rferl--2020-03-26--COVID-19: Russia Bans Flights Into And Out Of Country; Iran Reports Record Number Of New Cases As Tr

COVID-19: Russia Bans Flights Into And Out Of Country; Iran Reports Record Number Of New Cases As Travel Ban Imposed

The global death toll from the coronavirus has passed 21,000 with more than 470,000 infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
The Russian government has ordered the suspension of all regular and charter flights in and out of the country effective from March 27 as the country battles to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic .
Russian officials on March 26 reported a total of 840 confirmed coronavirus infections in the country , up from 658 a day before , with 136 of the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus task force also confirmed the country 's first two deaths from COVID-19 , describing the victims as elderly patients from the Moscow region who were suffering from pneumonia and complications .
On March 19 , Moscow health authorities had reported the death of a 79-year-old woman as coronavirus-related , but hours later a new statement was released saying an autopsy had confirmed the woman had died of a blood clot and not from the virus .
`` Regular and charter flights from Russian airports to and from foreign airports are to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2020 , with the exception of flights aimed at bringing Russian nationals back from overseas…and flights carried out in accordance with the government ’ s decisions , ” the government said on its website .
Russia had already put restrictions in place regarding air transportation .
As of March 23 , Russian airlines were only allowed to service foreign capitals or large cities like New York and only from Moscow airports .
The moves come as countries throughout the world are restricting entry and exit from their borders in attempts to stem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On March 25 , President Vladimir Putin postponed next month 's referendum on sweeping constitutional changes that could allow him to remain in power until 2036 because of concerns over the coronavirus outbreak .
Putin said a new date for the April 22 vote would be determined based on the recommendations of health experts .
Putin ’ s announcement came after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered provincial governors to move at a quicker pace to provide hospital beds for coronavirus patients , while Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin ordered the closure of all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and parks from March 28 to April 5 .
Iran has announced 157 new deaths from the coronavirus , raising the official toll to 2,234 , as a ban on intercity travel came into effect amid fears of a second wave of infections in one of the world 's worst-hit countries Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told a news conference that a record-breaking 2,389 new cases have been confirmed over the past 24 hours , bringing the total number of declared infections to 29,406 .
Jahanpur said that the spread of the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` growing steadily '' in Iran .
The travel ban was imposed after officials had complained that many Iranians ignored the authorities ' advice to stay at home and cancel travel plans for the Persian New Year holidays that began on March 20 .
`` Those who have traveled for the Iranian New Year holidays should immediately return to their cities without making any stop in the cities on their way back home , '' Hossein Zolfaghari , a member of Iran 's national headquarters for fighting the coronavirus , said on March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and schools as well as the suspension of gatherings has been extended , '' Zolfaghari said , adding that violators of the measures will face legal consequences .
On March 25 , the government warned about the danger of ignoring the authorities ' travel guidelines .
`` This could cause a second wave of the coronavirus , '' government spokesman Ali Rabiei said , according to state TV .
President Hassan Rohani said Iran will contain the coronavirus spread in two weeks , adding that further measures have been taken to ease the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ citizens .
`` We will send a letter to Iran 's supreme leader today to seek permission for the withdrawal of $ 1 billion from Iran 's sovereign wealth fund , '' Rohani said in a meeting , broadcast live on state TV .
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last say on all state matters .
Iran has rejected an offer from the Geneva-based medical charity Doctors Without Borders ( MSF ) to set up a 50-bed inflatable hospital in the central city of Isfahan to deal with the outbreak .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' offer of humanitarian assistance , saying that Washington should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran fight the epidemic .
Iran has been under crippling U.S. sanctions in connection with its nuclear and missile programs .
With reporting by Reuters , TASS , AFP , and AP

