rferl--2020-07-09--U.S. Sanctions Chinese Officials Over 'Horrific' Abuse Of Uyghurs, Ethnic Kazakhs

The United States has imposed sanctions on senior Chinese officials for “ horrific and systematic ” human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minority groups in the western Xinjiang region .
“ The United States will not stand idly by as the Chinese Communist Party carries out human rights abuses targeting Uyghurs , ethnic Kazakhs , and members of other minority groups in Xinjiang , to include forced labor , arbitrary mass detention , and forced population control , and attempts to erase their culture and Muslim faith , ” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on July @ @ @ @ @ @ @ denied U.S. visas and have their U.S.-based assets frozen .
The three include Chen Quanguo , the Chinese Communist Party chief for the Xinjiang region and alleged architect of repression against religious and ethnic minorities .
The other two targeted are Zhu Hailun , a former chief of Xinjiang ’ s political and legal committee , and Wang Mingshan , the head of regional security .
The U.S. Treasury also sanctioned a fourth person , Huo Liujun , a former security official in Xinjiang .
These U.S. designations and visa restrictions are part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over gross human rights abuses reported in the Xinjiang region , where Beijing is accused of placing more than 1 million Uyghurs and members of other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in internment camps and prisons where they are subjected to ideological discipline , forced to denounce their religion and language , and physically abused since early 2017 .
China says the camps are reeducation and training centers needed to combat separatist terrorism and extremism .
On July 1 , the U.S. government issued an advisory to businesses warning that their supply chains may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Xinjiang .
Other action in recent months include targeting dozens of Chinese business entities tied to human rights abuses in the region .
Pompeo has also announced in recent weeks steps against China over the deterioration of rights and democracy in Hong Kong .

The United States has imposed sanctions on senior Chinese officials for “horrific and systematic” human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minority groups in the western Xinjiang region.
“The United States will not stand idly by as the Chinese Communist Party carries out human rights abuses targeting Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and members of other minority groups in Xinjiang, to include forced labor, arbitrary mass detention, and forced population control, and attempts to erase their culture and Muslim faith,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on July 9.
Three Chinese officials will be denied U.S. visas and have their U.S.-based assets frozen.
The three include Chen Quanguo, the Chinese Communist Party chief for the Xinjiang region and alleged architect of repression against religious and ethnic minorities. The other two targeted are Zhu Hailun, a former chief of Xinjiang’s political and legal committee, and Wang Mingshan, the head of regional security.
The U.S. Treasury also sanctioned a fourth person, Huo Liujun, a former security official in Xinjiang.
These U.S. designations and visa restrictions are part of an intensifying effort to pressure China over gross human rights abuses reported in the Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of placing more than 1 million Uyghurs and members of other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in internment camps and prisons where they are subjected to ideological discipline, forced to denounce their religion and language, and physically abused since early 2017.
China says the camps are reeducation and training centers needed to combat separatist terrorism and extremism.
On July 1, the U.S. government issued an advisory to businesses warning that their supply chains may be using forced labor from detention camps in Xinjiang.
Other action in recent months include targeting dozens of Chinese business entities tied to human rights abuses in the region.
Pompeo has also announced in recent weeks steps against China over the deterioration of rights and democracy in Hong Kong.


rferl--2020-07-09--Dozens Rally Near Ukraine Constiutional Court Over Controversial Language Law

KYIV -- Dozens of activists , opposition politicians and lawmakers have rallied near the building of Ukraine 's Constitutional Court as it debated a controverisal language law that has been criticized for restricting access to minority languages .
Demonstrators on July 9 held posters supporting the law with slogans such as `` Does the Constitutional Court want to kill the state language ? '
and `` Ukrainian -- the only state language ! ''
The Constitutional Court began debating the legislation 's constitutionality on July 8 at the request of 51 lawmakers , mainly from the pro-Russia Opposition Bloc .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ provisions `` discriminate Russian-speaking citizens on the basis of language . ''
The legislation , signed by former President Petro Poroshenko just days before he left office following his electoral defeat to rival Volodymyr Zelenskiy last year , declares that Ukrainian is `` the only official state language '' in the country .
It followed previous legislation , signed by Poroshenko in September 2017 , that made Ukrainian the required language of study in state schools from the fifth grade on .
The bill did not outlaw instruction in other languages , allowing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a separate subject .
In December , the Council of Europe ’ s Venice Commission of constitutional experts criticized the law and specifically took issue with what it sees as an extremely short transition period for the converting of Russian-language schools into Ukrainian-language institutions .
The commission also said it considers quotas for minority languages in radio and TV programs to be unbalanced .
`` To avoid the language issue becoming a source of interethnic tensions within Ukraine , it is of crucial importance to achieve an appropriate balance in its language policy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The authorities have so far failed to do so . ''
Mykola Knyazhytskiy , one of the authors of the law and now a member of the European Solidarity party , joined the picketers saying he was ashamed that the Ukrainian language has come under fire for being entrenched as the state 's official language .
`` Imagine that in Poland , Hungary , Israel , France , the Constitutional Court would initiate proceedings on whether the state language should be used or not used in some regions .
Obviously , it 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Tensions with Russia have run high in the former Soviet republic following Moscow 's seizure and annexation of Ukraine ’ s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed some 13,200 people .
Some native Russian speakers in Ukraine claim Kyiv is deliberately curtailing the use of the Russian language .
The Kremlin has also assailed the language laws .
Ukrainian speakers argue that the prominence of Russia is a legacy of the Soviet era that undermines Ukraine 's identity and cite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communist times .
`` It is the last chance for pro-Russian politicians to squeeze into the structures of power which would give Russia more chances to divide Ukraine using language issues , '' Ihor Miroshnychenko , a lawmaker from the All-Ukrainian Svoboda ( Liberty ) Union party , who was among the picketers on July 9 told RFE/RL .
The law was also criticized by other ethnic minorities in Ukraine , such as Hungarians , Romanians , Poles , and other sizeable ethnic groups residing in today 's Ukraine for centuries .
Hungary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ building closer ties with Ukraine .
In May , Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said he hoped that the issue of Ukraine 's laws on education and languages will be resolved , paving the way for `` better understanding . ''

