rferl--2020-02-29--Tajik Ruling Party Expected To Secure Victory In First Parliamentary Elections Since Key Opposition

Tajik Ruling Party Expected To Secure Victory In First Parliamentary Elections Since Key Opposition Banned

Tajiks voted in parliamentary elections on March 1 in which President Emomali Rahmon ’ s ruling party was widely expected to secure a sweeping victory , with only one opposition party participating in the vote .
It was the authoritarian Central Asian nation ’ s first parliamentary elections since a ban was imposed nearly five years ago on the Islamic Renaissance Party ( IRPT ) , a leading opposition group .
Just before polls closed , Tajikistan ’ s Central Election Commission said over 75 percent of eligible voters -- some 3.7 million voters -- cast ballots , well above @ @ @ @ @ @ @ valid under Tajik law .
The Social Democratic Party ( SDP ) was the only opposition group that contested the elections .
The party has never entered parliament .
The election commission said preliminary results would be released on March 2 .
Election commission Chairman Bakhtiyor Khudoyorzoda earlier told reporters that 3,412 polling centers had created `` conditions for a transparent and fair election . ''
None of the votes of the past two decades have been deemed free and competitive by Western observers , which again this year includes the Organization for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights ( ODIHR ) .
In an instance of one of the most widespread problems , proxy voting , an RFE/RL correspondent saw a single voter cast 22 ballots .
One video that appeared online showed a single person ticking dozens of ballots for the ruling party , and another clip showed a Tajik migrant in Russia saying he was told to vote for the ruling party or lose his job .
President Rahmon ’ s People ’ s Democratic Party is widely expected to retain a majority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lower house of parliament .
Rahmon , who has ruled since taking power in 1992 with the country embroiled in a five-year civil war , turned up to vote early in the day , RFE/RL 's Tajik Service reported .
Six other smaller parties took part in the elections .
The SDP registered five candidates after it was forced to reduce the initial eight-strong party list due to lack of money to pay the nearly $ 600 application fee per nominee .
The SDP was unable in past elections to pass the 5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the legislature .
The party has blamed it on Tajik authorities ’ failure to hold free and fair elections .
Past elections in Tajikistan were marred by allegations of fraud , including ballot-box stuffing , multiple voting , and the disregard of the vote-counting procedures by election officials .
The government has long been criticized for clamping down on opposition groups and critics .
Opposition movement Group 24 was banned as an extremist organization in 2014 , and the IRPT was branded a “ terrorist organization ” the following year after losing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2015 elections .
Both deny the allegations .
Muhiddin Kabiri , the IRPT leader , said the opposition urged its supporters to vote for the Social Democrats instead of simply ignoring the elections .
“ We know that these elections won ’ t be transparent and democratic , but we still want to use this very small window of opportunity to try to convince people once again that the only peaceful way to bring changes to society is through the elections , ” Kabiri told RFE/RL on February 27 .
Parliament in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while real political power is consolidated in the hands of President Rahmon .
The Central Election Commission said 241 candidates were registered to participate in the elections .
Forty-one lawmakers will be elected from single-mandate districts , and the other 22 seats are determined by the party list system .
In the single-mandate districts , a candidate must receive 50 percent plus one of votes to win outright in the first round .
If no candidate reaches that level , the two candidates with the most votes will compete in a second round @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there are 4,793,282 eligible voters , including labor migrants residing abroad .
Widespread unemployment has forced hundreds of thousands of Tajik to become migrant workers in Russia .
Tajikistan ’ s embassy in Moscow said it has prepared five polling stations in Russia for Tajik migrants workers to vote .


rferl--2020-03-02--Supporters Of Jailed Kyrgyz Politician Rally In Bishkek, Demand His Release

BISHKEK -- Supporters of jailed Kyrgyz politician Sadyr Japarov have rallied in central Bishkek , demanding his immediate release .
@ @ @ @ @ Bishkek 's Ala-Too square on March 2 , where they also demanded the government to @ @ @ @ @ be amended .
Mukar Cholponbaev , the former parliamentary speaker , said at the rally @ @ @ @ @ be amended to liquidate a number of problems in the country . ''
He did @ @ @ @ @ and other protesters wanted to change in the constitution .
Former lawmaker Sadyr Japarov was @ @ @ @ @ in prison after a court in Bishkek convicted him of taking a government official hostage @ @ @ @ @ Kumtor Gold Mine by demonstrators demanding that the mine be nationalized .
Japarov has rejected @ @ @ @ @ politically motivated .
In April 2019 , the Supreme Court cut Japarov 's sentence by @ @ @ @ @ 2019 , Japarov officially asked President Sooronbai Jeenbekov for clemency .
He is still waiting @ @ @ @ @ request .

