dangerous turn” by caving into threats of increased tariffs from the White House and setting off the dispute mechanism, which could result in UN and European Union sanctions on Tehran.
Iran has taken several steps away from meeting its commitments under the 2015 pact since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the agreement and implemented crippling sanctions on Iran.
The remaining parties to the accord -- the three European powers, plus China and Russia -- have pledged to keep it alive.
But European partners have been unable to offer Tehran a way to sell its crude oil abroad despite the U.S. sanctions, which caused the value of Iran's currency to plummet and sent its inflation rate soaring.
Lavrov also reaffirmed that Russia would like to extend the New START nuclear-arms treaty with the United States, which is due to expire in February 2021. However, he said Moscow has not seen "any clear, coherent signals" from the United States on its intentions regarding the accord.


rferl--2020-01-17--Pakistan Jails Dozens Over Protests Sparked By Christian Woman's Blasphemy Acquittal

A Pakistani court has sentenced 86 people to 55-year prison terms each for taking part in violent rallies over the acquittal of a Christian woman in a high-profile blasphemy case .
Those convicted were all workers and supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan ( TLP ) , a hard-line Islamist party that had spearheaded violent protests across Pakistan in late 2018 in the wake of Asia Bibi 's acquittal .
An anti-terrorism court in the city of Rawalpindi , near Islamabad , announced the verdicts late on January 16 following a trial that lasted for more than a year .
Senior party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ -- unusually harsh in Pakistan , where blasphemy is a very sensitive issue -- would be appealed .
Those convicted are not expected to spend more than 25 years in prison -- the equivalent of a life sentence under Pakistani law .
Among those sentenced were a brother and a nephew of TLP head Khadim Hussain Rizvi .
Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2009 and sentenced to death on charges of insulting Islam .
She consistently denied the charges against her .
Pakistan ’ s Supreme Court overturned Bibi ’ s conviction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the ruling , authorities held her in protective custody before she was allowed to leave for Canada last year to reunite with her family there .
Domestic and international human rights groups say blasphemy allegations have often been used in Pakistan to intimidate religious minorities and to settle personal scores .
Last month , a court sentenced Junaid Hafeez , a 33-year-old Muslim professor , to death after finding him guilty of spreading anti-Islamic ideas .
Hafeez had been held for six years awaiting trial .
Nearly one month after the sentence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people have signed a petition on change.org to ask for justice for Hafeez and for Pakistan ’ s blasphemy laws to be repealed .
With reporting by AP , AFP , Dawn , and RFE/RL ’ s Radio Mashaal

A Pakistani court has sentenced 86 people to 55-year prison terms each for taking part in violent rallies over the acquittal of a Christian woman in a high-profile blasphemy case.
Those convicted were all workers and supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a hard-line Islamist party that had spearheaded violent protests across Pakistan in late 2018 in the wake of Asia Bibi's acquittal.
An anti-terrorism court in the city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, announced the verdicts late on January 16 following a trial that lasted for more than a year.
Senior party leader Pir Ejaz Ashrafi said the sentences -- unusually harsh in Pakistan, where blasphemy is a very sensitive issue -- would be appealed.
Those convicted are not expected to spend more than 25 years in prison -- the equivalent of a life sentence under Pakistani law.
Among those sentenced were a brother and a nephew of TLP head Khadim Hussain Rizvi.
Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2009 and sentenced to death on charges of insulting Islam. She consistently denied the charges against her.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court overturned Bibi’s conviction in 2018. But following nationwide rallies against the ruling, authorities held her in protective custody before she was allowed to leave for Canada last year to reunite with her family there.
Domestic and international human rights groups say blasphemy allegations have often been used in Pakistan to intimidate religious minorities and to settle personal scores.
Last month, a court sentenced Junaid Hafeez, a 33-year-old Muslim professor, to death after finding him guilty of spreading anti-Islamic ideas.
Hafeez had been held for six years awaiting trial.
Nearly one month after the sentence was handed down, more than 80,000 people have signed a petition on change.org to ask for justice for Hafeez and for Pakistan’s blasphemy laws to be repealed.
With reporting by AP, AFP, Dawn, and RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal


rferl--2020-01-17--Armenia's Ex-Security Service Chief Found Dead With Gunshot Wound

YEREVAN – Georgi Kutoian , a former head of Armenia 's National Security Service ( NSS ) , has been found dead in a Yerevan apartment , officials say .
A spokeswoman for the Investigations Committee said that Kutoian 's body was found with a gunshot wound in an apartment in a residential area north of the city 's center on January 17 .
A team of investigators was at the scene , it said , giving no further details .
Kutoian , 38 , served as NSS director from 2016 to 2018 .
A lawyer by education , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sarkisian beginning in 2011 .
His appointment to head the NSS in February 2016 came as a surprise to most observers .
Kutoian was dismissed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in May 2018 shortly after popular unrest forced Sarkisian to resign .
He kept a low profile while in office and did not make any public statements after his dismissal .
Armen Ashotian , deputy chairman of Sarkisian 's Republican Party of Armenia ( HHK ) , said on January 17 that Kutoian may have been murdered .
`` This tragic incident is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' he said in a written statement that called for a `` transparent and comprehensive '' investigation .
He gave no evidence to back up his claim .
Kutoian is the second former top security official to be found shot dead in the last four months .
Hayk Harutiunian , a former head of the Armenian police , was found dead at his country house in September .
Harutiunian reportedly had a gunshot wound to the head .
Investigators suggested he had committed suicide .
During the previous months , Harutiunian was interrogated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ postelection violence in Yerevan in 2008 .
Investigators said Harutiunian was not questioned as a suspect or a witness .