KYIV -- Dozens of activists, opposition politicians and lawmakers have rallied near the building of Ukraine's Constitutional Court as it debated a controverisal language law that has been criticized for restricting access to minority languages.
Demonstrators on July 9 held posters supporting the law with slogans such as "Does the Constitutional Court want to kill the state language?' and "Ukrainian -- the only state language!"
The Constitutional Court began debating the legislation's constitutionality on July 8 at the request of 51 lawmakers, mainly from the pro-Russia Opposition Bloc.
The lawmakers claim that the law's provisions "discriminate Russian-speaking citizens on the basis of language."
The legislation, signed by former President Petro Poroshenko just days before he left office following his electoral defeat to rival Volodymyr Zelenskiy last year, declares that Ukrainian is "the only official state language" in the country.
It followed previous legislation, signed by Poroshenko in September 2017, that made Ukrainian the required language of study in state schools from the fifth grade on. The bill did not outlaw instruction in other languages, allowing students to learn their native languages as a separate subject.
In December, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission of constitutional experts criticized the law and specifically took issue with what it sees as an extremely short transition period for the converting of Russian-language schools into Ukrainian-language institutions.
The commission also said it considers quotas for minority languages in radio and TV programs to be unbalanced.
"To avoid the language issue becoming a source of interethnic tensions within Ukraine, it is of crucial importance to achieve an appropriate balance in its language policy," the commission said. "The authorities have so far failed to do so."
Mykola Knyazhytskiy, one of the authors of the law and now a member of the European Solidarity party, joined the picketers saying he was ashamed that the Ukrainian language has come under fire for being entrenched as the state's official language.
"Imagine that in Poland, Hungary, Israel, France, the Constitutional Court would initiate proceedings on whether the state language should be used or not used in some regions. Obviously, it's hard to imagine," he said.
Tensions With Moscow
Tensions with Russia have run high in the former Soviet republic following Moscow's seizure and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed some 13,200 people.
Some native Russian speakers in Ukraine claim Kyiv is deliberately curtailing the use of the Russian language. The Kremlin has also assailed the language laws.
Ukrainian speakers argue that the prominence of Russia is a legacy of the Soviet era that undermines Ukraine's identity and cite efforts to suppress the Ukrainian language during communist times.
"It is the last chance for pro-Russian politicians to squeeze into the structures of power which would give Russia more chances to divide Ukraine using language issues," Ihor Miroshnychenko, a lawmaker from the All-Ukrainian Svoboda (Liberty) Union party, who was among the picketers on July 9 told RFE/RL.
The law was also criticized by other ethnic minorities in Ukraine, such as Hungarians, Romanians, Poles, and other sizeable ethnic groups residing in today's Ukraine for centuries.
Hungary has been blocking NATO initiatives aimed at building closer ties with Ukraine. In May, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said he hoped that the issue of Ukraine's laws on education and languages will be resolved, paving the way for "better understanding."


rferl--2020-07-09--Russian Lawmakers Propose Expanded 'Extremism' Law Aimed At Crimea

MOSCOW -- A group of Russian lawmakers has proposed an expanded extremism bill aimed at further quelling opposition activists and politicians as well as anyone questioning Moscow ’ s forcible seizure of the Crimean Peninsula .
One of the authors of the bill , chairman of the parliamentary committee of state-building and legislation in the State Duma , Pavel Krasheninnikov , said on July 8 that the bill would amend the federal law on measures against extremism , according to which a violation of the Russian Federation 's territorial integrity is considered an act of extremism .
Krasheninnikov said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indicating that extremism is a violation of Russia ’ s territorial integrity , `` including the alienation of parts of its territory . ''
The additional wording is primarily aimed at targeting any discussion or criticism of Russia ’ s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine .
Among other things , the bill outlines fines and criminal liability for `` public appeals '' using the media , the Internet , or any other information channel .
According to Krasheninnikov , the bill would bring the law into line with constitutional amendments that were adopted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oppositionists and rights defenders .
He said it `` will avoid an ambiguous or uncertain interpretation of the integrity of the Russian Federation . ''
Among other changes , the constitutional amendments allowed President Vladimir Putin to seek two more presidential terms after his current second term in a row expires in 2024 .
The head of the committee for constitutional legislation and state-building at the parliament ’ s upper chamber , Andrei Klishas , who is also the bill 's author , said on July 8 that the bill might be approved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ July .
Russian lawmakers amended the Criminal Code in July 2014 , several months after Moscow seized Ukraine 's Crimea , toughening punishment for public calls for separatism , namely introducing a punishment of up to five in prison for public calls for separatism via media and the Internet .
That amendment was used by Russian authorities to crack down on dozens of journalists and activists in Crimea for their open stance opposing the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula .
The new bill proposes imprisonment of 6 to 10 years , especially @ @ @ @ @ @ @

MOSCOW -- A group of Russian lawmakers has proposed an expanded extremism bill aimed at further quelling opposition activists and politicians as well as anyone questioning Moscow’s forcible seizure of the Crimean Peninsula.
One of the authors of the bill, chairman of the parliamentary committee of state-building and legislation in the State Duma, Pavel Krasheninnikov, said on July 8 that the bill would amend the federal law on measures against extremism, according to which a violation of the Russian Federation's territorial integrity is considered an act of extremism.
Krasheninnikov said that the bill would supplement existing laws by indicating that extremism is a violation of Russia’s territorial integrity, "including the alienation of parts of its territory."
The additional wording is primarily aimed at targeting any discussion or criticism of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Among other things, the bill outlines fines and criminal liability for "public appeals" using the media, the Internet, or any other information channel.
According to Krasheninnikov, the bill would bring the law into line with constitutional amendments that were adopted in Russia last week amid protests by oppositionists and rights defenders.
He said it "will avoid an ambiguous or uncertain interpretation of the integrity of the Russian Federation."
Among other changes, the constitutional amendments allowed President Vladimir Putin to seek two more presidential terms after his current second term in a row expires in 2024.
The head of the committee for constitutional legislation and state-building at the parliament’s upper chamber, Andrei Klishas, who is also the bill's author, said on July 8 that the bill might be approved by the parliament by the end of July.
Russian lawmakers amended the Criminal Code in July 2014, several months after Moscow seized Ukraine's Crimea, toughening punishment for public calls for separatism, namely introducing a punishment of up to five in prison for public calls for separatism via media and the Internet.
That amendment was used by Russian authorities to crack down on dozens of journalists and activists in Crimea for their open stance opposing the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula.
The new bill proposes imprisonment of 6 to 10 years, especially for repeated violations of the law.


rferl--2020-07-09--World Nomad Games Moved To 2021 Due To Pandemic

Turkish authorities have moved the Fourth World Nomad Games to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic .
The games , an international competition dedicated to ethnic sports , were scheduled to be held in the Turkish city of Bursa in autumn this year .
The President of the Turkey-based World Ethnosport Confederation , Bilal Erdogan , said on July 9 that the decision was made after consultations with Turkey 's Foreign Ministry , Ministry of Youth and Sports , and Health Ministry to prevent a surge in coronavirus cases .
The World Nomad Games were initiated by Kyrgyzstan and held @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Asian nation in 2014 .
The second and third World Nomad Games were also held in Kyrgyzstan 's picturesque northern region of Issyk-Kul in 2016 and 2018 .
The nomad games include horse racing , archery , mounted archery , falconry , and different types of wrestling , including wrestling from horseback .
The games have gained in popularity , prompting teams representing Afghanistan , Azerbaijan , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Mongolia , the Philippines , Tajikistan , Turkey , Turkmenistan , Russia , and even the United States to regularly attend the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2018 hosted athletes from 66 countries , including several European nations , such as Austria , Belarus , Bulgaria , the Czech Republic , Estonia , Germany , France , Italy , Latvia , Lithuania , Hungary , the Netherlands , Poland , Romania , Serbia , Slovakia , Switzerland , and Ukraine .
This year , for the first time , the games were scheduled to be held outside of Kyrgyzstan .
With reporting by Anadolu , TRT Haber , and Yeni Safak

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


rferl--2020-07-09--Top Court Throws Out Lawsuit Filed By Late Regional Chief Against Putin

Russia 's Supreme Court has closed a lawsuit filed by the late ex-head of the Russian Autonomous Republic of Chuvashia against President Vladimir Putin that challenged the president 's decision to remove him from his post .
The court ruled on July 9 that the case can not proceed following Mikhail Ignatyev 's death , and rejected a request by his widow , Larisa Ignatyeva to give her plaintiff status .
Ignatyeva 's lawyer said his client will appeal the ruling .
This is the first known case of a former official suing Putin for losing his position .
Ignatyev @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a hospital weeks after he was hospitalized with pneumonia in late-May .
Ignatyev fell ill just days after he filed the lawsuit challenging Putin ’ s firing him in January .
Putin dismissed Ignatyev following his exclusion from the ruling United Russia party after he said at a Press Day event that `` it is necessary to wipe out journalists '' who criticize authorities .
The same month , Ignatyev touched off further criticism after a video broadcast on Russian television showed him forcing a firefighter to jump up in the air to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ engine at a public event in Chuvashia 's capital , Cheboksary .
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax

Russia's Supreme Court has closed a lawsuit filed by the late ex-head of the Russian Autonomous Republic of Chuvashia against President Vladimir Putin that challenged the president's decision to remove him from his post.
The court ruled on July 9 that the case cannot proceed following Mikhail Ignatyev's death, and rejected a request by his widow, Larisa Ignatyeva to give her plaintiff status.
Ignatyeva's lawyer said his client will appeal the ruling. This is the first known case of a former official suing Putin for losing his position.
Ignatyev, 58, died last month in a hospital weeks after he was hospitalized with pneumonia in late-May.
Ignatyev fell ill just days after he filed the lawsuit challenging Putin’s firing him in January.
Putin dismissed Ignatyev following his exclusion from the ruling United Russia party after he said at a Press Day event that "it is necessary to wipe out journalists" who criticize authorities.
The same month, Ignatyev touched off further criticism after a video broadcast on Russian television showed him forcing a firefighter to jump up in the air to get the keys to a new fire engine at a public event in Chuvashia's capital, Cheboksary.
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax


rferl--2020-07-09--Journalism Watchdog Calls On Russia To Free Safronov Amid Fears Of Crackdown

MOSCOW -- The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for Russian authorities to immediately release Ivan Safronov , a former investigative reporter who has been charged with high treason in a case activitsts fear marks an escalation against dissent .
Safronov , who has worked since May as an adviser to Roskosmos space agency head Dmitry Rogozin , is a prominent journalist who covered the military-industrial complex for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti .
His lawyers say he was charged on July 8 for allegedly passing secret information to the Czech Republic in 2017 about Russian arms sales in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a journalist at that time , Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quick to say the accusations are not connected with his journalism .
Roskosmos also issued a statement saying the charges are not connected with his work at the space agency .
The case sparked immediate protests by journalists and activists , who note that Safronov ’ s arrest is at least the third of a current or former journalist in the past 13 months that has garnered national attention and raised fears of a further curtailment of media freedom .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they will stop at nothing to threaten and imprison independent journalists , '' said Gulnoza Said , CPJ ’ s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator .
`` Ivan Safronov should be immediately released , and the bogus spying charges against him should be thrown out .
Other journalists who show their support for Safronov by protesting should be allowed to do so without fear of reprisal , '' Said added .
The daily Kommersant reported on July 9 that the charges may have been based on data compiled by Russia 's Foreign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that it had information in its possession showing that the Federal Security Service ( FSB ) might have received information against Safronov from the SVR which , according to the newspaper , had monitored Safronov 's correspondence from his personal computer at home .
The data , according to Kommersant , says that the SVR revealed that in 2017 Safronov had sent material that `` was received in the Czech Republic by a person who might be linked with that country 's intelligence . ''
Two more items presented by FSB investigators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his telephone conversations and written correspondence , '' the media outlet said .
`` There is no information about the recipient , as well as the volume of financial compensation allegedly received for the information , although official papers in the case say that the high treason was committed on mercenary motives . ''
the report says .
A day earlier , Safronov 's lawyer , Ivan Pavlov said that the charges against his client were based on an expert evaluation by the FSB and two expert evaluations by the Defense Ministry .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ exact classified and top-secret data his client had allegedly revealed .
Prosecutors accuse Safronov of passing information to the Czech Republic in 2017 about the sale of Russian arms to the Middle East and Africa .
Safronov was working as a Kommersant reporter at the time covering issues related to the activities of Russia 's military-industrial sector .
Russia claims the United States was the final beneficiary of the information , according to Pavlov .
Safronov faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted .
He pleaded not guilty and his lawyers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Moscow City Court to replace the pretrial detention with a milder restriction , not linked to incarceration .
Safronov 's arrest -- the latest in a series of law enforcement actions against Russian journalists and researchers -- has sparked outrage among former colleagues and prompted dozens to protest outside the FSB headquarters in Moscow on July 7-8 .
On July 8 , several leading periodicals in Russia issued editorials , demanding transparency and openness in Safronov 's case .
Also , on July 8 , dozens of journalists in Ufa , the capital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ single-person pickets that do not require prior permission by the authorities , condemning Safronov 's arrest and demanding his immediate release .
The journalists held posters , saying `` Journalism is NOT Treason , '' `` Hold Corrupted Ones , Not Journalists , '' `` Journalism Is NOT a Crime , '' `` Who is Next ?
`` , etc .
Police did not interfere .

MOSCOW -- The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for Russian authorities to immediately release Ivan Safronov, a former investigative reporter who has been charged with high treason in a case activitsts fear marks an escalation against dissent.
Safronov, who has worked since May as an adviser to Roskosmos space agency head Dmitry Rogozin, is a prominent journalist who covered the military-industrial complex for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti. His lawyers say he was charged on July 8 for allegedly passing secret information to the Czech Republic in 2017 about Russian arms sales in the Middle East.
Although Safronov was working as a journalist at that time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quick to say the accusations are not connected with his journalism. Roskosmos also issued a statement saying the charges are not connected with his work at the space agency.
The case sparked immediate protests by journalists and activists, who note that Safronov’s arrest is at least the third of a current or former journalist in the past 13 months that has garnered national attention and raised fears of a further curtailment of media freedom.
"Russian authorities have showed once again that they will stop at nothing to threaten and imprison independent journalists," said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator.
"Ivan Safronov should be immediately released, and the bogus spying charges against him should be thrown out. Other journalists who show their support for Safronov by protesting should be allowed to do so without fear of reprisal," Said added.
The daily Kommersant reported on July 9 that the charges may have been based on data compiled by Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).
Wiretaps
Kommersant said that it had information in its possession showing that the Federal Security Service (FSB) might have received information against Safronov from the SVR which, according to the newspaper, had monitored Safronov's correspondence from his personal computer at home.
The data, according to Kommersant, says that the SVR revealed that in 2017 Safronov had sent material that "was received in the Czech Republic by a person who might be linked with that country's intelligence."
Two more items presented by FSB investigators "analyze the results of wiretaps of his telephone conversations and written correspondence," the media outlet said.
"There is no information about the recipient, as well as the volume of financial compensation allegedly received for the information, although official papers in the case say that the high treason was committed on mercenary motives." the report says.
A day earlier, Safronov's lawyer, Ivan Pavlov said that the charges against his client were based on an expert evaluation by the FSB and two expert evaluations by the Defense Ministry.
Pavlov complained that it remained unknown what exact classified and top-secret data his client had allegedly revealed.
Prosecutors accuse Safronov of passing information to the Czech Republic in 2017 about the sale of Russian arms to the Middle East and Africa. Safronov was working as a Kommersant reporter at the time covering issues related to the activities of Russia's military-industrial sector.
Russia claims the United States was the final beneficiary of the information, according to Pavlov.
Safronov faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He pleaded not guilty and his lawyers appealed his pretrial arrest, asking the Moscow City Court to replace the pretrial detention with a milder restriction, not linked to incarceration.
Safronov's arrest -- the latest in a series of law enforcement actions against Russian journalists and researchers -- has sparked outrage among former colleagues and prompted dozens to protest outside the FSB headquarters in Moscow on July 7-8.
On July 8, several leading periodicals in Russia issued editorials, demanding transparency and openness in Safronov's case.
Also, on July 8, dozens of journalists in Ufa, the capital of Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan held single-person pickets that do not require prior permission by the authorities, condemning Safronov's arrest and demanding his immediate release.
The journalists held posters, saying "Journalism is NOT Treason," "Hold Corrupted Ones, Not Journalists," "Journalism Is NOT a Crime," "Who is Next?", etc.
Police did not interfere.