The global death toll from the coronavirus has reached nearly 24,000 with more than 526,000 infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of developments in RFE/RL's broadcast countries.
Afghanistan
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has ordered the release of up to 10,000 prison inmates in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Ghani’s decree was directed at women, young offenders, critically ill patients, and prisoners aged more than 55, Attorney General Farid Hamidi told a Kabul news conference on March 26.
Calling the move a “responsible decision to safeguard the health of the people,” Hamidi said the decree “is not for those who have committed crimes against national and international security."
The announcement comes as Afghanistan's government is negotiating a prisoner exchange with Taliban as a confidence-building measure ahead of proposed peace talks under a U.S.-brokered process.
Afghanistan has recorded 90 confirmed coronavirus cases and two deaths, according to a tally on March 26 compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
However, the true figures are feared to be much higher as the war-torn country struggles to administer tests and screen an influx of Afghans returning from neighboring Iran -- one of the countries hit hardest by the pandemic.
Ghani's decree calls for a special committee to be set up to prepare a list of prisoners to be released.
Prisons chief Ahmad Rashed Totakhail said between 9,000 and 10,000 inmates would be released during the coming 10 days.
An official in Ghani's office said “several thousand prisoners will be released soon.” He also insisted that those freed would not include members of the Taliban or the Islamic State militant group.
Ukraine
Ukraine has reported 40 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours as the government has implemented an additional measure to maintain physical distancing in public transport.
The Health Ministry’s Center for Public Health says there are 196 confirmed laboratory cases of the COVID-19 respiratory illness in the country as of 10 p.m. on March 26.
On the same day, the cabinet issued a nationwide directive limiting passengers in all public transportation. All above-ground transportation such as minibuses, buses, trolleybuses, and trams should only ride up to half capacity.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, meanwhile, in an online video address to the nation reiterated the country’s decision to shut cross-border travel after March 27, including for Ukrainian nationals.
He also added that 100,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests from South Korea for the coronavirus will be delivered on March 27.
On the same day, Zelenskiy said that "200,000 medical respirators, protective suits for doctors, 100,000 PCR tests, ventilators, [and] a large number of masks for pharmacies” will be delivered from China.
Romania
Romania surpassed 1,000 cases of the coronavirus on March 26, one month after the first confirmed infection there, prompting the resignation of the country's health minister.
Authorities on March 26 reported 123 more infections and four more deaths during the previous 24 hours, bringing the total in Romania to 1,029 confirmed cases with 18 deaths.
Health Minister Victor Costache resigned on March 26 amid criticism of the government's handling of the outbreak.
President Klaus Iohannis appointed a deputy minister, Nelu Tataru, to replace Costache.
Tataru has been one of the main public faces of the government's response to the crisis.
Costache on March 25 said all of Bucharest's population would be tested for COVID-19, a plan widely criticized as unfeasible and misguided.
Romania's hospitals have struggled to cope with an increasing number of patients.
Health workers say they do not have access to testing and adequate equipment with only about 16,000 people tested so far.
Out of 18 deaths, eight were patients at a hospital in the northeastern city of Suceava, a facility that has become the center of Romania's coronavirus outbreak.
Eleven other Romanian coronavirus patients have died abroad -- eight in Italy, two in France, and one in Britain.
About 4 million Romanians work abroad, most of them in Italy and Spain, Europe's worst-affected countries.
Romania declared a state of emergency on March 16 and went into a "total quarantine" on March 25, with army troops deployed to help enforce the order.
Iohannis on March 26 reiterated his appeal to Romanians to obey the lockdown order and remain at home.
Russia
The Russian government has ordered the suspension of all regular and charter flights in and out of the country effective from March 27 as the country battles to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Russian officials on March 26 reported a total of 840 confirmed coronavirus infections in the country, up from 658 a day before, with 136 of the new cases in Moscow alone.
Russia's coronavirus task force also confirmed the country's first two deaths from COVID-19, describing the victims as elderly patients from the Moscow region who were suffering from pneumonia and complications.
On March 19, Moscow health authorities had reported the death of a 79-year-old woman as coronavirus-related, but hours later a new statement was released saying an autopsy had confirmed the woman had died of a blood clot and not from the virus.
"Regular and charter flights from Russian airports to and from foreign airports are to be suspended starting at midnight on March 27, 2020, with the exception of flights aimed at bringing Russian nationals back from overseas…and flights carried out in accordance with the government’s decisions,” the government said on its website.
Russia had already put restrictions in place regarding air transportation.
As of March 23, Russian airlines were only allowed to service foreign capitals or large cities like New York and only from Moscow airports.
The moves come as countries throughout the world are restricting entry and exit from their borders in attempts to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
On March 25, President Vladimir Putin postponed next month's referendum on sweeping constitutional changes that could allow him to remain in power until 2036 because of concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.
Putin said a new date for the April 22 vote would be determined based on the recommendations of health experts.
Putin’s announcement came after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered provincial governors to move at a quicker pace to provide hospital beds for coronavirus patients, while Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin ordered the closure of all the capital's eateries, shopping malls, and parks from March 28 to April 5.
Later on March 26, Putin proposed at a Group of 20 (G20) video conference that a freeze be placed on economic sanctions to allow countries to better combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is accusing the Russian government of stepping up control of news reporting in connection with the coronavirus pandemic on the “pretext” of combating disinformation.
In a statement on March 26, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said Russian journalists covering the coronavirus crisis are being targeted by Roskomnadzor, the country’s media regulator, which it has included in its list of Digital Predators of Press Freedom.
Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, urged the Russian authorities not to “take advantage of this epidemic to restrict press freedom.”
Cavelier also called for “the repeal of the excessively vague ‘fake news’ law,” which she said “violates the freedom to inform.”
Russia is ranked 149th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
Iran
Iran has announced 157 new deaths from the coronavirus, raising the official toll to 2,234, as a ban on intercity travel came into effect amid fears of a second wave of infections in one of the world's worst-hit countries
Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told a news conference that a record-breaking 2,389 new cases have been confirmed over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of declared infections to 29,406.
Jahanpur said that the spread of the new coronavirus and its rate of infection was "growing steadily" in Iran.
The travel ban was imposed after officials had complained that many Iranians ignored the authorities' advice to stay at home and cancel travel plans for the Persian New Year holidays that began on March 20.
"Those who have traveled for the Iranian New Year holidays should immediately return to their cities without making any stop in the cities on their way back home," Hossein Zolfaghari, a member of Iran's national headquarters for fighting the coronavirus, said on March 26.
"The closure of universities and schools as well as the suspension of gatherings has been extended," Zolfaghari said, adding that violators of the measures will face legal consequences.
On March 25, the government warned about the danger of ignoring the authorities' travel guidelines.
"This could cause a second wave of the coronavirus," government spokesman Ali Rabiei said, according to state TV.
President Hassan Rohani said Iran will contain the coronavirus spread in two weeks, adding that further measures have been taken to ease the economic impact of the outbreak on lower-income citizens.
"We will send a letter to Iran's supreme leader today to seek permission for the withdrawal of $1 billion from Iran's sovereign wealth fund," Rohani said in a meeting, broadcast live on state TV.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last say on all state matters.
Iran has rejected an offer from the Geneva-based medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to set up a 50-bed inflatable hospital in the central city of Isfahan to deal with the outbreak.
It has also refused the United States' offer of humanitarian assistance, saying that Washington should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran fight the epidemic.
Iran has been under crippling U.S. sanctions in connection with its nuclear and missile programs.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan's two largest cities will implement lockdown measures.
The fresh restrictions were announced on March 26 as Kazakhstan's government confirmed the country's first death from coronavirus.
Residents of Nur-Sultan and Almaty will be barred from leaving their homes except for work or to buy food or medicines, starting from March 28, the government said.
Authorities will also close all intercity transport terminals and public spaces in Shymkent, Kazakhstan's third-largest city, in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the government said.
Kazakhstan on March 26 had confirmed 109 cases.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan has announced the first confirmed death from the coronavirus even as it stepped up measures to stem the spread of the pandemic in the Central Asian nation.
The Health Ministry on March 27 said a 72-year-old man in the city of Namangan had suffered from other medical ailments before contracting the coronavirus.
Namangan, in the Ferghana Valley, is the second-largest Uzbek city after the capital, Tashkent, to impose a lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.
As of early March 27, Uzbekistan has confirmed 75 cases of infection to the COVID-19 virus. Experts warn, however, that it is impossible to know the true number of infections in any country because of a lack of testing.
Uzbekistan, a country of 32 million people, has locked down several cities and districts, including the capital, Tashkent, where municipal authorities imposed restrictions on movements on March 24.
On March 27, authorities in the province of Navoi said they were locking down the cities of Navoi and Zarafshan.
On the same day, officials in Bukhara, a major tourism area, said they would close the city’s borders.
Municipal authorities announced restrictions in Samarkand and in the Ferghana Valley city of Andijon on March 26.
Authorities also said they were offering large bonus payment for workers in the medical field after at least 11 infections were reported among such workers.
Doctors every two weeks are to receive $2,500 -- several times their normal monthly pay -- while nurses and laboratory workers will get $1,500, junior medical workers $1,000, and others $500, according to a Reuters report.
Armenia
Armenia has reported its first death related to the coronavirus outbreak after a 72-year-old female patient died in hospital.
Health Ministry spokeswoman Alina Nikoghosian on March 26 said the patient was being treated at the intensive care department of Yerevan’s Nork Infectious Disease Clinical Hospital when she passed away.
A total of 290 people have been officially diagnosed with the coronavirus in Armenia -- the highest number among South Caucasus countries.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said that two elderly patients were in critical condition, one of whom is a U.S. citizen.
Health authorities say 18 people have recovered from the respiratory illness.
Armenia introduced a one-month state of emergency on March 16 in a bid to slow the spread of the outbreak.
Since March 25, police have been enforcing a nationwide lockdown after new restrictions were imposed to limit freedom of movement.
With reporting by Reuters, TASS, AFP, AP, Akipress, and Interfax


rferl--2020-03-25--U.S. Demands Answers After Reports Ex-FBI Agent Died In Iranian Custody

The United States has demanded that Tehran give “ a complete accounting ” of what happened to retired FBI agent Robert Levinson , who is believed to have died in Iranian custody .
`` While the investigation is ongoing , we believe that Bob Levinson may have passed away some time ago , '' White House national-security adviser Robert O'Brien said in a statement on March 25 about the American who disappeared in Iran 13 years ago , when he was 58 .
`` Iran must provide a complete accounting of what occurred with Bob Levinson before the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case , '' O ’ Brien added .
Levinson 's family said earlier in the day that it had received word about his likely fate from the U.S. government .
“ We recently received information from U.S. officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody , ” the Levinson family said in a statement .
`` We don ’ t know when or how he died , only that it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic , ” it added @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before O ’ Brien ’ s comments , President Donald Trump told reporters that “ I wo n't accept that he 's dead . ''
Levinson was “ sick for a long time ” before he was detained , Trump said , adding that he felt “ terribly ” for the family but still had some hope that Levinson is alive .
“ It ’ s not looking great , but I won ’ t accept that he ’ s dead , ” Trump said at a White House news conference .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's dead , but a lot of people are thinking that that ’ s the case . ''
Levinson disappeared when he traveled to the Iranian resort Kish Island in March 2007 .
He was working for the CIA as a contractor at the time .
The United States has repeatedly called on Iran to help locate Levinson and bring him home , but Iranian officials said they had no information about his fate .
However , when he disappeared , an Iranian government-linked media outlet broadcast a story saying he was `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
The Levinson family said he would be alive today “ if not for the cruel , heartless actions of the Iranian regime . ''
“ How those responsible in Iran could do this to a human being , while repeatedly lying to the world all this time , is incomprehensible to us .
They kidnapped a foreign citizen and denied him any basic human rights , and his blood is on their hands , ” the statement added .
With reporting by AP , Reuters , and AFP