YEREVAN – Georgi Kutoian, a former head of Armenia's National Security Service (NSS), has been found dead in a Yerevan apartment, officials say.
A spokeswoman for the Investigations Committee said that Kutoian's body was found with a gunshot wound in an apartment in a residential area north of the city's center on January 17.
A team of investigators was at the scene, it said, giving no further details.
The deputy head of Armenia's Investigations Committee, Artur Melikian, said later in the day that a probe had been opened under the article of the Criminal Code that covers "incitement to suicide."
"But that doesn't mean that we're not considering other lines of inquiry, including murder or disguised murder," Melikian said.
He added that "more than 40 shells and bullets were found" at the scene and that Kutoyan had a gunshot wound "on the top of his head."
Kutoian, 38, served as NSS director from 2016 to 2018.
A lawyer by education, he worked as an assistant to then-President Serzh Sarkisian beginning in 2011. His appointment to head the NSS in February 2016 came as a surprise to most observers.
Kutoian was dismissed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in May 2018 shortly after popular unrest forced Sarkisian to resign.
He kept a low profile while in office and did not make any public statements after his dismissal.
Armen Ashotian, deputy chairman of Sarkisian's Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), said on January 17 that Kutoian may have been murdered.
"This tragic incident is very strange and raises many questions," he said in a written statement that called for a "transparent and comprehensive" investigation.
He gave no evidence to back up his claim.
Kutoian is the second former top security official to be found shot dead in the last four months.
Hayk Harutiunian, a former head of the Armenian police, was found dead at his country house in September.
Harutiunian reportedly had a gunshot wound to the head. Investigators suggested he had committed suicide.
During the previous months, Harutiunian was interrogated several times in a criminal investigation into postelection violence in Yerevan in 2008.
Investigators said Kutoian was not questioned as a suspect or a witness in that case.


rferl--2020-01-17--Ukraine Asks Six Nations To Assign Specialists To Investigate Deadly Iran Crash

Ukraine has asked Canada , France , Sweden , Germany , the United Kingdom , and Iran to assign experts to assist in the investigation of the January 8 crash of Ukraine International Airlines ( UIA ) flight PS0752 near Tehran that killed all 176 people aboard .
The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General 's Office said late on January 16 that the request was sent as a follow-up to agreements reached in London earlier in the day at a meeting of foreign ministers of the countries whose citizens were killed in the air crash .
The statement came as Canadian Foreign Minister @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well as Afghanistan , the United Kingdom , Sweden , and Ukraine are demanding that Tehran pay compensation to families of the victims of the crash .
In a statement from the meeting in London , the group of countries said that Iran should hold a `` thorough , independent , and transparent international investigation open to grieving nations . ''
The UIA Boeing 737-800 crashed several minutes after taking off from Tehran ’ s primary international airport .
Iranian authorities initially denied any responsibility , but three days after the tragedy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plane was shot down `` unintentionally . ''

Ukraine has asked Canada, France, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Iran to assign experts to assist in the investigation of the January 8 crash of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS0752 near Tehran that killed all 176 people aboard.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office said late on January 16 that the request was sent as a follow-up to agreements reached in London earlier in the day at a meeting of foreign ministers of the countries whose citizens were killed in the air crash.
The statement came as Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said that his country, as well as Afghanistan, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Ukraine are demanding that Tehran pay compensation to families of the victims of the crash.
In a statement from the meeting in London, the group of countries said that Iran should hold a "thorough, independent, and transparent international investigation open to grieving nations."
The UIA Boeing 737-800 crashed several minutes after taking off from Tehran’s primary international airport.
Iranian authorities initially denied any responsibility, but three days after the tragedy the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps admitted the plane was shot down "unintentionally."


rferl--2020-01-17--U.S., Taliban Continue Meetings In Qatar On Joint Agreement

A representative of the Taliban says a second day of meetings between the group and a U.S. negotiating team led by Zalmay Khalilzad has been held in Qatar .
“ Both negotiation teams also held productive talks yesterday & today .
Talks will continue for several days & we shall share information about it at various intervals , ” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said in a post on Twitter on January 17 .
Shaheen added that the talks had been `` useful '' and that the sides are discussing the signing of a joint agreement and a related ceremony .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ no immediate comment from U.S. officials , but Reuters quoted two unnamed sources as saying the Taliban will implement a 10-day cease-fire with U.S. troops , a reduction in violence with Afghan forces , and discussions with Afghan government officials if it reaches a deal with U.S. negotiators in talks in Doha .
Analysts say that if an agreement is clinched , it could revive hopes for a long-term solution to the conflict in Afghanistan .
U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan since their 2001 invasion to drive out the Taliban following the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States .
The Taliban controlled Afghanistan at the time and harbored Osama bin Laden , the mastermind behind the attacks .
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his desire to remove the estimated 13,000 U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan in America ’ s longest war .
Over the past year , neighboring Pakistan has helped facilitate talks between Khalilzad and the Taliban in Qatar , where the militants have a political office .
But the talks have repeatedly stalled , with Washington calling on the group to reduce violence , among other things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cease-fire was the only way to achieve sustainable and dignified peace .
“ To achieve lasting peace , which is the demand of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the people , is the only way to achieve cease-fire , ” he said in a post on Twitter .
“ Any cease-fire that is proposed as a fundamental step will be acceptable to the people and the government , ” he added .