rferl--2020-07-09--U.S. Blasts UN Expert's Conclusion That Strike On Iran General Was Unlawful

The United States has accused a UN expert of `` giving a pass to terrorists '' after she concluded that a U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and nine other people in Iraq early this year was `` unlawful . ''
Agnes Callamard , the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial , summary , or arbitrary executions , presented her findings on July 9 to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva .
In a report released earlier this week , Callamard said the United States had provided no specific evidence that showed Soleimani was planning an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Iraq , for which immediate action was necessary and would have been justified .
Therefore , the January 3 U.S. drone strike near Baghdad ’ s airport in which Soleimani was killed constituted an `` arbitrary killing '' for which the United States is responsible under international human rights law , she wrote .
`` It takes a special kind of intellectual dishonesty to issue a report condemning the United States for acting in self-defense while whitewashing General Soleimani 's notorious past as one of the world 's deadliest terrorists , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ July 8 .
`` This tendentious and tedious report undermines human rights by giving a pass to terrorists and it proves once again why America was right to leave '' the Human Rights Council in 2018 , Ortagus said .
In retaliation for the assassination of Soleimani , who headed the Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) , an Iranian ballistic-missile strike on January 8 targeted U.S. bases in Iraq housing U.S. forces , leaving some 110 U.S. troops suffering from traumatic brain injuries .
According to Callamard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unlawful .
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump justified Soleimani 's killing by saying he was responsible for orchestrating attacks on U.S. forces for years and in the process of planning further attacks on Americans and U.S. allies in the region .
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis , the leader of the Iran-backed Kataeb Hizballah militia and deputy head of Iraq 's state-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Units , was also killed in the January strike that targeted Soleimani .
Kataeb Hizballah and affiliated Iran-backed militia have been linked to multiple rocket attacks on U.S. forces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ December that killed a U.S. defense contractor and wounded several U.S. and Iraqi soldiers at a military base in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk .
As the head of the Quds force , Soleimani was a key figure in supplying weapons and explosive devices to Iraqi insurgents that killed or wounded U.S. soldiers in Iraq following the ouster of Saddam Hussein .
He was also the main figure running Iran ’ s policy in Syria and support for the Lebanese militant group Hizballah .
With reporting by AFP and the BBC

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--2020-07-09--Watchdog Urges Kabul To Observe Media Law After Journalists Arrested, Harassed

Reporters Without Borders ( RSF ) has condemned the recent arrests of two journalists in Afghanistan and the “ harassment ” to which the Pajhwok Afghan News agency is being subjected by the authorities .
In a statement on July 9 , the Paris-based media freedom watchdog urged the Afghan authorities and security officials to respect the country ’ s press law “ when taking action against ‘ rumors and fake news.
’ ” “ It is vital that the media should be able to do their work without impediment , in order to inform the public what is being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Reza Moini , the head of RSF ’ s Afghanistan desk .
Journalist Mahboboalah Hakimi of Radio Bayan ( Word ) was arrested on July 1 by agents of the National Department of Security ( NDS ) for allegedly insulting President Ashraf Ghani by calling him an “ unbeliever ” in a Facebook post , RSF said .
Just before his arrest , Hakimi denied being the author of the post and said his Facebook account had been hacked .
But he later appeared in a video recorded by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ responsible for the post in question and apologized to the president .
After being released on July 8 , he said he had been tortured and forced to make a confession .
The journalist was arrested again by the NDS the next day .
Another journalist , Farough jan Mangol , was detained by NDS agents for questioning after his home was searched , according to RSF .
Mangol , a correspondent for the Reuters news agency , was then released with NDS agents saying his arrest had been a mistake .
According @ @ @ @ @ @ @ news agency has been harassed since June 22 , when it reported that 32 ventilators intended for coronavirus patients had been stolen and sold to Pakistan .
When Pajhwok Afghan News ’ s director , Danish Karokhel , was invited by a parliamentary commission for what was described as a consultation , he was subjected to a “ full-blown interrogation ” in which Health Ministry representatives took part and the news agency was accused of acting “ against national security.
” In a tweet , Vice-President Amrullah Saleh accused Pajhwok of lying , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ missing.
” However , no formal action has been taken against the news agency , whose “ damning report was extensively documented , ” according to RSF .
Under the press law , complaints against the media and journalists must be handled by the Commission for the Verification of Press Offenses , which has to decide whether to transfer them to the courts .
“ Neither parliament , nor the vice-president nor the NDS has the right to directly summon , arrest , or threaten journalists , ” RSF said .
Afghanistan is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ RSF 's 2020 World Press Freedom Index .

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--2020-07-09--Some 2,000 Uzbek Migrants Stranded In Kazakhstan Allowed To Cross Border, Head Home

SARYAGHASH , Kazakhstan -- Some 2,000 Uzbek migrant workers stranded in Kazakhstan for weeks have been allowed to enter Uzbekistan .
The governor of Kazakhstan ’ s southern Saryaghash district , Mukhit Otarshiev , told RFE/RL on July 9 that the migrants left the Zhibek Zholy ( Silk Road ) checkpoint at the Kazakh-Uzbek border overnight .
Otarshiev added that , by the evening of July 8 , the number of Uzbek migrant workers gathered at the checkpoint had reached 3,400 , of whom some 2,000 were now on their way home .
`` Today , 500 more Uzbek nationals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Uzbekistan .
Uzbek Embassy officials promised us that by the end of the day today , the remaining Uzbek citizens will be allowed to enter Uzbekistan , '' Otarshiev said .
`` More than 900 Uzbek citizens remain at the checkpoint now but more Uzbek migrants from Kazakhstan ’ s regions continue to arrive at the site , hoping to return home , '' Otarshiev added .
Tajik Embassy officials told RFE/RL that some 50 Tajik migrant workers are also at the checkpoint awaiting permission to enter Uzbekistan en route to their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on July 3 some 700 Tajik citizens left the Zhibek Zholy checkpoint for Tajikistan via Uzbekistan .
In recent weeks , thousands of Tajik and Uzbek migrant workers were stranded in Kazakhstan ’ s southern region of Turkistan because they were unable to travel back home due to restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic .
The majority of those stranded at the Zhibek Zholy checkpoint were male labor migrants who lost their jobs in Kazakhstan and Russia after many businesses shut down following lockdown measures .
Some of them told RFE/RL that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Uzbekistan to open the border crossing .
Local residents in Kazakhstan and humanitarian organizations have assisted the stranded migrant workers , providing them with food and water for weeks .