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


rferl--2020-04-16--Georgia Tightens State Of Emergency With Ban On Driving Private Vehicles

Georgia has announced a nationwide ban on driving cars and other private vehicles beginning at noon on April 17 as an additional measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus .
The ban will last until April 21 , said government spokesman Irakli Chikovani .
It excludes freight transport vehicles and delivery cars .
Chikovani said the decision was made to mitigate “ the active stage of the virus spread ” and because of “ intensive traffic ” despite restrictions .
He also predicted a significant rise in the number of cases in the coming weeks and reiterated the government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at home .
The country has reported 348 cases of infection by the virus and three deaths from COVID-19 , the disease it causes , according to the Johns Hopkins University database .
Georgia already is under a state of emergency set to last until May 10 .
It includes a curfew starting at 9 p.m. and ending at 6 a.m .
Grocery stores and pharmacies remain open , but nonessential shops along with restaurants , cafes , and petrol stations have been closed .
Chikovani warned that unless Georgians observe state-of-emergency restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up lockdown measures by imposing a “ complete quarantine.
” Two additional measures that take effect on April 17 are a requirement to wear face masks inside all buildings open to the public and the closure of public cemeteries , Chikovani added .
Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax .

Georgia has announced a nationwide ban on driving cars and other private vehicles beginning at noon on April 17 as an additional measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The ban will last until April 21, said government spokesman Irakli Chikovani. It excludes freight transport vehicles and delivery cars.
Chikovani said the decision was made to mitigate “the active stage of the virus spread” and because of “intensive traffic” despite restrictions. He also predicted a significant rise in the number of cases in the coming weeks and reiterated the government’s appeal to citizens to stay at home.
The country has reported 348 cases of infection by the virus and three deaths from COVID-19, the disease it causes, according to the Johns Hopkins University database.
Georgia already is under a state of emergency set to last until May 10. It includes a curfew starting at 9 p.m. and ending at 6 a.m. Grocery stores and pharmacies remain open, but nonessential shops along with restaurants, cafes, and petrol stations have been closed.
Chikovani warned that unless Georgians observe state-of-emergency restrictions, the government might have to beef up lockdown measures by imposing a “complete quarantine.”
Two additional measures that take effect on April 17 are a requirement to wear face masks inside all buildings open to the public and the closure of public cemeteries, Chikovani added.
Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax.


rferl--2020-04-16--HRW Says Azerbaijan Abuses COVID-19 Restrictions To Crack Down On Critics

Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) is accusing Azerbaijani authorities of `` abusing '' restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus to arrest government critics .
In less than a month , at least six opposition activists and a pro-opposition journalist were sentenced to detention of up to 30 days on `` spurious charges '' that included breaking lockdown rules or disobeying police orders , the New York-based watchdog said in a statement on April 16 .
Most of them had criticized conditions in government-run quarantine centers or authorities ' failure to provide adequate compensation to people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic , it said .
The arrests `` fall squarely within a long-standing pattern of political retaliation in Azerbaijan , '' said Giorgi Gogia , associate director for Europe and Central Asia at HRW .
He urged the authorities to `` stop using a public-health emergency as a pretext to punish legitimate speech . ''
Azerbaijan has recorded 1,283 confirmed cases of coronavirus , with 15 deaths .
The government has put in place a series of social-distancing measures to combat the outbreak , including a ban on gatherings of more than 10 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legal amendments providing for fines of up to 200 manats ( $ 120 ) or detention of up to 30 days for violating the lockdown regime .
In March , 154 people were jailed and thousands were fined for violating the restrictions , according to the Interior Ministry .
HRW said that arresting people for violating COVID-19 emergency measures may actually increase disease transmission by placing them in crowded detention facilities .
Critics of President Ilham Aliyev say authorities of the energy-rich South Caucasus state frequently seek to silence dissent by jailing opposition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and civil society advocates without grounds .

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is accusing Azerbaijani authorities of "abusing" restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus to arrest government critics.
In less than a month, at least six opposition activists and a pro-opposition journalist were sentenced to detention of up to 30 days on "spurious charges" that included breaking lockdown rules or disobeying police orders, the New York-based watchdog said in a statement on April 16.
Most of them had criticized conditions in government-run quarantine centers or authorities' failure to provide adequate compensation to people struggling financially from the consequences of the pandemic, it said.
The arrests "fall squarely within a long-standing pattern of political retaliation in Azerbaijan," said Giorgi Gogia, associate director for Europe and Central Asia at HRW.
He urged the authorities to "stop using a public-health emergency as a pretext to punish legitimate speech."
Azerbaijan has recorded 1,283 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 15 deaths.
The government has put in place a series of social-distancing measures to combat the outbreak, including a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people.
Last month, parliament passed legal amendments providing for fines of up to 200 manats ($120) or detention of up to 30 days for violating the lockdown regime.
In March, 154 people were jailed and thousands were fined for violating the restrictions, according to the Interior Ministry.
HRW said that arresting people for violating COVID-19 emergency measures may actually increase disease transmission by placing them in crowded detention facilities.
Critics of President Ilham Aliyev say authorities of the energy-rich South Caucasus state frequently seek to silence dissent by jailing opposition activists, reporters, human rights defenders, and civil society advocates without grounds.


rferl--2020-04-16--Russia Postpones World War II Victory Day Celebrations

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the postponement of May 9 celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany 's defeat in World War II , citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .
Speaking at a security meeting on April 16 , Putin said events including a massive military parade in Moscow 's Red Square would be postponed until a later date .
`` In order for the parade to be held on May 9 , the preparations need to begin right now , but the risks associated with the epidemic , whose peak has not been passed yet , are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give me the right to start preparations for the parade and other mass events now , '' the president said .
Events marking Victory Day in other regions of the country were also postponed .
Russia has implemented a partial lockdown across the country until April 30 as coronavirus infections continue to rise .
There have been some 28,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 232 deaths , according to official data .
Critics say the number of infections and deaths is likely much higher .
Based on reporting by AP , Interfax , and @

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the postponement of May 9 celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking at a security meeting on April 16, Putin said events including a massive military parade in Moscow's Red Square would be postponed until a later date.
"In order for the parade to be held on May 9, the preparations need to begin right now, but the risks associated with the epidemic, whose peak has not been passed yet, are still extremely high and that does not give me the right to start preparations for the parade and other mass events now," the president said.
Events marking Victory Day in other regions of the country were also postponed.
Russia has implemented a partial lockdown across the country until April 30 as coronavirus infections continue to rise.
There have been some 28,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 232 deaths, according to official data.
Critics say the number of infections and deaths is likely much higher.
Based on reporting by AP, Interfax, and Reuters


rferl--2020-04-16--Senior Russian National Guard Official Arrested On Extortion Charge