The education of girls and women is universally accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, including nearly 50 Muslim-majority nations.
But Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned teenage girls from attending school after the sixth grade since they returned to power two years ago. The ban was extended in December to women in universities.
Countless protests by Afghans inside the country, pressure from the international community, and lobbying by Muslim scholars and clerics have failed to convince the fundamentalist Taliban leaders to reopen schools.
Experts are divided over whether the ban is rooted in how the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam is shaped by conservative Pashtun tribal customs and cultural practices or if it is prompted by how senior Taliban ideologues interpret Islamic teachings.
Most Taliban leaders are ethnic Pashtun, Sunni Muslim clerics. Many were educated in Deobandi madrasahs in neighboring Pakistan. Deobandism emerged as a puritanical Islamic revivalist movement in 19-century British Colonial India. Based on the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, it is a prominent strain among Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tribal Influences
Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator, argues that the Taliban restrictions against women are linked to social customs and cultural practices in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Most Taliban leaders come from various Pashtun rural tribal communities in these regions bordering Pakistan.
"They believe that a woman's place is either inside a house or in a grave," Yousafzai said of the basic Taliban belief influenced by the status of women in the families of clerics and religious leaders in these Pashtun regions.
“Women living in the households of the current Taliban policymakers were never educated and never left their homes,” said Yousafzai, who has tracked the Islamist group since it emerged as a ragtag militia in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in late 1994. “These women never performed any government or nongovernmental jobs.”
Yousafzai says the Taliban backs policies shaped by this worldview by leaning on Islamic teachings supporting such ideas. He says Taliban leaders rely on sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that discourage women from leaving their homes.
“Their primary belief is that pubescent girls should not leave home under any circumstance,” he said. “This is why they view women leaving home for education or work as engaging in moral corruption.”
In Afghanistan, a Muslim nation of some 40 million people, activists and rights advocates accuse the Taliban of implementing "gender apartheid" by denying women education, work, freedom of movement, and deciding how they can appear in public.
Most Muslims agree that Islam allows women to get an education. Yet the Taliban publicly says that it will allow girls access to education only after ensuring complete gender segregation and other unspecified conditions.
Almost all Afghan secondary schools were gender segregated and universities imposed a strict separation between men and women after the Taliban takeover.
Yousafzai says in conservative and traditional Muslim societies around the world, some clerics also favor restrictions on women's education, work, and their role in public life. But the governments in those countries usually oppose or limit such ideas.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia -- one of the most conservative Sunni Muslim nations -- has allowed women to drive and granted them freedom of movement without a male guardian. These steps are part of a reform and modernity drive by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The Taliban ban on education has invited universal condemnation from Muslims globally.
“The Taliban's ban on women's education is not rooted in [the Islamic] Shari’a law but rather reflects cultural biases that contradict the teachings of Islam,” said Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the United States.
He said that contrary to Taliban practices, “Islam emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge and encourages all individuals, regardless of gender, to acquire an education.”
Historical Conflict
But Islamic scholars and those who have attempted to convince the Taliban about reopening girls schools offer a different explanation.
John Mohammad Butt, an Islamic scholar and former BBC broadcaster who is the only Westerner to graduate from India’s Darul Uloom Deoband, argues that the Taliban's policy on girls' education is not tribal but shaped by the century-old conflict over modern education.
“The problem is that girls' education in Afghanistan -- indeed, contemporary education in general -- has generally been introduced in Afghanistan in line with a secular agenda,” he said.
In the 1920s, a coalition of conservative clerics and tribal and community leaders deposed reformist King Amanullah Khan. He wanted to modernize Afghanistan along Turkish leader Kamal Ataturk's secular lines and championed modern education and rights for women.
This opposition to modernity and secularism continued, and conservative clerics opposed women's education and work. It became a key part of the Islamist opposition to the pro-Soviet Afghan communist governments after the April 1978 military coup that ended the Afghan monarchy. The mujahedin accused the communists of spreading immorality by promoting women’s education and empowerment.
“This has led to particular wariness on the part of conservative circles in Afghanistan with regard to girls' education,” Butt said.
'Deep Ideological Conviction'
Obaidullah Baheer, a political science lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, became part of an effort to rescind the ban by talking to the Taliban last year.
But he says the effort failed because “the ban is a matter of deep ideological conviction” for the current supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Baheer says that the most prominent Taliban leaders have studied in Pakistani madrasahs and were thus disconnected from village and tribal life.
“They have been indoctrinated by the Deobandi school of thought so that they now enforce the strictest version of Islam on the Afghan population,” he said.
He argues that the ban on girls’ schools is a deliberate policy championed by Akhundzada, who he says has endorsed Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani's Arabic language book The Islamic Emirate And Its System. In this book, Haqqani supports a fringe Islamic opinion of preferring the choice of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, Sawdah Bint Zam'ah, who chose to stay at home until her death.
Baheer says Haqqani ignores his other wives and other female companions that played an active role in many sectors of society and how they served as students and teachers for men.
“This fringe opinion is not held by all Taliban leaders but is one that the current absolute sovereign, the Taliban emir, seems to be convinced of,” he said.
Butt says that even Haqqani has acknowledged the principle that if there is something that women need to act upon, then that is also something that women need to learn about.
“I hope the Taliban authorities will come to realize in the not-too-distant future that education for women will make Afghan women into better Muslims,” he says. “It will enable them to make a stronger contribution to the well-being of their country.”
Two years after grappling with the issue, Western diplomats appear to be encouraging Afghan conservative and clerical circles to find ways to end the ban.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, recently tweeted that Afghan women must be educated and contribute to the economy to help their country stand on its own two feet.
“If change to policies is made, it will be because Afghans have asked for it, not a result of foreign requests,” he wrote.


rferl--2020-01-17--Ukrainian PM Honcharuk Offers Resignation Amid Scandal Over Audio Recording

Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has submitted his resignation amid a scandal surrounding an audio recording where he allegedly disparages the economic knowledge and competence of both himself and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy .
In a Facebook post on January 17 , Honcharuk wrote that `` in recent days , you have all witnessed ongoing events around files leaked to social networks that had been mounted from fragments of records from the government 's meetings . ''
Zelenskiy 's office acknowledged receiving Honcharuk 's resignation letter , but said it will comment later on how it will react to the situation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doubts about our respect and trust to the president , I have submitted my resignation to the president with the right to bring the issue to the parliament , '' Honcharuk wrote .
`` [ The files ' ] contents artificially create the idea that I and my team do not respect the president , who is our political leader , '' Honcharuk added , saying that he and his cabinet respect Zelenskiy as the leader of Ukraine .
The veracity of the audio recording remains unclear .
On the clip , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Zelenskiy and he are “ incompetent in economic matters.
” Honcharuk has said audio is a compilation of “ fragments of recorded government meetings.
” Honcharuk posted a video statement on Facebook accusing unnamed individuals of leaking the audio , calling them `` people , who would want us to fail . ''
In the video , he vowed to continue what he called `` our fight against corruption . ''
`` I address those who are fighting against us : you will never frighten us !
We will eradicate corruption even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , adding that `` the massive attacks on social networks and media against our team prove that we are on the right path . ''
He did not elaborate .
A 35-year-old former lawyer and a political newcomer , Honcharuk was named prime minister in August .

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he does not accept the resignation of Prime Minister Oleksei Honcharuk, which was submitted earlier on January 17.
"I received your resignation notice today," Zelenskiy said during a meeting with Honcharuk. "You know I made up my mind to give a chance both to you and your government."
Honcharuk submitted his resignation amid a scandal surrounding an audio recording in which he allegedly disparages the economic knowledge and competence of both himself and Zelenskiy.
In a Facebook post on January 17, Honcharuk wrote that "in recent days, you have all witnessed ongoing events around files leaked to social networks that had been mounted from fragments of records from the government's meetings."
Zelenskiy's office acknowledged receiving Honcharuk's resignation letter, but said it will comment later on how it will react to the situation.
"In order to prevent any doubts about our respect and trust to the president, I have submitted my resignation to the president with the right to bring the issue to the parliament," Honcharuk wrote.
"[The files'] contents artificially create the idea that I and my team do not respect the president, who is our political leader," Honcharuk added, saying that he and his cabinet respect Zelenskiy as the leader of Ukraine.
The veracity of the audio recording remains unclear. On the clip, a voice that sounds like Honcharuk's says that Zelenskiy and he are “incompetent in economic matters.”
Honcharuk has said audio is a compilation of “fragments of recorded government meetings.”
Honcharuk posted a video statement on Facebook accusing unnamed individuals of leaking the audio, calling them "people, who would want us to fail." In the video, he vowed to continue what he called "our fight against corruption."
"I address those who are fighting against us: you will never frighten us! We will eradicate corruption even with more vigor," Honcharuk said, adding that "the massive attacks on social networks and media against our team prove that we are on the right path."
He did not elaborate.
A 35-year-old former lawyer and a political newcomer, Honcharuk was named prime minister in August.


rferl--2020-01-17--Iran's Khamenei Defends Military Amid Anger Over Downed Plane

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for national unity and defended the country 's armed forces in the wake of angry protests over the downing of a Ukrainian passenger airliner by Iran 's air defenses last week .
In a sermon at Tehran ’ s Mosalla Mosque on January 17 , Khamenei -- the highest authority in Iran -- said those who took to the streets had been victims of deception by foreign media and would not change the opinion of most Iranians .
`` The Iranian people love and want resistance to the world powers and no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as he addressed Friday Prayers for the first time in eight years .
Khamenei accused Iran 's enemies of using the plane crash to question the Islamic republic , the armed forces , including the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) , which he said `` maintained the security '' of Iran .
He also called Iran ’ s missile attack on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq earlier this month “ a slap to a world power ” and described U.S. President Donald Trump as a `` clown '' who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Ukraine International Airlines ( UIA ) Boeing 737-800 had just taken off from Tehran en route to Kyiv on January 8 when it crashed , killing all 176 people on board .
Most of the victims were Iranian and Canadian nationals , with smaller numbers of Ukrainians , Afghans , Swedes , Britons , and Germans .
Iranian authorities initially denied any responsibility , but three days after the tragedy the IRGC admitted the plane was shot down `` unintentionally . ''
The tragedy occurred hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iraq , in response to the targeted killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. air strike earlier this month .
Iran ’ s January 11 admission it had downed the Ukrainian plane led to days of protests in Tehran and other Iranian cities , with demonstrators chanting slogans against Iran ’ s clerical leadership .
Referring to Khamenei , mourners shouted `` death to the dictator '' as they buried victims of the plane disaster in the western Iranian city of Sanandaj on January 16 , videos posted online showed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the downing of the Ukrainian plane was a “ bitter accident ” that `` burned through our heart . ''
But he added that the tragedy should not overshadow the `` great martyrdom and sacrifice '' of Soleimani , the head of the IRGC 's foreign-operations arm .
He also said Soleimani ’ s assassination had saddened Iran as much as it made its enemies happy .
But the supreme leader told thousands of Iranians who chanted `` Death to America '' that Western countries are too weak to “ bring Iranians to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force ahead of the prayers , which follow several days of protests over the downing of the Ukrainian plane , AFP reported .
It said authorities have called for rallies across the country after the prayers to show support for Iran 's armed forces and the IRGC .
Earlier this week , President Hassan Rohani called on the military to give a full account of how the plane was shot down .
Rohani also said the investigation should be overseen by a `` special court , '' insisting that all those responsible for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ punished . ''
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif acknowledged that Iranians had been `` lied to '' for days , but claimed that he and Rohani only found out the truth concerning the cause of the disaster two days after the aircraft was shot down .
Iran ’ s judiciary has said several people had been arrested over the plane crash , as well as around 30 protesters .
Meanwhile , the five countries that lost citizens in the downing of the Ukrainian airliner have put pressure on Iranian authorities to give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After meeting in London on January 16 , the foreign ministers of Afghanistan , Britain , Canada , Sweden , and Ukraine demanded that Tehran hold a `` thorough , independent , and transparent ” investigation and pay compensation to the victims ’ families , according to a statement issued by the Canadian government .
`` The eyes of the international community are on Iran today , '' Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said after the talks .
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi responded on January 17 by calling on countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make human issues , particularly this tragic accident , into an excuse for political gestures , '' according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency .
Musavi said Iran had cooperated `` beyond expectations '' with the countries , the report said .
In Kyiv , Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko told parliament that an Iranian representative would travel to Ukraine next week .
He said Tehran was willing to pass on to Ukraine the flight and cockpit recorders from the flight after they had been examined by a joint investigation team comprising experts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the plane crash was a `` very serious red flag '' and a signal that everyone should `` start working on de-escalation and not on constant threats . ''
The Iranian leadership is also facing growing domestic and international pressure on other fronts : the country ’ s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers appears close to collapse and its economy is struggling under crippling U.S. sanctions .
In his address , Khamenei lashed out at Britain , France , and Germany , which this week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noncompliance with terms of the nuclear agreement , calling the European powers “ servants ” of the United States .
He also said Tehran was willing to negotiate , but not with Washington , which reinstated sanctions on Iran after unilaterally abandoning the accord in 2018 .
Trump wants Tehran to negotiate a new accord that would place indefinite curbs on its nuclear program and restrict Tehran 's ballistic-missile program .
The last time Khamenei delivered a Friday sermon in Tehran was in February 2012 on the 33rd anniversary of the country 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis over Iran ’ s nuclear program .
With reporting by the BBC , AFP , TASS , and dpa