SARYAGHASH, Kazakhstan -- Some 2,000 Uzbek migrant workers stranded in Kazakhstan for weeks have been allowed to enter Uzbekistan.
The governor of Kazakhstan’s southern Saryaghash district, Mukhit Otarshiev, told RFE/RL on July 9 that the migrants left the Zhibek Zholy (Silk Road) checkpoint at the Kazakh-Uzbek border overnight.
Otarshiev added that, by the evening of July 8, the number of Uzbek migrant workers gathered at the checkpoint had reached 3,400, of whom some 2,000 were now on their way home.
"Today, 500 more Uzbek nationals will leave the site and travel back to Uzbekistan. Uzbek Embassy officials promised us that by the end of the day today, the remaining Uzbek citizens will be allowed to enter Uzbekistan," Otarshiev said.
"More than 900 Uzbek citizens remain at the checkpoint now but more Uzbek migrants from Kazakhstan’s regions continue to arrive at the site, hoping to return home," Otarshiev added.
Tajik Embassy officials told RFE/RL that some 50 Tajik migrant workers are also at the checkpoint awaiting permission to enter Uzbekistan en route to their homeland.
The embassy officials added that on July 3 some 700 Tajik citizens left the Zhibek Zholy checkpoint for Tajikistan via Uzbekistan.
In recent weeks, thousands of Tajik and Uzbek migrant workers were stranded in Kazakhstan’s southern region of Turkistan because they were unable to travel back home due to restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The majority of those stranded at the Zhibek Zholy checkpoint were male labor migrants who lost their jobs in Kazakhstan and Russia after many businesses shut down following lockdown measures.
Some of them told RFE/RL that they had been waiting outdoors for weeks for Uzbekistan to open the border crossing.
Local residents in Kazakhstan and humanitarian organizations have assisted the stranded migrant workers, providing them with food and water for weeks.


rferl--2020-07-09--Serbian Government Backs Off Curfew, Adopts Other Virus Measures After Protests

BELGRADE -- Serbia ’ s COVID-19 crisis team has declared several new measures to control the spread of the coronavirus , but will not implement a curfew after a second night of clashes in Belgrade fueled by public anger over the government 's response to the pandemic .
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on July 9 that there will be a ban on organized public gatherings of more than 10 people in the capital , both indoors and outdoors .
Despite the ban , protesters began gathering for a third night in front of the Serbian parliament in Belgrade .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ outside the national assembly in order to differentiate themselves from those who may engage in violence .
Among the other measures announced by Brnabic are observing social-distancing rules when indoors and restrictions on indoor facilities that will ban people from working between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. , while open spaces such as parks will be closed from 11 p.m. to 6 am .
Brnabic explained that the measures are only for the capital , where the situation is most critical and where police used tear gas to disperse a protest that lasted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parliament .
`` We no longer have the hospital capacity to receive patients in Belgrade .
We will pay the price for what happened last night and the day before ( protests ) , and we are yet to see those people who became infected there .
We will see that in the next 5 , 6 , 10 days , '' she said .
Brnabic said that , even though imposing a curfew would be more effective , officials dropped the idea to `` take an intermediate step for the sake of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Protests have spread to Serbia 's second-largest city , Novi Sad , where demonstrators on July 8 tried to storm a building that houses the regional public broadcaster .
As the crowd marched in Novi Sad some people hurled stones and other objects at the city hall building , where a fire broke out .
Protesters also threw stones at the office of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party ( SNS ) .
The demonstrations in Belgrade erupted on July 7 after President Aleksandar Vucic announced new mandatory distancing steps and his intention to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on edge amid mounting frustration at the government 's latest response to a resurgent coronavirus outbreak and the perceived politicization of the team leading efforts to stem the danger to public health in the Balkan state .
Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic called the protest illegal because it had not been registered and said it was only about violence , not state policy .
He said 10 police officers had been injured on July 8 , including one whose legs were broken when he was pushed down a flight of stairs .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a group of protesters broke into the parliament building while others threw stones , bottles , and other projectiles at police , prompting officers to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd .
Amnesty International condemned the use of violence .
`` Serbian authorities must exercise restraint in further protests and the government must guarantee the safety and security of those who take the streets and ensure that people can exercise their right to demonstrate peacefully and without fear of reprisals , '' the rights watchdog said in a July 9 statement .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests because they threatened to worsen the coronavirus epidemic , which has officially infected more than 17,000 people in Serbia , killing 341 of them .
The government has ramped up anti-pandemic measures amid a COVID-19 spike since rapidly reopening before June 21 elections won by Vucic and his ruling SNS allies .
The global coronavirus pandemic and the pathogen 's arrival in Serbia in March prompted a strict lockdown that interrupted over a year of weekly antigovernment demonstrations .
Those protests targeted Vucic 's tightening grip on media and the levers of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ journalists and other government critics in the Balkan country of around 7 million people .
Demonstrators also want Serbian public broadcaster RTS to report objectively on the situation in the country .

BELGRADE -- Serbia’s COVID-19 crisis team has declared several new measures to control the spread of the coronavirus, but will not implement a curfew after a second night of clashes in Belgrade fueled by public anger over the government's response to the pandemic.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on July 9 that there will be a ban on organized public gatherings of more than 10 people in the capital, both indoors and outdoors.
Despite the ban, protesters began gathering for a third night in front of the Serbian parliament in Belgrade. Most of them sat on the sidewalk outside the national assembly in order to differentiate themselves from those who may engage in violence.
Among the other measures announced by Brnabic are observing social-distancing rules when indoors and restrictions on indoor facilities that will ban people from working between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., while open spaces such as parks will be closed from 11 p.m. to 6 am.
Brnabic explained that the measures are only for the capital, where the situation is most critical and where police used tear gas to disperse a protest that lasted well after nightfall on July 8 outside parliament.
"We no longer have the hospital capacity to receive patients in Belgrade. We will pay the price for what happened last night and the day before (protests), and we are yet to see those people who became infected there. We will see that in the next 5, 6, 10 days," she said.
Brnabic said that, even though imposing a curfew would be more effective, officials dropped the idea to "take an intermediate step for the sake of the economy and the citizens."
Protests have spread to Serbia's second-largest city, Novi Sad, where demonstrators on July 8 tried to storm a building that houses the regional public broadcaster.
As the crowd marched in Novi Sad some people hurled stones and other objects at the city hall building, where a fire broke out. Protesters also threw stones at the office of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
The demonstrations in Belgrade erupted on July 7 after President Aleksandar Vucic announced new mandatory distancing steps and his intention to impose the curfew.
Mounting Frustration
Belgrade has been on edge amid mounting frustration at the government's latest response to a resurgent coronavirus outbreak and the perceived politicization of the team leading efforts to stem the danger to public health in the Balkan state.
Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic called the protest illegal because it had not been registered and said it was only about violence, not state policy. He said 10 police officers had been injured on July 8, including one whose legs were broken when he was pushed down a flight of stairs.
The protest on July 7 turned violent when a group of protesters broke into the parliament building while others threw stones, bottles, and other projectiles at police, prompting officers to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Amnesty International condemned the use of violence.
"Serbian authorities must exercise restraint in further protests and the government must guarantee the safety and security of those who take the streets and ensure that people can exercise their right to demonstrate peacefully and without fear of reprisals," the rights watchdog said in a July 9 statement.
Vucic has called on Serbs to avoid protests because they threatened to worsen the coronavirus epidemic, which has officially infected more than 17,000 people in Serbia, killing 341 of them.
The government has ramped up anti-pandemic measures amid a COVID-19 spike since rapidly reopening before June 21 elections won by Vucic and his ruling SNS allies.
The global coronavirus pandemic and the pathogen's arrival in Serbia in March prompted a strict lockdown that interrupted over a year of weekly antigovernment demonstrations.
Those protests targeted Vucic's tightening grip on media and the levers of power amid a spate of attacks on journalists and other government critics in the Balkan country of around 7 million people.
Demonstrators also want Serbian public broadcaster RTS to report objectively on the situation in the country.
Reporting by Maja Zivanovic and Arbana Vidishiqi


rferl--2020-07-10--COVID-19: Kazakh President Threatens To Dismiss Government If Situation Does Not Improve