A top official with Russia 's National Guard has been arrested for allegedly extorting a `` protection '' bribe from @ @ @ @ @ region .
A court in the city of Istra near the Russian capital said on @ @ @ @ @ sent Colonel Albert Kudryashov , deputy chief of the National Guard 's intelligence center , @ @ @ @ @ least two months while an investigation continues .
Kudryashov and another unidentified person were detained @ @ @ @ @ added .
Media reports quoted sources in law enforcement as saying that the two men @ @ @ @ @ amounts of cash from a local businessman in exchange for `` protection . ''
No @ @ @ @ @ have been made public .
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax

A top official with Russia's National Guard has been arrested for allegedly extorting a "protection" bribe from a businessman in the Moscow region.
A court in the city of Istra near the Russian capital said on April 16 that it had sent Colonel Albert Kudryashov, deputy chief of the National Guard's intelligence center, to pretrial detention for at least two months while an investigation continues.
Kudryashov and another unidentified person were detained earlier that day, it added.
Media reports quoted sources in law enforcement as saying that the two men were suspected of extorting significant amounts of cash from a local businessman in exchange for "protection."
No further details of the case have been made public.
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax


rferl--2020-04-16--Russia's Presidential Human Rights Council Against Marking End Of WWII On September 3

Russia 's Presidential Council for Human Rights ( SPCh ) has challenged a move by lawmakers to mark the end of World War II on September 3 instead of the internationally recognized date -- September 2 SPCh chief Valery Fadeyev has asked Valentina Matviyenko , the chairwoman of the parliament 's upper chamber , the Federation Council , to reject a bill adopted by the lower chamber , the State Duma .
Fadayev said that September 3 was already marked in the country as the Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism to honor hundreds of victims of 2004 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the SPCh called the bill `` a mistake . ''
`` In our mind , decisions on marking memorial days must unite , not divide people .
Moving the Day of Military Glory from September 2 to September 3 will not be understood by relatives of those killed in that monstrous terrorist act [ in Beslan ] , '' the statement said .
The end of the World War II is internationally accepted as September 2 , 1945 .
The bill approved by the State Duma says that September 3 must be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of World War II in Russia as on that day in 1945 , forces from the former Soviet Union defeated Japanese troops as `` a decisive contribution to end '' the war .
The Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism to commemorate Beslan victims has been commemorated in Russia on September 3 since 2005 .
On September 1 , 2004 , some three dozen Chechen militants took more than 1,200 people hostage at a school in Beslan , North Ossetia .
Two days later , Russian forces stormed the school and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were killed in the violence .

Russia's Presidential Council for Human Rights (SPCh) has challenged a move by lawmakers to mark the end of World War II on September 3 instead of the internationally recognized date -- September 2
SPCh chief Valery Fadeyev has asked Valentina Matviyenko, the chairwoman of the parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, to reject a bill adopted by the lower chamber, the State Duma. Fadeyev said that September 3 was already marked in the country as the Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism to honor hundreds of victims of 2004 Beslan school siege.
In its statement, the SPCh called the bill "a mistake."
"In our mind, decisions on marking memorial days must unite, not divide people. Moving the Day of Military Glory from September 2 to September 3 will not be understood by relatives of those killed in that monstrous terrorist act [in Beslan]," the statement said.
The end of the World War II is internationally accepted as September 2, 1945.
The bill approved by the State Duma says that September 3 must be marked as the day of the end of World War II in Russia as on that day in 1945, forces from the former Soviet Union defeated Japanese troops as "a decisive contribution to end" the war.
The Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism to commemorate Beslan victims has been commemorated in Russia on September 3 since 2005.
On September 1, 2004, some three dozen Chechen militants took more than 1,200 people hostage at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia.
Two days later, Russian forces stormed the school and 334 people, including 186 children, were killed in the violence.


rferl--2020-04-16--Taliban Kills Nine Afghan Soldiers In Attack On Army Post

Afghanistan ’ s Defense Ministry says the Taliban has killed nine government soldiers in an overnight attack on an army @ @ @ @ @ of Logar Province , in the eastern part of the country .
Fawad Aman , @ @ @ @ @ , told RFE/RL that Taliban the Taliban had suffered “ heavy casualties , ” in @ @ @ @ @ further details .
Didar Ahmad Lawang , a spokesman for the governor of Logar , @ @ @ @ @ killed .
The Taliban did not immediately comment .
Taliban militants have been carrying out @ @ @ @ @ deal with the United States in February aimed at ending the 18-year war .
That @ @ @ @ @ all foreign forces from Afghanistan by July 2021 in exchange for counterterrorism guarantees from the @ @ @ @ @ to launch direct talks with the Afghan government over a permanent cease-fire and a power-sharing @ @ @ @ @ 10 , the intra-Afghan negotiations have been delayed due to political bickering in Kabul and @ @ @ @ @ sides over a prisoner swap .

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--2020-04-16--Almaty Court Says Police Inaction On Attacks Against RFE/RL Reporters Was Illegal

ALMATY , Kazakhstan -- A Kazakh court has ruled that an investigation should continue into the failure of police to act against individuals who attacked RFE/RL reporters and hindered their professional activities .
The Almaty City Investigation Court on April 15 agreed with a lawsuit filed by Aiman Omarova , a lawyer for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty , against police and asking for a deeper investigation of the incident .
During mass anti-government rallies in Almaty in March 2019 , several unknown people aggressively covered RFE/RL cameras with newspapers and began physically and verbally abusing them .
RFE/RL correspondents in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police , asking them to identify the attackers and bring them to justice .
Omarova subsequently filed a lawsuit against police , accusing them of inaction when the case failed to develop .
Tamara Kaleyeva , chairwoman of the Adil Soz ( A Just Word ) group , which defends journalists ' rights , told RFE/RL on April 15 that reporters in Kazakhstan rarely file lawsuits against police in such cases because `` they almost never reach the courts . ''
`` Unfortunately , journalists ' rights , and the right of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ honored by our law enforcement bodies , '' Kaleyeva said .
Kazakhstan ranked 158th out of 179 countries in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index published by the rights group Reporters Without Borders .

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A Kazakh court has ruled that an investigation should continue into the failure of police to act against individuals who attacked RFE/RL reporters and hindered their professional activities.
The Almaty City Investigation Court on April 15 agreed with a lawsuit filed by Aiman Omarova, a lawyer for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, against police and asking for a deeper investigation of the incident.
During mass anti-government rallies in Almaty in March 2019, several unknown people aggressively covered RFE/RL cameras with newspapers and began physically and verbally abusing them.
RFE/RL correspondents in Almaty filed an official request with local police, asking them to identify the attackers and bring them to justice.
Omarova subsequently filed a lawsuit against police, accusing them of inaction when the case failed to develop.
Tamara Kaleyeva, chairwoman of the Adil Soz (A Just Word) group, which defends journalists' rights, told RFE/RL on April 15 that reporters in Kazakhstan rarely file lawsuits against police in such cases because "they almost never reach the courts."
"Unfortunately, journalists' rights, and the right of our citizens to obtain information, are not honored by our law enforcement bodies," Kaleyeva said.
Kazakhstan ranked 158th out of 179 countries in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index published by the rights group Reporters Without Borders.


rferl--2020-04-16--Russian Newspaper Forced To Take Down Chechnya Coronavirus Report, Author Threatened