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--2020-01-17--Earthquake Of 5.5 Magnitude Hits Off Russia’s Kamchatka

An earthquake with a magnitude 5.5 has been recorded in the Pacific Ocean off the Kamchatka coast in Russia 's @ @ @ @ @ U.S. scientists and Russian officials .
State-run TASS news agency quoted the Russian Emergency Situations @ @ @ @ @ saying the quake 's epicenter was 94 kilometers from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a depth of 20 @ @ @ @ @ registered at 4:31 a.m. local time .
The United States Geological Survey ( USGS ) @ @ @ @ @ initially measuring it at 5.3 magnitude .
TASS said no injuries or damages have been @ @ @ @ @ Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky said they had felt the tremors .
The arc formed by the Kamchatka Peninsula @ @ @ @ @ Russia and Japan is one of the most seismically active areas in the world .

An earthquake with a magnitude 5.5 has been recorded in the Pacific Ocean off the Kamchatka coast in Russia's Far East, according to U.S. scientists and Russian officials.
State-run TASS news agency quoted the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry on January 17 as saying the quake's epicenter was 94 kilometers from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a depth of 20 kilometers.
The earthquake was registered at 4:31 a.m. local time.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also recorded the quake, initially measuring it at 5.3 magnitude.
TASS said no injuries or damages have been reported, although residents of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky said they had felt the tremors.
The arc formed by the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kurile Islands between Russia and Japan is one of the most seismically active areas in the world.


rferl--2020-01-17--U.S. Military Now Says 11 U.S. Troops Injured In January 8 Iran Attack

The U.S. military says 11 U.S. service members were treated for concussion symptoms following the January 8 Iran missile attack on a base in Iraq , despite earlier remarks by President Donald Trump that “ no Americans were harmed ” in the incident .
`` While no U.S. service members were killed in the January 8 Iranian attack on Ain Al-Asad air base , several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed , '' Captain Bill Urban , spokesman for U.S. Central Command , said in a statement late on January 16 .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of an abundance of caution , some service members were transported from Ain Al-Asad air base , '' he said , adding that the troops had been sent to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait for further tests .
Urban said that `` when deemed fit for duty , the service members are expected to return to Iraq following screening . ''
There were some 1,500 U.S. soldiers at the base at the time of the attack .
Most had been huddling in bunkers after being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comments confirmed reports earlier in The New York Times and the Defense One publication .
Following the attack , Trump said that Iran `` appears to be standing down '' after the country carried out the ballistic-missile attack on air bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq .
In a January 8 address to the nation , Trump said that `` no American or Iraqi lives were lost '' in the strikes , `` no Americans were harmed , '' and that the bases suffered `` only minimal damage . ''
U.S. Defense Secretary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a press briefing on January 8 that “ most importantly , no casualties , no friendly causalities , whether they are U.S. , coalition , contractor , etcetera ” occurred during the attack .
Iran said the missile attacks on the Ain Al-Asad air base and the Harir air base were in retaliation for the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani .
With reporting by Reuters , Defense One , and AFP


rferl--2020-01-17--Pakistan FM Qureshi Urges U.S. To 'Remain Engaged' In Rebuilding Afghanistan

Pakistan ’ s foreign minister said during his visit to Washington that the United States should remain engaged in Afghanistan even if it eventually pulls its troops out of the war-torn country .
Shah Mehmood Qureshi , who is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on January 17 , cautioned Washington not to return to a policy of neglect of Afghanistan in the manner seen after 1989 , when Soviet troops pulled out under pressure from U.S.- and Pakistan-backed Islamic guerrillas .
`` Do not repeat the '80s , '' Qureshi said at the Center for Strategic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is a successful agreement , challenges will remain there , so the United States and its friends and coalition partners will have to have a more responsible withdrawal , '' he said .
`` They should remain engaged -- not to fight , but to rebuild , '' he said .
U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan since their 2001 invasion to drive out the Taliban following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States .
The Taliban controlled Afghanistan at the time and harbored Osama bin Laden , the mastermind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump has expressed his desire to remove the estimated 13,000 U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan in America ’ s longest war .
Over the past year , Islamabad has helped facilitate the talks between U.S. negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban in Qatar , where the militants have a political office .
But the talks have repeatedly stalled , with Washington calling on the group to reduce violence , among other things .
Earlier in the day , Qureshi said in a video message that the Taliban has shown `` willingness '' to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ step toward ” a peace deal between the militant group and the United States .
Pakistan was the main backer of the former Taliban regime and maintains contacts with the extremists .
The Taliban militants have given Khalilzad an offer for a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan that would last between seven and 10 days , AP reported , citing Taliban negotiators .
`` They are pragmatic and not foolish .
They are also fatigued , '' Qureshi said of the Taliban .
With reporting by AFP , dpa , and AP