BISHKEK -- Police and protesters have clashed at a rally by supporters of jailed Kyrgyz politician Sadyr Japarov as they demanded his release.
An RFE/RL correspondent at the rally on March 2 said police fired tear gas and used water cannon to drive away hundreds of people gathered in Bishkek's Ala-Too square, where they were also demanding that the government resign and calling for constitutional amendments.
The demonstrators responded by hurling rocks at security forces, damaging cars and businesses in the area.
The Interior Ministry said more than 30 people had been detained.
Mukar Cholponbaev, the former parliamentary speaker, said at the rally that the constitution "must be amended to liquidate a number of problems in the country." He did not specify what exactly he and other protesters wanted to change in the constitution.
Interior Ministry spokesman Bakyt Seitov told reporters that the rally was dispersed because it had run past the 5 p.m. local time limit granted in the demonstration permit.
Former lawmaker Sadyr Japarov was sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison after a court in Bishkek convicted him of taking a government official hostage during 2013 protests around the Kumtor Gold Mine by demonstrators demanding that the mine be nationalized.
Japarov has rejected the charges saying they were politically motivated.
In April 2019, the Supreme Court cut Japarov's sentence by 18 months.
In November 2019, Japarov officially asked President Sooronbai Jeenbekov for clemency. He is still waiting for an answer to his request.


rferl--2020-03-02--Iran Coronavirus Deaths Mount, Including Senior Adviser To Iran's Supreme Leader

Iran 's Health Ministry reported 12 more deaths from the coronavirus , bringing the total to 66 deaths , while the number of cases in the country has reached 1,501 .
A member of a council that advises Iran 's supreme leader is among those who died , state television reported on March 2 .
Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi died at a Tehran hospital of the virus , state radio said .
He was 71 .
Mirmohammadi is the first top Iranian official to succumb to the COVID-19 disease that is affecting several members of Iran 's leadership .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Khamenei .
It also acts as a mediator between the supreme leader and parliament .
Mirmohammadi 's death comes as other top Iranian officials have contracted the virus .
Iran has the highest death toll in the world after China , the epicenter of the outbreak .
Among those who are infected are Vice President Masumeh Ebtekar and Iraj Harirchi , the head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who tried to downplay the virus before falling ill. Across the wider Middle East , there are over 1,150 cases of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which are linked back to Iran .
Experts say Iran 's ratio of deaths to infections , around 5.5 percent , is much higher than other countries , suggesting the number of infections in Iran may be much higher than official figures show .
In a move to stem the outbreak , Iran on March 2 held an online-only briefing by its Foreign Ministry .
Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi opened the online news conference by dismissing an offer of help for Iran by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo .
The British Embassy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evacuations over the virus .
“ Essential staff needed to continue critical work will remain , ” the British Foreign Office said .
With reporting by Reuters , AP , AFP , and dpa

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


rferl--2020-03-02--Kazakh Interior Minister Says Some 80 People Detained During March 1 Rallies

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan 's Interior Minister says about 80 people were briefly detained on March 1 during unsanctioned rallies in several cities over the mysterious death of a civil rights activist while in police custody .
Erlan Turghymbaev told reporters in the capital , Nur-Sultan , on March 2 that one person was fined and three jailed for several days for organizing the events and resisting police .
`` Practically all of [ those detained ] were held for about three hours and then released after speaking with police , '' Turghymbaev said .
Police in Nur-Sultan , the Central @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as well as in the cities of Shymkent , Aqtobe , Atyrau , and Oral detained dozens of activists before and during the March 1 rallies , which were peaceful .
Kazakh human rights activists said late on March 1 that , according to their data , police detained 144 activists on that day , many of whom were forcefully removed from the rallies .
The demonstrations were organized by the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement led by opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov , who lives in self-imposed exile in France , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Respublika , and Wake Up , Kazakhstan movements .
The protesters and the organizers of the events demanded a thorough investigation into the death of Aghadil , a 43-year-old civil rights activist and a father of six , who died in police custody just hours after he was detained by police on February 24 .
They also called for ex-President Nursultan Nazarbaev to leave the country 's political arena .
Nazarbaev stepped down last year as head of state but remains influential through his chairmanship of the increasingly powerful Kazakh Security Council @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a probe into Aghadil 's last hours intensified when a video emerged on February 28 showing what appeared to be wounds on the dead man 's hands and feet and bruise-like discolored areas scattered across his shoulders , back , upper arms , and other areas of the body .
Friends and fellow rights defenders have questioned the official account of Aghadil 's latest detention alleging he was intoxicated , saying he did not drink due to a medical condition .
They also say he had no history of heart issues , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev broke his public silence on Aghadil 's death in an interview on February 29 , saying , `` Given the public outcry , I carefully examined this matter [ and ] I can confidently say that , unfortunately , activist Aghadil died as a result of heart failure .
To say the opposite is to deny the truth . ''
Aghadil had spent a combined two months in jail since his arrest in August 2019 for taking part in unsanctioned rallies , and had made headlines with an escape one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in what he said was a `` protest [ of ] my illegal arrest . ''
He was buried on February 27 .