The global death toll from the coronavirus is over 550,000 , with more than 12 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the respiratory illness .
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has warned his cabinet that they may be fired if the situation around the coronavirus fails to improve .
`` I hope that the situation will improve within two weeks .
Otherwise it raises the question : can the government as a whole work in in its current composition ? ''
Toqaev said at the government 's session on July @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contain the outbreak in the Central Asian country amid a spike in cases that forced the reintroduction of a two-week partial lockdown .
Toqaev also said that it was necessary to establish a special commission to look into the `` mistakes made by officials '' and then report back to the president .
`` The Health Ministry made a number of serious mistakes .
The majority of [ regional ] governors failed to properly carry out their duties , and the government did not oversee [ them ] in terms of following strict @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he called for investigations into an acute lack of medicines at the country 's pharmacies .
Toqaev said that an additional 150 billion tenges ( $ 363 million ) will be allocated to curb the coronavirus outbreak and urged the central bank to lower its inflation target to 8.0-8.5 percent from 9.0-11.0 percent in 2020 .
As of July 10 , the number of the coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan was reported as 54,747 , including 280 deaths , the highest number in Central Asia .
In Kyrgyzstan , Health Minister Sabirjan Abdikarimov was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deputies , Nurbolot Usonbaev , tested positive for the coronavirus .
`` Their health state is satisfactory , assessed as moderately severe , they are receiving necessary treatments , '' ministry official Ainura Akmatova said .
The total number of registered coronavirus cases in the country was reported on July 10 at 9,358 , including 122 deaths .
Akmatova added that , since March , 350 people have died in the country from pneumonia .
In Uzbekistan , as of July 10 , a second three-week lockdown started to slow the spread of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commission on measures to curb the outbreak said earlier in the week that the new lockdown will run until August 1 .
The new rules took effect almost a month after the government had eased its original lockdown on June 15 .
Uzbekistan 's health authorities said on July 10 that the number of coronavirus cases in the country had reached 11,259 , including 47 deaths .
In Tajikistan , health officials said on July 9 , the number of coronavirus cases in the country was 6,410 , including 54 deaths .
Turkmenistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that did not officially register any coronavirus cases , but RFE/RL correspondents have reported that local hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients with pneumonia symptoms , some of whom , including medical personnel , have died .
In some parts of the country , so-called quarantine zones have been established , and some industrial facilities are being shut down , RFE/RL correspondents report .
Earlier this week , a long-delayed mission from the World Health Organization arrived in the country to assess the situation and work with Turkmen officials to prevent any spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @

The global death toll from the coronavirus is over 550,000, with more than 12 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Central Asia
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has warned his cabinet that they may be fired if the situation around the coronavirus fails to improve.
"I hope that the situation will improve within two weeks. Otherwise it raises the question: can the government as a whole work in in its current composition?" Toqaev said at the government's session on July 10 as he criticized government efforts to contain the outbreak in the Central Asian country amid a spike in cases that forced the reintroduction of a two-week partial lockdown.
Toqaev also said that it was necessary to establish a special commission to look into the "mistakes made by officials" and then report back to the president.
"The Health Ministry made a number of serious mistakes. The majority of [regional] governors failed to properly carry out their duties, and the government did not oversee [them] in terms of following strict quarantine regulations," Toqaev said as he called for investigations into an acute lack of medicines at the country's pharmacies.
Toqaev said that an additional 150 billion tenges ($363 million) will be allocated to curb the coronavirus outbreak and urged the central bank to lower its inflation target to 8.0-8.5 percent from 9.0-11.0 percent in 2020.
As of July 10, the number of the coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan was reported as 54,747, including 280 deaths, the highest number in Central Asia.
In Kyrgyzstan, Health Minister Sabirjan Abdikarimov was diagnosed with pneumonia and one of his deputies, Nurbolot Usonbaev, tested positive for the coronavirus.
"Their health state is satisfactory, assessed as moderately severe, they are receiving necessary treatments," ministry official Ainura Akmatova said.
RFE/RL's Coronavirus Crisis Archive Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.
The total number of registered coronavirus cases in the country was reported on July 10 at 9,358, including 122 deaths.
Akmatova added that, since March, 350 people have died in the country from pneumonia.
In Uzbekistan, as of July 10, a second three-week lockdown started to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The government's special commission on measures to curb the outbreak said earlier in the week that the new lockdown will run until August 1.
The new rules took effect almost a month after the government had eased its original lockdown on June 15.
Uzbekistan's health authorities said on July 10 that the number of coronavirus cases in the country had reached 11,259, including 47 deaths.
In Tajikistan, health officials said on July 9, the number of coronavirus cases in the country was 6,410, including 54 deaths.
Turkmenistan is the only country in the region that did not officially register any coronavirus cases, but RFE/RL correspondents have reported that local hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients with pneumonia symptoms, some of whom, including medical personnel, have died.
In some parts of the country, so-called quarantine zones have been established, and some industrial facilities are being shut down, RFE/RL correspondents report.
Earlier this week, a long-delayed mission from the World Health Organization arrived in the country to assess the situation and work with Turkmen officials to prevent any spread of the coronavirus in the country.


rferl--2020-07-10--Kazakh Health Ministry Rejects Chinese Claim Of New Deadly Virus

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan has labelled a Chinese claim that it is being ravaged by a pneumonia outbreak that is deadlier than the coronavirus as `` fake news . ''
The Kazakh Health Ministry said in a statement on July 10 that a spike in cases was due to its including the classification of pneumonia cases where COVID-19 symptoms were present but the patients tested negative , which is in line within World Health Organization guidelines .
`` The information published by some Chinese media regarding a new kind of pneumonia in Kazakhstan is incorrect , '' the ministry said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Nur-Sultan posted a message on its website warning of a `` significant increase '' in pneumonia cases in the Kazakh cities of Atyrau , Aqtobe , and Shymkent since mid-June that has `` a mortality rate far higher than COVID-19 . ''
It added that pneumonia in Kazakhstan killed 1,772 people in the first half of 2020 , with 628 deaths in June , including Chinese citizens .
Hours later the embassy appeared to edit its message , dropping the words `` new pneumonia '' and `` unknown . ''
However , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other media outlets , had already issued an article about `` an unknown deadly pneumonia in Kazakhstan , '' citing the embassy 's statement .
Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries have been accused in recent weeks of underplaying the scale of their second wave of cases by classifying many as pneumonia .
The pro-government website Tengrinews quoted a doctor as saying the surge in pneumonia cases was `` a manifestation of the coronavirus . ''
The oil-rich country , which borders China and Russia , has seen a spike in coronavirus cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kazakhstan imposed a second lockdown this week to curb the outbreak .
The total number of cases -- including a daily record of 1,962 on July 9 alone -- has almost reached 55,000 , with 264 deaths .