Pakistan’s foreign minister said during his visit to Washington that the United States should remain engaged in Afghanistan even if it eventually pulls its troops out of the war-torn country.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on January 17, cautioned Washington not to return to a policy of neglect of Afghanistan in the manner seen after 1989, when Soviet troops pulled out under pressure from U.S.- and Pakistan-backed Islamic guerrillas.
"Do not repeat the '80s," Qureshi said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"Even if there is a successful agreement, challenges will remain there, so the United States and its friends and coalition partners will have to have a more responsible withdrawal," he said.
"They should remain engaged -- not to fight, but to rebuild," he said.
U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan since their 2001 invasion to drive out the Taliban following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States. The Taliban controlled Afghanistan at the time and harbored Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks.
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his desire to remove the estimated 13,000 U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan in America’s longest war.
Over the past year, Islamabad has helped facilitate the talks between U.S. negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban in Qatar, where the militants have a political office.
But the talks have repeatedly stalled, with Washington calling on the group to reduce violence, among other things.
Earlier in the day, Qureshi said in a video message that the Taliban has shown "willingness" to reduce violence in Afghanistan, calling it a “step toward” a peace deal between the militant group and the United States.
Pakistan was the main backer of the former Taliban regime and maintains contacts with the extremists.
The Taliban militants have given Khalilzad an offer for a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan that would last between seven and 10 days, AP reported, citing Taliban negotiators.
"They are pragmatic and not foolish. They are also fatigued," Qureshi said of the Taliban.
With reporting by AFP, dpa, and AP


rferl--2020-01-17--Victims’ Governments Demand Cooperation, Justice From Iran

The foreign ministers of five countries that lost citizens in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger airliner in Iran last week have demanded that Tehran hold a `` thorough , independent , and transparent ” investigation into the tragedy .
The ministers from Afghanistan , Britain , Canada , Sweden , and Ukraine made the remarks in a joint statement issued after a meeting in London as they put pressure on Iran to give a full accounting of what happened to the Ukraine International Airlines ( UIA ) Boeing 737-800 .
After initially denying it shot down the plane , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eventually admitted that its forces “ unintentionally ” struck the airliner with a missile after it said it veered toward a sensitive military site .
`` The eyes of the international community are on Iran today .
I think that Iran has a choice , and the world is watching , '' said Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne of Canada , which lost 57 nationals in the disaster .
Champagne told reporters that the ministers `` stand in solidarity and speak with one voice '' for the victims and families .
`` We are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ using all of our networks including our overseas partners and working through our people on the ground in Iran , in order to put a full picture together and deliver the result we all need -- justice , for the memory of victims of # PS752 , '' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko tweeted .
Ann Linde , Sweden 's foreign minister , said the group expects `` Iran 's full cooperation.
” The group of five nations , assembled by Canada , asked Tehran to conduct the process of identifying victims with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of families in regard to the return of the bodies .
Most of the victims on the flight that departed Tehran for Kyiv were Iranians or dual citizens , many of them students returning to studies abroad or families returning home after visiting relatives in Iran .
Prystayko said he had discussed the repatriation of the bodies of Ukrainian victims with his Iranian counterpart , Mohammad Javad Zarif .
A Ukrainian Interior Ministry statement said the bodies of all 11 Ukrainians -- mostly members of the crew -- who were killed have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on January 19 .
With reporting by Reuters , dpa , and AFP


rferl--2020-01-17--France Deploys Only Aircraft Carrier To Anti-IS Mission In Middle East

France will deploy its only aircraft carrier to join coalition operations against the Islamic State ( IS ) terror group , President Emmanuel Macron has announced .
“ The aircraft carrier will support Chammal operations [ in the Middle East ] from January to April 2020 before deploying to the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea , ” Macron said in a New Year ’ s address to the French military .
Operation Chammal is the French component of the U.S.-led anti-IS mission in the Middle East .
Macron said the carrier , named the Charles de Gaulle , will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will include vessels from Germany , Belgium , the Netherlands , Spain , Portugal , and Greece .
Macron did not give the exact nature of the mission , but French warplanes have joined the fight against IS positions as part of the coalition , and there are some 1,000 French troops in the region .
The Charles de Gaulle also supported operations against IS for a month last year when Western-backed Kurdish forces overran the extremist group ’ s last stronghold in Syria .
The French president said his country ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IS , which has claimed responsibility for most of the terror attacks in France during 2015-16 that killed more than 230 people .
Macron said that while the group no longer holds territory , `` its menace remains , in another lurking , more insidious form . ''
The anti-IS coalition scored big successes by driving the extremist group from nearly all the territory it gained in 2014 in Iraq and Syria .
But recent events have represented setbacks for the coalition .
Turkey invaded northeastern Syria in October to fight the Western-backed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the region , disrupting final cleanup operations and allowing some IS prisoners held by Kurdish forces to escape .
In Iraq , meanwhile , many coalition troops have pulled out of the country , at least temporarily , following raised tensions between the United States and Iran over the U.S. move to assassinate a top Iranian military commander .
With reporting by dpa , Reuters , and AFP

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--2020-01-16--Lavrov Visits Uzbekistan, Holds Talks With Top Officials

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on January 16 held talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov @ @ @ @ @ presidential press service says Lavrov and Mirziyoev discussed bilateral ties and cooperation between Tashkent and @ @ @ @ @ press service , during the talks , Mirziyoev `` stressed with deep satisfaction the growing @ @ @ @ @ bilateral relations , strategic partnership , and alliance . ''
Lavrov , in turn , @ @ @ @ @ Russian President Vladimir Putin . ''
The press service also said that the issue of @ @ @ @ @ two countries ' top officials was also discussed .
Before meeting with Mirziyoev , Lavrov @ @ @ @ @ Komilov called Lavrov 's visit `` short but very lively . ''
Tashkent was Lavrov @ @ @ @ @ Asian tour , during which he also visited Sri Lanka and India .