MOSCOW – Russian independent newspaper Novaya gazeta says it has taken down an article about measures introduced to tackle the coronavirus in the North Caucasus region of Chechnya following a request by the country ’ s media regulator , Roskomnadzor .
The Kremlin-backed leader of the region , Ramzan Kadyrov , had slammed the article as `` absurd '' and threatened to harm the author , Yelena Milashina .
Novaya gazeta 's editor-in-chief , Dmitry Muratov , said Roskomnadzor demanded the removal of the article on April 15 , claiming it contained `` false '' information about the spread of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the newspaper might appeal the decision , which comes as international media watchdogs accuse the Russian government of stepping up its control of news reporting in connection with the coronavirus pandemic on the pretext of combating disinformation .
The representative on media freedom for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) , Harlem Desir , expressed concern about Roskomnadzor 's move , saying that `` media must be able to report on the pandemic , and citizens must have access to information . ''
He also strongly condemned `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recipient of the 2013 International Woman of Courage Award , saying : `` This is worrying and should stop immediately .
Journalists must have the right to report on COVID19 without intimidation.
” Gulnoza Said , Europe and Central Asia program coordinator at the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists ( CPJ ) , said journalists `` are already facing immense danger in covering the COVID-19 pandemic , and should not also have to endure threats against their lives by political leaders.
” Milashina 's April 12 article focused on the lack of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and local authorities ' mass detention of residents who allegedly violated strict quarantine measures .
The next day , Kadyrov accused Novaya gazeta journalists of being `` traitors who receive prizes abroad '' and blamed the Federal Security Service ( FSB ) for not silencing Milashina , according to a transcript of his remarks published by the newspaper .
`` If you [ the security services ] want us to commit a crime and become criminals , then say so .
Someone will take the burden of responsibility and will be punished under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Milashina said she had appealed to Russia ’ s Investigative Committee and to the Prosecutor-General ’ s Office , but got no answer , according to the CPJ statement .
The group quoted the journalist as saying that she was `` really afraid , as Kadyrov 's threats are really serious and he is a dangerous man .
I know that if he really decides to kill me , he will do it . ''
A total of 38 journalists have been killed in Russia in retaliation for their reporting since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least six had covered Chechnya .
Rights groups say Kadyrov , who has ruled the volatile region since 2007 , uses repressive measures and has created a climate of impunity for security forces in the region .
They allege Kadyrov is ultimately responsible for the violence and intimidation of political opponents by Chechen authorities , including kidnappings , forced disappearances , torture , and extrajudicial killings .
Last month , CPJ urged Russian authorities `` to stop censoring news outlets '' that report on the coronavirus outbreak .
Meanwhile , Reporters Without Borders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watchdog , accused Roskomnadzor of targeting Russian journalists covering the coronavirus crisis .

MOSCOW – Russian independent newspaper Novaya gazeta says it has taken down an article about measures introduced to tackle the coronavirus in the North Caucasus region of Chechnya following a request by the country’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor.
The Kremlin-backed leader of the region, Ramzan Kadyrov, had slammed the article as "absurd" and threatened to harm the author, Yelena Milashina.
Novaya gazeta's editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, said Roskomnadzor demanded the removal of the article on April 15, claiming it contained "false" information about the spread of the coronavirus in Chechnya.
Muratov said the newspaper might appeal the decision, which comes as international media watchdogs accuse the Russian government of stepping up its control of news reporting in connection with the coronavirus pandemic on the pretext of combating disinformation.
The representative on media freedom for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Harlem Desir, expressed concern about Roskomnadzor's move, saying that "media must be able to report on the pandemic, and citizens must have access to information."
He also strongly condemned "death threats" against Milashina, a recipient of the 2013 International Woman of Courage Award, saying: "This is worrying and should stop immediately. Journalists must have the right to report on COVID19 without intimidation.”
Gulnoza Said, Europe and Central Asia program coordinator at the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said journalists "are already facing immense danger in covering the COVID-19 pandemic, and should not also have to endure threats against their lives by political leaders.”
Milashina's April 12 article focused on the lack of protective gear for medical personnel in Chechnya and local authorities' mass detention of residents who allegedly violated strict quarantine measures.
The next day, Kadyrov accused Novaya gazeta journalists of being "traitors who receive prizes abroad" and blamed the Federal Security Service (FSB) for not silencing Milashina, according to a transcript of his remarks published by the newspaper.
"If you [the security services] want us to commit a crime and become criminals, then say so. Someone will take the burden of responsibility and will be punished under the law," the Chechen leader said.
Milashina said she had appealed to Russia’s Investigative Committee and to the Prosecutor-General’s Office, but got no answer, according to the CPJ statement.
The group quoted the journalist as saying that she was "really afraid, as Kadyrov's threats are really serious and he is a dangerous man. I know that if he really decides to kill me, he will do it."
A total of 38 journalists have been killed in Russia in retaliation for their reporting since 1992, according to CPJ. At least six had covered Chechnya.
Rights groups say Kadyrov, who has ruled the volatile region since 2007, uses repressive measures and has created a climate of impunity for security forces in the region. They allege Kadyrov is ultimately responsible for the violence and intimidation of political opponents by Chechen authorities, including kidnappings, forced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings.
Last month, CPJ urged Russian authorities "to stop censoring news outlets" that report on the coronavirus outbreak.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Paris-based media watchdog, accused Roskomnadzor of targeting Russian journalists covering the coronavirus crisis.


rferl--2020-04-16--Amid Diplomatic Spat, Move Made To Rename Moscow Subway Station Dedicated To Prague

A Russian government department has proposed renaming a Moscow subway station dedicated to the Czech capital , Prague , amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries , Russian media report .
The proposal comes after Prague city authorities recently removed a controversial statue of a Soviet World War II marshal .
Russia 's Investigative Committee on April 10 threatened to open a criminal case against the Czech Republic , although Moscow has no legal jurisdiction in the Central European country .
Prague municipal officials on April 3 removed a statue of Soviet Marshall Ivan Konev , who led the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ May 1945 after the city had been liberated from the Nazis by resistance forces .
Russia media reported on April 16 that the Public Council at the Russian Defense Ministry proposed renaming the `` Prazhskaya '' subway station to `` Marshall Konev . ''
The council said the proposal was `` a response '' to the removal of Konev 's statue in Prague .
The council sent a letter to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to request support for the proposal , the Defense Ministry 's Zvezda ( The Star ) television channel said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Moscow of meddling in its internal affairs .
The monument , which was erected by the communist Czechoslovakian government in 1980 , has long been controversial and has frequently been vandalized since the collapse of communism in 1989 .
Konev also commanded the Soviet troops that suppressed the 1956 uprising in Hungary and that helped build the Berlin Wall .
Some historians believe he played a role in planning the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 .
He died in 1973 .
Czech officials have said the Konev statue will be reinstalled at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would host a new monument honoring the Prague resistance fighters who liberated the capital in the days before Konev 's troops arrived .
Moscow has vehemently protested the removal of the statue .
On April 9 , Shoigu asked his Czech counterpart , Lubomir Metnar , to hand over the statue to Russia .
Metnar refused , saying it belonged to the city of Prague .
Russian President Vladimir Putin has frequently criticized European countries of `` rewriting history '' by allegedly diminishing the role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counter that Putin has downplayed the crimes of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and the consequences of the postwar Soviet occupation of the region .
With reporting by MK24 and Zvezda