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan has labelled a Chinese claim that it is being ravaged by a pneumonia outbreak that is deadlier than the coronavirus as "fake news."
The Kazakh Health Ministry said in a statement on July 10 that a spike in cases was due to its including the classification of pneumonia cases where COVID-19 symptoms were present but the patients tested negative, which is in line within World Health Organization guidelines.
"The information published by some Chinese media regarding a new kind of pneumonia in Kazakhstan is incorrect," the ministry said.
The statement came after the Chinese Embassy in Nur-Sultan posted a message on its website warning of a "significant increase" in pneumonia cases in the Kazakh cities of Atyrau, Aqtobe, and Shymkent since mid-June that has "a mortality rate far higher than COVID-19."
It added that pneumonia in Kazakhstan killed 1,772 people in the first half of 2020, with 628 deaths in June, including Chinese citizens.
Hours later the embassy appeared to edit its message, dropping the words "new pneumonia" and "unknown."
However, the South China Morning Post, among other media outlets, had already issued an article about "an unknown deadly pneumonia in Kazakhstan," citing the embassy's statement.
Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries have been accused in recent weeks of underplaying the scale of their second wave of cases by classifying many as pneumonia.
The pro-government website Tengrinews quoted a doctor as saying the surge in pneumonia cases was "a manifestation of the coronavirus."
The oil-rich country, which borders China and Russia, has seen a spike in coronavirus cases since lifting lockdown measures in May.
Kazakhstan imposed a second lockdown this week to curb the outbreak. The total number of cases -- including a daily record of 1,962 on July 9 alone -- has almost reached 55,000, with 264 deaths.


rferl--2020-07-10--UN Rights Expert Describes 'Dire' Situation In Belarus Ahead Of Presidential Vote

The UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus says the country 's `` already dire '' human rights situation has deteriorated further over the last year , amid a widening crackdown on civil society ahead of a presidential election .
`` The systemic and systematic human rights violations remain , both in law and in practice , '' Anais Marin said on July 10 as she presented her annual report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva .
Marin expressed concerns that the Belarusian government uses restrictive laws and arbitrary administrative and judicial measures to penalize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joined other UN independent experts in urging the Belarusian government to abandon its `` policy of arbitrary arrests , violence , and intimidation '' against political activists , rights defenders , journalists , and bloggers ahead of the August 9 presidential election , in which President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is seeking a sixth term .
They said at least 200 representatives of civil society had been arrested during demonstrations across the country since June 18 .
In her report , which covers the period from April 2019 to March this year , Marin pointed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on freedom of opinion and expression , freedom of assembly , and freedom of association .
She said that `` suppressive tactics '' such as arbitrary detention continued to target civil society activists , peaceful protesters , independent journalists , and bloggers .
According to the UN expert , ethnic and religious minorities , members of the lesbian , gay , bisexual , and transgender ( LGBT ) community , and families of detainees are stigmatized while no anti-discrimination law exists to protect them .
Marin also said that speakers of the Belarusian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ secondary education and in the media , which she said threatens the language 's survival and negatively impacts cultural life in the country .
She deplored that Belarus continues to apply and implements the death penalty -- the only country in Europe to do so – and expressed concerns about the lack of efforts to fight torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement authorities .
By systematically compelling students , employees of state-owned enterprises , army conscripts , and detainees to work without pay , the government violates the country 's own law against @ @ @ @ @ @ @

The UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus says the country's "already dire" human rights situation has deteriorated further over the last year, amid a widening crackdown on civil society ahead of a presidential election.
"The systemic and systematic human rights violations remain, both in law and in practice," Anais Marin said on July 10 as she presented her annual report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Marin expressed concerns that the Belarusian government uses restrictive laws and arbitrary administrative and judicial measures to penalize dissent.
On July 1, Marin joined other UN independent experts in urging the Belarusian government to abandon its "policy of arbitrary arrests, violence, and intimidation" against political activists, rights defenders, journalists, and bloggers ahead of the August 9 presidential election, in which President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is seeking a sixth term.
They said at least 200 representatives of civil society had been arrested during demonstrations across the country since June 18.
In her report, which covers the period from April 2019 to March this year, Marin pointed to "disproportional and discriminatory restrictions" on freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association.
She said that "suppressive tactics" such as arbitrary detention continued to target civil society activists, peaceful protesters, independent journalists, and bloggers.
According to the UN expert, ethnic and religious minorities, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, and families of detainees are stigmatized while no anti-discrimination law exists to protect them.
Marin also said that speakers of the Belarusian language are discriminated against in higher and secondary education and in the media, which she said threatens the language's survival and negatively impacts cultural life in the country.
She deplored that Belarus continues to apply and implements the death penalty -- the only country in Europe to do so – and expressed concerns about the lack of efforts to fight torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement authorities.
By systematically compelling students, employees of state-owned enterprises, army conscripts, and detainees to work without pay, the government violates the country's own law against forced labor, according to Marin.


rferl--2020-07-10--Blast Reported In Western Tehran, Officials Deny

An explosion was heard in western Tehran early on June 10 , Iran ’ s state broadcaster IRIB and the semiofficial Mehr news agency reported , citing social media .
However , officials denied there was any blast in that part of the Iranian capital .
IRIB said power was cut in the area of the city suburbs where the blast allegedly occurred .
The report did not provide any information about the cause of the explosion .
The governor of Qod city , Leila Vaseghi , dismissed the reports as `` rumors . ''
`` Security bodies do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Qods city and Garmdareh , '' Vaseghi told the semiofficial Fars news agency .
Vaseghi acknowledged that there was a power outage , but she said it lasted only five minutes and was caused by works at a hospital , according to the official government news agency IRNA Lawmaker Hossein Haghverdi , who represents Qods city and Shahriar in parliament , said there was no explosion in Qods , Lamard , and Shahriar -- three areas located in the west of Tehran .
A power outage was caused by activities by the electricity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Haghverdi .
The semiofficial ILNA news agency quoted an official at the Ministry of Energy as saying that the temporary power cut was due to work in the city of Qods .
There have been several explosions and fires around Iranian military , nuclear , and industrial facilities in the past week .
With reporting by IRNA , Mehr , and Reuters


rferl--2020-07-10--Dozens Of Russian Journalists Detained In Crackdown On Peaceful Protests, NGO Says

Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) has called for Russia to drop charges against dozens of Russian journalists facing fines or detention for peacefully protesting in solidarity with colleagues who are being criminally prosecuted for their work .
The New York-based watchdog on July 10 urged the Russian authorities to immediately drop the charges against the protesters and other journalists , and end their repression of freedom of expression and peaceful protests .
`` Independent reporters in Russia have been under attack for years , with the recent criminal prosecutions taking the repression to a new level , '' Damelya @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said in a statement .
In most cases , police invoked rules on public assembly as grounds for arrest , according to HRW .
In several cases , they also invoked public-health rules that had been introduced to stem the spread of the coronavirus .
`` The police falsely claimed that some of the protesters were violating these rules , yet kept most of the detained protesters in overcrowded , poorly ventilated police vehicles where they could not practice social distancing , '' the HRW statement said .
Aitkhozhina said that instead of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protest peacefully , the authorities had detained them `` under the abusive and restrictive rules on public assembly and under the guise of protecting public health , while exposing them to risk of infection in custody . ''
On July 3 , 17 people were detained outside of Federal Security Service ( FSB ) headquarters in Moscow as they protested the prosecution of Svetlana Prokopyeva in a case widely criticized as an attack on freedom of speech .
The majority of those detained were journalists .
The next day , two journalists were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pskov , where Prokopyeva 's trial took place .
Twenty-eight journalists and activists were also detained outside the FSB building in Moscow on July 7 while protesting against the treason charges brought against Ivan Safronov , a former investigative reporter .
All three protests were entirely peaceful and the demonstrators held single-person pickets , distancing themselves from each other , HRW said .
Under the law , a protester is allowed to hold a solitary picket without notifying the authorities in advance .
Protesters in Moscow said that at any given time only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and in Pskov the two protesters complied with the 50-meter distance requirement to qualify as a solitary protest .
HRW said the protesters have been released on condition they report to police on an assigned date to process the administrative charges against them .
Most detainees in Moscow face charges of violating public-assembly regulations , which carries a maximum 20,000-ruble ( $ 280 ) fine or up to 40 hours of community service .
At least two of those detained in the capital -- including Ilya Azar , a journalist who also serves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a maximum 300,000-ruble ( $ 4,200 ) fine or up to 200 hours of community service , or 30 days in jail for a repeated public assembly violation .
At least one protester in Moscow and both journalists detained in Pskov are accused of failing to comply with social-distancing measures and face a fine of up to 30,000 rubles ( $ 420 ) .