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on January 16 held talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov in Tashkent.
The Uzbek presidential press service says Lavrov and Mirziyoev discussed bilateral ties and cooperation between Tashkent and Moscow.
According to the press service, during the talks, Mirziyoev "stressed with deep satisfaction the growing dynamics of the development of bilateral relations, strategic partnership, and alliance."
Lavrov, in turn, "extended greetings from the Russian President Vladimir Putin."
The press service also said that the issue of upcoming mutual visits of the two countries' top officials was also discussed.
Before meeting with Mirziyoev, Lavrov held talks with Komilov.
Komilov called Lavrov's visit "short but very lively."
Tashkent was Lavrov's last stop in his Asian tour, during which he also visited Sri Lanka and India.


rferl--2020-01-16--Four Children Killed In Romania House Fire

Four young children locked in a room have died in a house fire in the southwestern Romanian city of Timisoara , authorities said on January 16 .
Firefighters found the bodies of the children at the scene , the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations ( IGSU ) said .
The oldest was 6 years old and the youngest just 4 months .
Their 14-year-old brother was also in the house and was taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation but was otherwise unharmed .
An improvised wood-burning stove is thought to have caused the fire overnight , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and her partner were in another part of the house .
Police have opened a manslaughter inquiry and alerted the child-protection authorities .
Neighbors told Romanian media that the mother locked the children inside on a regular basis .
Neighbors had warned authorities several times that the children were being neglected by their parents .
`` Despite the tragedy in Timisoara , it seems that our campaign 'Flames Kill Children ' has raised awareness of the problem , '' IGSU spokesman Adrian Marin said .
Between 2010 and 2012 , 152 children died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there were just eight deaths of minors , along with 27 injuries , Marin said .
Based on reporting by digi24.ro , evz.ro , and AFP

Four young children locked in a room have died in a house fire in the southwestern Romanian city of Timisoara, authorities said on January 16.
Firefighters found the bodies of the children at the scene, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) said.
The oldest was 6 years old and the youngest just 4 months.
Their 14-year-old brother was also in the house and was taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation but was otherwise unharmed.
An improvised wood-burning stove is thought to have caused the fire overnight, according to IGSU.
The children's mother and her partner were in another part of the house.
Police have opened a manslaughter inquiry and alerted the child-protection authorities. Neighbors told Romanian media that the mother locked the children inside on a regular basis.
Neighbors had warned authorities several times that the children were being neglected by their parents.
"Despite the tragedy in Timisoara, it seems that our campaign 'Flames Kill Children' has raised awareness of the problem," IGSU spokesman Adrian Marin said.
Between 2010 and 2012, 152 children died in fires in Romania but in 2018 there were just eight deaths of minors, along with 27 injuries, Marin said.
Based on reporting by digi24.ro, evz.ro, and AFP


rferl--2020-01-16--U.S. Chief Justice, Senators Sworn In For Trump Trial

U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts has sworn in members of the Senate at the historic impeachment trial of President Donald Trump .
As the presiding judge , Roberts was first escorted on January 16 into the Senate by four senators -- two Republicans and two Democrats -- and sworn in by Senator Chuck Grassley ( Republican-Iowa ) , the most senior Republican member of the legislative chamber .
After a roll call , Roberts administered the oath to the senators who as jurors in the trial will decide whether the 45th president should be convicted and removed from office on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obstruction of Congress .
`` Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump , President of the United States , now pending , you will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws ; so help you God ?
” Roberts asked .
After responding , “ I do , ” each senator signed a book affirming their oath .
Senator Mitch McConnell , the Republican Senate majority leader from Kentucky , then adjourned the proceedings until 1 p.m. on January @ @ @ @ @ @ @ summons to appear in the makeshift courtroom of the Senate but is expected to be represented by two lawyers .
McConnell also set a January 18 deadline for members of the House of Representatives -- acting as prosecutors in the trial -- to file a trial brief with the secretary of the Senate .
The president can file his own trial brief by noon on January 20 and the House has until noon the following day to file a rebuttal .
Earlier in the day , Representative Adam Schiff ( California-Democrat ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ managers from the House , opened the trial by reading the two articles of impeachment aloud in Senate .
Trump specifically is accused of pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political foes , in particular , former Vice President Joe Biden , who is a potential opponent in this year ’ s presidential election .
Trump also allegedly withheld documents that the House requested during the fact-finding phase of the inquiry and prevented administration officials and agencies from providing testimony in the impeachment hearings .
Trump denies the charges and has called the impeachment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hoax , ” and a “ witch hunt.
” As senators were being sworn in , the president told reporters in the Oval Office that he does not expect the trial to take a long time .
`` I think it should go very quickly , '' Trump said .
`` It 's totally partisan .
It 's a hoax .
It 's a hoax , and everybody knows it 's a complete hoax . ''
A conviction would require a two-thirds majority among the 100 senators , the majority of whom are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
With reporting by C-SPAN , AFP , and AP