A Russian government department has proposed renaming a Moscow subway station dedicated to the Czech capital, Prague, amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries, Russian media report.
The proposal comes after Prague city authorities recently removed a controversial statue of a Soviet World War II marshal.
Russia's Investigative Committee on April 10 threatened to open a criminal case against the Czech Republic, although Moscow has no legal jurisdiction in the Central European country.
Prague municipal officials on April 3 removed a statue of Soviet Marshall Ivan Konev, who led the Red Army troops that entered Prague in May 1945 after the city had been liberated from the Nazis by resistance forces.
Russia media reported on April 16 that the Public Council at the Russian Defense Ministry proposed renaming the "Prazhskaya" subway station to "Marshal Konev."
The council said the proposal was "a response" to the removal of Konev's statue in Prague.
The council sent a letter to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to request support for the proposal, the Defense Ministry's Zvezda television channel said.
The Czech Foreign Ministry has accused Moscow of meddling in its internal affairs.
The monument, which was erected by the communist Czechoslovak government in 1980, has long been controversial and has frequently been vandalized since the collapse of communism in 1989.
Konev also commanded the Soviet troops that suppressed the 1956 uprising in Hungary and that helped build the Berlin Wall. Some historians believe he played a role in planning the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. He died in 1973.
Czech officials have said the Konev statue will be reinstalled at another location and that its previous site would host a new monument honoring the Prague resistance fighters who liberated the capital in the days before Konev's troops arrived.
Moscow has vehemently protested the removal of the statue. On April 9, Shoigu asked his Czech counterpart, Lubomir Metnar, to hand over the statue to Russia. Metnar refused, saying it belonged to the city of Prague.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has frequently criticized European countries of "rewriting history" by allegedly diminishing the role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazi Germany, while Central European countries counter that Putin has downplayed the crimes of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and the consequences of the postwar Soviet occupation of the region.
With reporting by MK24 and Zvezda


rferl--2020-04-16--Tajik Journalist Jailed On 'Absurd' Extremism Charges

DUSHANBE -- A Tajik court has sentenced independent journalist Daler Sharifov to one year in a penal colony in a case media watchdogs labelled an `` absurd extremism '' trial .
Sharifov 's lawyer , Abdurahmon Sharifov , said after the April 16 verdict that his client did not intend to appeal , although he rejected the charges against him .
The two men are not related .
The prosecution had called for Sharifov to be sentenced to two years and four months .
Sharifov , who writes about domestic politics and religious issues , was arrested on January 28 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and religious hatred and spreading `` propaganda '' on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood .
The Prosecutor-General ’ s Office says the case is based on `` more than 200 articles and commentaries containing extremist content '' aimed at `` inciting religious intolerance '' that were published on social media between 2013 and 2019 .
The charges centered on a dissertation Sharifov published in 2019 that examined Islamic theology and included quotes from Muslim Brotherhood leaders .
Similar to several authoritarian countries in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia and Egypt , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and banned it in 2006 .
Sharifov 's relatives , human rights organizations , and media-freedom groups have rejected the accusations against him as unfounded and have demanded his immediate release .
Oinichol Bobonazarova , a well-known lawyer and head of the public organization Perspective+ , said she read several of the articles in question during the case .
`` In no article did I find anything that would warrant a criminal investigation .
Daler should have been released in the courtroom because the prosecution did not have obvious evidence of his guilt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ RFE/RL after a court hearing on April 15 , Sharifov ’ s father rejected the charges against his son .
`` Daler explained that he wrote the treatise Muhammad and Terrorism so that young people do not join terrorist and extremist groups and movements , '' Ozodi Abdumannon Sharifov said .
Calling the incitement charges `` absurd , '' Reporters Without Borders ( RSF ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists have said Sharifov 's arrest was aimed at silencing a critical journalist ahead of parliamentary elections in March that were won , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's ruling party .
Writing for the independent news website Ozodagon from 2013 until its closure last year following `` years of harassment , '' Sharipov often commented on violations of human rights and religious freedoms , according to RSF .
Eight years ago , the journalist spent several days in hospital after being beaten in a still unpunished attack .

DUSHANBE -- A Tajik court has sentenced independent journalist Daler Sharifov to one year in a penal colony in a case media watchdogs labelled an "absurd extremism" trial.
Sharifov's lawyer, Abdurahmon Sharifov, said after the April 16 verdict that his client did not intend to appeal, although he rejected the charges against him. The two men are not related.
The prosecution had called for Sharifov to be sentenced to two years and four months.
Sharifov, who writes about domestic politics and religious issues, was arrested on January 28 on charges of inciting ethnic, racial, and religious hatred and spreading "propaganda" on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Prosecutor-General’s Office says the case is based on "more than 200 articles and commentaries containing extremist content" aimed at "inciting religious intolerance" that were published on social media between 2013 and 2019.
The charges centered on a dissertation Sharifov published in 2019 that examined Islamic theology and included quotes from Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
Similar to several authoritarian countries in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Tajikistan considers the group an extremist organization and banned it in 2006.
Sharifov's relatives, human rights organizations, and media-freedom groups have rejected the accusations against him as unfounded and have demanded his immediate release.
Oinichol Bobonazarova, a well-known lawyer and head of the public organization Perspective+, said she read several of the articles in question during the case.
"In no article did I find anything that would warrant a criminal investigation. Daler should have been released in the courtroom because the prosecution did not have obvious evidence of his guilt," she said.
Speaking to RFE/RL after a court hearing on April 15, Sharifov’s father rejected the charges against his son.
"Daler explained that he wrote the treatise Muhammad and Terrorism so that young people do not join terrorist and extremist groups and movements," Abdumannon Sharifov said.
Calling the incitement charges "absurd," Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists have said Sharifov's arrest was aimed at silencing a critical journalist ahead of parliamentary elections in March that were won, as expected, by President Emomali Rahmon's ruling party.
Writing for the independent news website Ozodagon from 2013 until its closure last year following "years of harassment," Sharifov often commented on violations of human rights and religious freedoms, according to RSF.
Eight years ago, the journalist spent several days in hospital after being beaten in a still unpunished attack.


rferl--2020-04-16--Ukraine, Russia-Backed Separatists Hold Another Prisoner Swap

KYIV -- Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists have exchanged a total of 34 prisoners ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy 's office said on April 16 that 20 Ukrainians who were in the custody of the separatists were returned to Kyiv .
The separatists said 14 people were handed to them by Kyiv authorities .
The Ukrainian and Russian sides in the so-called Trilateral Contact Group ( TCG ) said last week that they had agreed on to hold the swap before Orthodox Easter on April 19 .
Heidi Grau , special representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , move in a statement , expressing hope that `` it will contribute to strengthening trust between the sides . ''
Ukraine 's relationship with Russia has been tense ever since protests in Kyiv led to the overthrow of pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 .
Russia annexed Ukraine 's Crimean Peninsula shortly thereafter and backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine , sparking a war in the eastern region known as the Donbas that has resulted in some 13,200 deaths .
That war continues to this day .
Zelenskiy , who was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the conflict in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk , had already overseen two prisoner exchanges .
In September , Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 35 prisoners .
In December , Ukraine turned over 124 prisoners to the separatists in exchange for 76 Ukrainians they held .
The latest prisoner swap comes as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in March called on warring parties in conflicts around the world to halt fighting due to the coronavirus pandemic .
With reporting by Ukrayinska Pravda , UNIAN , Interfax , and TASS