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for Russia to drop charges against dozens of Russian journalists facing fines or detention for peacefully protesting in solidarity with colleagues who are being criminally prosecuted for their work.
The New York-based watchdog on July 10 urged the Russian authorities to immediately drop the charges against the protesters and other journalists, and end their repression of freedom of expression and peaceful protests.
"Independent reporters in Russia have been under attack for years, with the recent criminal prosecutions taking the repression to a new level," Damelya Aitkhozhina, Russia researcher at HRW, said in a statement.
In most cases, police invoked rules on public assembly as grounds for arrest, according to HRW. In several cases, they also invoked public-health rules that had been introduced to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
"The police falsely claimed that some of the protesters were violating these rules, yet kept most of the detained protesters in overcrowded, poorly ventilated police vehicles where they could not practice social distancing," the HRW statement said.
Aitkhozhina said that instead of fulfilling their obligation to allow people to protest peacefully, the authorities had detained them "under the abusive and restrictive rules on public assembly and under the guise of protecting public health, while exposing them to risk of infection in custody."
On July 3, 17 people were detained outside of Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters in Moscow as they protested the prosecution of Svetlana Prokopyeva in a case widely criticized as an attack on freedom of speech.
The majority of those detained were journalists.
The next day, two journalists were held in the western Russian city of Pskov, where Prokopyeva's trial took place.
Twenty-eight journalists and activists were also detained outside the FSB building in Moscow on July 7 while protesting against the treason charges brought against Ivan Safronov, a former investigative reporter.
All three protests were entirely peaceful and the demonstrators held single-person pickets, distancing themselves from each other, HRW said.
Under the law, a protester is allowed to hold a solitary picket without notifying the authorities in advance.
Protesters in Moscow said that at any given time only one person stood with a placard, and in Pskov the two protesters complied with the 50-meter distance requirement to qualify as a solitary protest.
HRW said the protesters have been released on condition they report to police on an assigned date to process the administrative charges against them.
Most detainees in Moscow face charges of violating public-assembly regulations, which carries a maximum 20,000-ruble ($280) fine or up to 40 hours of community service.
At least two of those detained in the capital -- including Ilya Azar, a journalist who also serves on a Moscow district council -- face a maximum 300,000-ruble ($4,200) fine or up to 200 hours of community service, or 30 days in jail for a repeated public assembly violation.
At least one protester in Moscow and both journalists detained in Pskov are accused of failing to comply with social-distancing measures and face a fine of up to 30,000 rubles ($420).


rferl--2020-07-10--Russian Regional Governor Charged With Ordering Murders Pleads Not Guilty

MOSCOW -- Sergei Furgal , the detained governor of Russia 's Far Eastern Khabarovsk region , has been sent to pretrial detention on charges of attempted murder and ordering the killing of two local businessmen .
The Basmanny district court in Moscow on July 10 ruled that the 50-year-old , who has pleaded not guilty , must be held under pretrial arrest until September 9 .
His lawyers , who asked the court to choose a more lenient pretrial restriction for their client , said they will appeal the ruling .
Furgal , a member of Vladimir Zhirinovsky 's nationalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) won a surprise victory over the Kremlin favorite in a vote two years ago .
He was arrested on July 9 .
A court in Moscow is expected to decide on Furgal 's possible pretrial detention later on July 10 .
Meanwhile , police in Khabarovsk on July 10 detained two regional lawmakers , also members of LDPR , party faction leader Sergei Zyubr said .
According to Zyubr , Sergei Kuznetsov and Dmitry Kozlov , deputy chairman of the regional parliament , were detained after their homes , garages , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the properties of three other LDPR members in Khabarovsk , Zyubr added .
The TASS news agency quoted a source as saying that the detention of Kuznetsov and Kozlov was not , `` at this point , '' related to Furgal 's case .
The two lawmakers used to run the Amurstal steel plant .
The daily Kommersant reported that the two are suspected of large-scale fraud .
Zhirinovsky said in the lower chamber of the Russian parliament , the State Duma , that Furgal 's detention might be politically motivated .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If need be , the LDPR faction will give up its mandates and leave this place .
Let the whole world learn what a mess this country is , '' Zhirinovsky said .
Without naming President Vladimir Putin , Zhirinovsky mentioned that his party supported recently adopted constitutional amendments that , among other changes , allow the president to seek two more terms after his current term ends in 2024 .
`` You wanted a constitution ?
We gave you a constitution .
And you put cuffs on our hands !
Shameless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and start acting like [ Soviet dictator Josef ] Stalin ! ''
Zhirinovsky said .
Media reports said that Furgal 's arrest was part of a wider investigation into an organized criminal group operating in the region .
The charges relate to events in 2004-05 , RIA Novosti reported .
Furgal beat incumbent Vyacheslav Shport in the 2018 election in a major upset of the ruling United Russia party .
With reporting by RBK , Kommersant , TASS , and RIA Novosti

MOSCOW -- Sergei Furgal, the detained governor of Russia's Far Eastern Khabarovsk region, has been sent to pretrial detention on charges of attempted murder and ordering the killing of two local businessmen.
The Basmanny district court in Moscow on July 10 ruled that the 50-year-old, who has pleaded not guilty, must be held under pretrial arrest until September 9.
His lawyers, who asked the court to choose a more lenient pretrial restriction for their client, said they will appeal the ruling.
Furgal, a member of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) won a surprise victory over the Kremlin favorite in a vote two years ago. He was arrested on July 9.
A court in Moscow is expected to decide on Furgal's possible pretrial detention later on July 10.
Meanwhile, police in Khabarovsk on July 10 detained two regional lawmakers, also members of LDPR, party faction leader Sergei Zyubr said.
According to Zyubr, Sergei Kuznetsov and Dmitry Kozlov, deputy chairman of the regional parliament, were detained after their homes, garages, and vehicles were searched.
Police also searched the properties of three other LDPR members in Khabarovsk, Zyubr added.
The TASS news agency quoted a source as saying that the detention of Kuznetsov and Kozlov was not, "at this point," related to Furgal's case.
The two lawmakers used to run the Amurstal steel plant.
The daily Kommersant reported that the two are suspected of large-scale fraud.
Zhirinovsky said in the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, that Furgal's detention might be politically motivated.
"We are ready to resign in protest. If need be, the LDPR faction will give up its mandates and leave this place. Let the whole world learn what a mess this country is," Zhirinovsky said.
Without naming President Vladimir Putin, Zhirinovsky mentioned that his party supported recently adopted constitutional amendments that, among other changes, allow the president to seek two more terms after his current term ends in 2024.
"You wanted a constitution? We gave you a constitution. And you put cuffs on our hands! Shameless! You are sitting in high office and start acting like [Soviet dictator Josef] Stalin!" Zhirinovsky said.
Media reports said that Furgal's arrest was part of a wider investigation into an organized criminal group operating in the region.
The charges relate to events in 2004-05, RIA Novosti reported.
Furgal beat incumbent Vyacheslav Shport in the 2018 election in a major upset of the ruling United Russia party.
With reporting by RBK, Kommersant, TASS, and RIA Novosti