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that there can be no advancement in the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless there is an improvement in the treatment of women in the country.
Speaking to reporters on August 15, the two-year anniversary of the Taliban’s seizure of power in Kabul, Blinken said the United States continues to work to hold the Taliban accountable for the commitments that it's made, particularly when it comes to the rights of women and girls.
"We've been very clear with the Taliban -- and dozens of countries around the world have been very clear -- that the path to any more normal relationship between the Taliban and other countries will be blocked unless and until the rights of women and girls among other things are actually supported," Blinken said.
No country has recognized the Taliban-led government, and the United States has avoided direct economic engagement in part over the treatment of women and girls, who have seen their rights drastically curbed by the hard-line Islamists. This includes a ban on women working in local and international nongovernmental organizations and a ban on education beyond the sixth grade.
The Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021 after President Joe Biden withdrew U.S. troops under the terms of an agreement reached in February 2020 between the Taliban and the administration of then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
Blinken defended the pullout and said the United States was not focused on other priorities.
"The decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was an incredibly difficult one, but also the right one," Blinken said. "We ended America's longest war. For the first time in 20 years, we don't have another generation of young Americans going to fight and die."
A number of international human rights organizations earlier on August 15 called the Taliban's two years of rule shameful and worrying.
Amnesty International and several other international human rights organizations demanded in a statement an effective response to the situation, noting the Taliban's strict decrees against human rights in Afghanistan, especially against women and girls.
The organizations said in a statement that in the past two years, the Taliban has increasingly imposed harmful policies against women and girls and religious and ethnic minorities that clearly violate Afghanistan's obligations under international human rights law.
The Taliban has previously rejected reports on the treatment of women as propaganda of international organizations. The militant group's leaders have said they have strengthened all the rights of women in Afghanistan in light of Islamic principles.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban, said in an interview with the AP marking the second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of the country that the Taliban views its rule of Afghanistan as open-ended and as drawing legitimacy from Islamic law. He also suggested a ban on female education will remain in place.
Female activist Soheila Yousefi calls the situation alarming and wants the world to pay attention.
"The international community should take serious action in this regard because the world chose to be silent in these two years and did not take any practical steps. Our request is that they should look at the current situation in Afghanistan, then take a serious and comprehensive review."
The Taliban did not respond to Radio Azadi's questions before the release of the report, but the rulers have spoken of strengthening human rights in Afghanistan, especially the rights of women and girls, according to Islamic principles.
With reporting by AP and AFP


rferl--2020-01-16--U.S. Government Watchdog Says Trump Administration Broke Law In Freezing Ukraine Aid

A nonpartisan U.S. Congressional watchdog says the administration of President Donald Trump violated federal law by withholding security assistance to Ukraine .
The Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) said in a January 16 report that the Office of Management and Budget ( OMB ) violated the law last year when it withheld the aid that had been appropriated by Congress -- a key focal point of the impeachment proceedings into Trump .
The nine-page report , written by the agency ’ s general counsel Thomas Armstrong , concluded that “ the law does not permit the president to substitute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress has enacted into law.
” It further said the “ OMB withheld funds for a policy reason , which is not permitted under the Impoundment Control Act ( ICA ) ... .
The withholding was not a programmatic delay .
Therefore , we conclude that OMB violated the ICA.
” Under the U.S. Constitution , Congress is granted the “ power of the purse , ” and the president , as the executive branch of government , is given a narrow scope in ignoring appropriations mandated by lawmakers and passed into law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the Senate was sworn in to start the impeachment trial of Trump , who is accused of abusing the power of his office for personal gain and obstruction of Congress .
The two articles of impeachment specifically relate to Trump ’ s dealings with Ukraine .
They include holding up $ 391 million passed by Congress in military aid for Ukraine , a move allegedly intended to pressure Kyiv into investigating political rival Joe Biden , the Republican president ’ s potential Democratic opponent in the November 3 U.S. election .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report will affect the impeachment trial given that the ground rules haven ’ t been determined by the Republican-controlled Senate , including what , if any , new evidence will be admissible during proceedings .
Although the GAO ’ s findings aren ’ t legally binding , its reports are considered reliable and the agency is viewed as the federal government ’ s preeminent auditing agency .
Based on reporting by CNN , Reuters , AP , and dpa

A nonpartisan U.S. Congressional watchdog says the administration of President Donald Trump violated federal law by withholding security assistance to Ukraine.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a January 16 report that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) violated the law last year when it withheld the aid that had been appropriated by Congress -- a key focal point of the impeachment proceedings into Trump.
The nine-page report, written by the agency’s general counsel Thomas Armstrong, concluded that “the law does not permit the president to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law.”
It further said the “OMB withheld funds for a policy reason, which is not permitted under the Impoundment Control Act (ICA).... The withholding was not a programmatic delay. Therefore, we conclude that OMB violated the ICA.”
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress is granted the “power of the purse,” and the president, as the executive branch of government, is given a narrow scope in ignoring appropriations mandated by lawmakers and passed into law.
The report was released just hours before the Senate was sworn in to start the impeachment trial of Trump, who is accused of abusing the power of his office for personal gain and obstruction of Congress.
The two articles of impeachment specifically relate to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
They include holding up $391 million passed by Congress in military aid for Ukraine, a move allegedly intended to pressure Kyiv into investigating political rival Joe Biden, the Republican president’s potential Democratic opponent in the November 3 U.S. election.
It remains unclear how the watchdog’s report will affect the impeachment trial given that the ground rules haven’t been determined by the Republican-controlled Senate, including what, if any, new evidence will be admissible during proceedings.
Although the GAO’s findings aren’t legally binding, its reports are considered reliable and the agency is viewed as the federal government’s preeminent auditing agency.
Based on reporting by CNN, Reuters, AP, and dpa