KYIV -- Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists have exchanged a total of 34 prisoners ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said on April 16 that 20 Ukrainians who were in the custody of the separatists were returned to Kyiv.
The separatists said 14 people were handed to them by Kyiv authorities.
The Ukrainian and Russian sides in the so-called Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) said last week that they had agreed on to hold the swap before Orthodox Easter on April 19.
Heidi Grau, special representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office in Ukraine and in the TCG Group, hailed the move in a statement, expressing hope that "it will contribute to strengthening trust between the sides."
Ukraine's relationship with Russia has been tense ever since protests in Kyiv led to the overthrow of pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula shortly thereafter and backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, sparking a war in the eastern region known as the Donbas that has resulted in some 13,200 deaths. That war continues to this day.
Zelenskiy, who was elected last year on promises of ending the conflict in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, had already overseen two prisoner exchanges.
In September, Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 35 prisoners. In December, Ukraine turned over 124 prisoners to the separatists in exchange for 76 Ukrainians they held.
The latest prisoner swap comes as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in March called on warring parties in conflicts around the world to halt fighting due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With reporting by Ukrayinska Pravda, UNIAN, Interfax, and TASS


rferl--2020-04-16--COVID-19: Iranian Think Tank Says Infection Figures Likely Much Higher; Turkmen Soccer League Resume

COVID-19: Iranian Think Tank Says Infection Figures Likely Much Higher; Turkmen Soccer League Resumes

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 138,000 with over 2 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
The Research Center of Iran 's parliament says the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the country is likely to be double the official numbers .
According to figures released by the Health Ministry on April 16 , the death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 4,869 , while the number of infections stands at 77,995 , making Iran home to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The research arm of the Majlis , Iran 's parliament , said in a footnote in a report issued this week and posted on its website that the actual number of deaths could be 0.8 times higher than the official tally and that the number of infections could be eight to 10 times higher than figures released by the Health Ministry .
`` In order to have more compatibility between protocol and estimated statistics , it is necessary to increase laboratory and testing capabilities in the country , '' the report said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increasing the capacities , diagnosis of disease will be more possible and spread of the disease will be more limited , '' it added .
A number of local officials as well as experts inside and outside the country in recent weeks have questioned COVID-19 figures released by Iran ’ s authorities , who keep a tight lid on the media , while suggesting that the real numbers are likely to be significantly higher .
Officials have claimed transparency while suggesting that the official tally is based on confirmed cases .
According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tests have been conducted so far in Iran .
Deputy Health Minister Ali Reza Raisi on April 15 acknowledged that the `` limits of testing '' faced by his country meant it does n't have accurate figures of all those infected .
Health officials have not commented on the new estimates .
Meanwhile , Reporters Without Borders ( RSF ) on April 15 condemned the continued persecution of Iranian journalists and citizen-journalists who publish information about the coronavirus outbreak without official approval .
The Paris-based media-freedom watchdog said the latest victim of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national radio and TV presenter who is now active on social media .
Shariri was arrested by Intelligence Ministry officials in Tehran on April 14 for `` publishing false information about the coronavirus '' after he posted a video seen by hundreds of thousands of people that referred to a coverup of information about the spread of the virus in early March .
`` His criticism of the handling of the health crisis and the lockdown has clearly annoyed the authorities , who have not said where he is being held , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Maharani and Saide Ahmadi , two activists who run news channels in Tehran and the western Kurdistan Province , were arrested earlier in April for posting information about the epidemic .
Two other journalists from Golestan and Kermanshah provinces , Elaheh Ramezanpour and Sharam Safari , are being prosecuted for publishing allegedly false information about the epidemic but have not been detained , according to RSF .
Turkmenistan is set to resume soccer matches with spectators this weekend , despite the novel coronavirus forcing lockdowns across the world .
The Turkmenistan Football Federation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eight-team domestic league last month without providing a reason , said that one match will be played on April 19 between Ashgabat-based Altyn Asyr and its rival , Kopetdag .
Three more matches are planned the following day .
The FTT also said the country 's youth league would reopen on April 20 .
The authoritarian Central Asia state has not reported any official coronavirus infections as the authorities largely keep quiet about the risk to public health .
However , it has closed its borders and RFE/RL 's Turkmen Service reported that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , limiting movement and testing people 's temperature .
Police have also harassed those wearing face masks or talking about the pandemic , while using restrictions to force people to pay bribes .
In an article posted on its website , the Sports Ministry said the decision to open the domestic league `` pleased the army of fans '' and was welcomed by players .
`` The continuation of the national football championships fully proves that Turkmenistan is a country of inspiration and health , '' it quoted national team player Didar Durdyev @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Turkmenistan held a series of public sporting events to mark World Health Day .
On April 15 , state media reported that events surrounding Turkmen Horse Day on April 25 would continue as planned .
The Georgian Orthodox Church and the government have reached an agreement that will allow parishioners to attend dusk-to-dawn Easter vigil services on the coming holiday weekend .
The agreement , announced on April 15 , provides worshipers a way around a curfew and other restrictive measures that have been put into effect to control the spread of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be allowed to attend services in large cathedrals provided they maintain a distance of 2 meters .
Those who attend small churches are to remain outside their church building .
The agreement also says parishioners should arrive for the services before 9 p.m. local time on April 18 and leave after 6 a.m. the following day .
“ We made a joint decision with the church so that the law will not be violated and churches will not be shut down [ during Easter service ] , ” government spokesman Irakli Chikovani said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was reached after two days of consultations between government officials , the prime minister , and the office of the patriarch .
Police officers will patrol church surroundings to enforce strict observance of all public health regulations , including physical distancing , on Easter Eve , Chikovani said .
Andria Jagmaidze , a spokesperson of the Georgian Orthodox Church , said that the church was taking precautionary measures to censure that traditional Easter services are not suspended , while complying with all public health recommendations .
He said nothing about the communal spoon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to churchgoers .
A Georgian national health official warned after the announcement that Georgia ’ s coronavirus outbreak would become like Italy ’ s if parishioners attend the Easter service .
Italy has been badly hit by the coronavirus , suffering more than 21,000 deaths in the pandemic , according to a database maintained by Johns Hopkins University .
Easter celebrations on April 13 at the Vatican and at other Roman Catholic and Christian churches worldwide were stripped down and closed to the public in the face of the pandemic , which has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world and killed at least 134,000 .
Emergency measures implemented in Georgia because of the health crisis include a ban on gatherings of more than three people in public , the curfew and a stay-at-home order for all citizens without special permit .
The country in the South Caucaus has reported 306 cases of infection by the virus and three deaths from COVID-19 , the disease it causes , according to Johns Hopkins University database .
DUSHANBE – Tajik authorities in Dushanbe have cancelled public celebrations to mark a national holiday over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government has not officially registered any coronavirus cases .
Dushanbe ’ s city hall said on April 16 that all public events organized to mark the country 's `` Day of the Capital '' were canceled `` to prevent the coronavirus COVID-19 spread and protect the health '' of residents .
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are two Central Asian nations that have not officially registered any coronavirus cases .
But experts are skeptical of the claims given the lack of transparency within their governments and a lack of independent media .
In neighboring Uzbekistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1,349 , including four deaths , health authorities said on April 16 .
In Kazakhstan , the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 1,341 , with 16 deaths .
In Kyrgyzstan , 466 cases have been officially recorded , including five deaths .
Belarus has delayed the start of its women ’ s soccer league due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus , although the men ’ s season has continued .
The women ’ s league was due to start on April 16 , but the Belarus Football Federation said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` suspended until further notice . ''
The federation said `` several ” female players had contact with `` possible carriers '' of the coronavirus .
Belarus is the only country in Europe still playing professional men ’ s soccer games with fans in the stands .
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has said that there is no need for strict measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the country , despite the growing number of confirmed cases and deaths .
Health officials in Belarus said they had recorded 4,204 confirmed cases of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with 40 deaths .
With reporting by Natela Zambakhidze and RFE/RL ’ s Georgian , Kazakh , Kyrgyz , Tajik , Turkmen , and Uzbek services , and AP

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 138,000 with over 2 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Iran
The Research Center of Iran's parliament says the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the country is likely to be double the official numbers.
According to figures released by the Health Ministry on April 16, the death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 4,869, while the number of infections stands at 77,995, making Iran home to the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East.
The research arm of the Majlis, Iran's parliament, said in a footnote in a report issued this week and posted on its website that the actual number of deaths could be 0.8 times higher than the official tally and that the number of infections could be eight to 10 times higher than figures released by the Health Ministry.
"In order to have more compatibility between protocol and estimated statistics, it is necessary to increase laboratory and testing capabilities in the country," the report said.
"Needless to say that through increasing the capacities, diagnosis of disease will be more possible and spread of the disease will be more limited," it added.
A number of local officials as well as experts inside and outside the country in recent weeks have questioned COVID-19 figures released by Iran’s authorities, who keep a tight lid on the media, while suggesting that the real numbers are likely to be significantly higher.
Officials have claimed transparency while suggesting that the official tally is based on confirmed cases.
According to the Health Ministry, over 310,000 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far in Iran.
Deputy Health Minister Ali Reza Raisi on April 15 acknowledged that the "limits of testing" faced by his country meant it doesn't have accurate figures of all those infected.
Health officials have not commented on the new estimates.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on April 15 condemned the continued persecution of Iranian journalists and citizen-journalists who publish information about the coronavirus outbreak without official approval.
The Paris-based media-freedom watchdog said the latest victim of the crackdown was Mahmud Shariri, a former national radio and TV presenter who is now active on social media.
Shariri was arrested by Intelligence Ministry officials in Tehran on April 14 for "publishing false information about the coronavirus" after he posted a video seen by hundreds of thousands of people that referred to a coverup of information about the spread of the virus in early March.
"His criticism of the handling of the health crisis and the lockdown has clearly annoyed the authorities, who have not said where he is being held," RSF said.
The group said Hadi Maharani and Saide Ahmadi, two activists who run news channels in Tehran and the western Kurdistan Province, were arrested earlier in April for posting information about the epidemic.
Two other journalists from Golestan and Kermanshah provinces, Elaheh Ramezanpour and Sharam Safari, are being prosecuted for publishing allegedly false information about the epidemic but have not been detained, according to RSF.
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is set to resume soccer matches with spectators this weekend, despite the novel coronavirus forcing lockdowns across the world.
The Turkmenistan Football Federation (FFT), which suspended its eight-team domestic league last month without providing a reason, said that one match will be played on April 19 between Ashgabat-based Altyn Asyr and its rival, Kopetdag.
Three more matches are planned the following day.
The FTT also said the country's youth league would reopen on April 20.
The authoritarian Central Asia state has not reported any official coronavirus infections as the authorities largely keep quiet about the risk to public health.
However, it has closed its borders and RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reported that checkpoints have been established in the country, limiting movement and testing people's temperature.
Police have also harassed those wearing face masks or talking about the pandemic, while using restrictions to force people to pay bribes.
In an article posted on its website, the Sports Ministry said the decision to open the domestic league "pleased the army of fans" and was welcomed by players.
"The continuation of the national football championships fully proves that Turkmenistan is a country of inspiration and health," it quoted national team player Didar Durdyev as saying.
Earlier this month, Turkmenistan held a series of public sporting events to mark World Health Day.
On April 15, state media reported that events surrounding Turkmen Horse Day on April 25 would continue as planned.
Georgia
The Georgian Orthodox Church and the government have reached an agreement that will allow parishioners to attend dusk-to-dawn Easter vigil services on the coming holiday weekend.
The agreement, announced on April 15, provides worshipers a way around a curfew and other restrictive measures that have been put into effect to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Under the agreement worshipers will be allowed to attend services in large cathedrals provided they maintain a distance of 2 meters. Those who attend small churches are to remain outside their church building.
The agreement also says parishioners should arrive for the services before 9 p.m. local time on April 18 and leave after 6 a.m. the following day.
“We made a joint decision with the church so that the law will not be violated and churches will not be shut down [during Easter service],” government spokesman Irakli Chikovani said at a press briefing.
The agreement was reached after two days of consultations between government officials, the prime minister, and the office of the patriarch.
Police officers will patrol church surroundings to enforce strict observance of all public health regulations, including physical distancing, on Easter Eve, Chikovani said.
Andria Jagmaidze, a spokesperson of the Georgian Orthodox Church, said that the church was taking precautionary measures to ensure that traditional Easter services are not suspended, while complying with all public health recommendations. He said nothing about the communal spoon used to distribute sacramental bread and wine to churchgoers.
A Georgian national health official warned after the announcement that Georgia’s coronavirus outbreak would become like Italy’s if parishioners attend the Easter service.
Italy has been badly hit by the coronavirus, suffering more than 21,000 deaths in the pandemic, according to a database maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
Easter celebrations on April 13 at the Vatican and at other Roman Catholic and Christian churches worldwide were stripped down and closed to the public in the face of the pandemic, which has infected more than 2 million people around the world and killed at least 134,000.
Emergency measures implemented in Georgia because of the health crisis include a ban on gatherings of more than three people in public, the curfew and a stay-at-home order for all citizens without special permit.
The country in the South Caucaus has reported 306 cases of infection by the virus and three deaths from COVID-19, the disease it causes, according to Johns Hopkins University database.
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
DUSHANBE – Tajik authorities in Dushanbe have cancelled public celebrations to mark a national holiday over the coronavirus pandemic, even though the government has not officially registered any coronavirus cases.
RFE/RL's Coverage Of COVID-19 Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.
Dushanbe’s city hall said on April 16 that all public events organized to mark the country's "Day of the Capital" were canceled "to prevent the coronavirus COVID-19 spread and protect the health" of residents.
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are two Central Asian nations that have not officially registered any coronavirus cases. But experts are skeptical of the claims given the lack of transparency within their governments and a lack of independent media.
In neighboring Uzbekistan, the number of coronavirus cases reached 1,349, including four deaths, health authorities said on April 16.
In Kazakhstan, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 1,341, with 16 deaths.
In Kyrgyzstan, 466 cases have been officially recorded, including five deaths.
Belarus
Belarus has delayed the start of its women’s soccer league due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus, although the men’s season has continued.
The women’s league was due to start on April 16, but the Belarus Football Federation said a day earlier that it was now "suspended until further notice."
The federation said "several” female players had contact with "possible carriers" of the coronavirus.
Belarus is the only country in Europe still playing professional men’s soccer games with fans in the stands.
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has said that there is no need for strict measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the country, despite the growing number of confirmed cases and deaths.
Health officials in Belarus said they had recorded 4,204 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus as of April 16, with 40 deaths.
With reporting by Natela Zambakhidze and RFE/RL’s Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek services, and AP