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan's Interior Minister says about 80 people were briefly detained on March 1 during unsanctioned rallies in several cities over the mysterious death of a civil rights activist while in police custody.
Erlan Turghymbaev told reporters in the capital, Nur-Sultan, on March 2 that one person was fined and three jailed for several days for organizing the events and resisting police.
"Practically all of [those detained] were held for about three hours and then released after speaking with police," Turghymbaev said.
Police in Nur-Sultan, the Central Asian nation's largest city, Almaty, as well as in the cities of Shymkent, Aqtobe, Atyrau, and Oral detained dozens of activists before and during the March 1 rallies, which were peaceful.
Kazakh human rights activists said late on March 1 that, according to their data, police detained 144 activists on that day, many of whom were forcefully removed from the rallies.
The demonstrations were organized by the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement led by opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov, who lives in self-imposed exile in France, as well as by the Street Party, Respublika, and Wake Up, Kazakhstan movements.
The protesters and the organizers of the events demanded a thorough investigation into the death of Aghadil, a 43-year-old civil rights activist and a father of six, who died in police custody just hours after he was detained by police on February 24.
They also called for ex-President Nursultan Nazarbaev to leave the country's political arena. Nazarbaev stepped down last year as head of state but remains influential through his chairmanship of the increasingly powerful Kazakh Security Council and other political channels.
Demands for a probe into Aghadil's last hours intensified when a video emerged on February 28 showing what appeared to be wounds on the dead man's hands and feet and bruise-like discolored areas scattered across his shoulders, back, upper arms, and other areas of the body.
Friends and fellow rights defenders have questioned the official account of Aghadil's latest detention alleging he was intoxicated, saying he did not drink due to a medical condition.
They also say he had no history of heart issues, an explanation given by the authorities.
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev broke his public silence on Aghadil's death in an interview on February 29, saying, "Given the public outcry, I carefully examined this matter [and] I can confidently say that, unfortunately, activist Aghadil died as a result of heart failure. To say the opposite is to deny the truth."
Aghadil had spent a combined two months in jail since his arrest in August 2019 for taking part in unsanctioned rallies, and had made headlines with an escape one day before his planned release in November in what he said was a "protest [of] my illegal arrest."
He was buried on February 27.


rferl--2020-03-02--Turkey: Erdogan, Putin To Meet In Moscow This Week For Syria Talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart , Vladimir Putin , will hold talks this week in Moscow amid mounting tensions in Syria , Turkey 's presidency said March 2 .
Turkey confirmed on March 2 that it had launched a full military operation against Russian-backed Syrian forces following increasing clashes in the last rebel stronghold of Idlib .
The latest escalation followed the killing of 34 Turkish soldiers last week in an air strike blamed on Syria .
`` The president is due to pay a one-day visit to Russia on March 5 , '' the Turkish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesman Dmitry Peskov on March 2 also confirmed the talks on Syria in Moscow .
But the Kremlin drew Turkey 's attention to a warning from the Russian Defense Ministry that Moscow could not guarantee the safety of Turkish planes flying in Syria .
Turkey killed 19 Syrian soldiers in drone strikes on March 1 and shot down two government warplanes .
Turkey and Russia -- which back opposing sides in the conflict -- have avoided direct confrontation so far .
The two countries share significant defense and trade ties .
Putin on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Russia does not plan to go to war with anyone , but wants to dissuade other countries from engaging in conflict with Moscow .
Erdogan and Putin agreed at a meeting in Russia 's Black Sea resort of Sochi in October 2019 to conduct joint military patrols in northeast Syria .
But Syria and Russia look increasingly determined to regain full control of the area and an offensive launched in December has displaced close to a million civilians .
Based on reporting by Reuters , AFP , and TASS

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will hold talks this week in Moscow amid mounting tensions in Syria, Turkey's presidency said March 2.
Turkey confirmed on March 2 that it had launched a full military operation against Russian-backed Syrian forces following increasing clashes in the last rebel stronghold of Idlib.
The latest escalation followed the killing of 34 Turkish soldiers last week in an air strike blamed on Syria.
"The president is due to pay a one-day visit to Russia on March 5," the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on March 2 also confirmed the talks on Syria in Moscow.
But the Kremlin drew Turkey's attention to a warning from the Russian Defense Ministry that Moscow could not guarantee the safety of Turkish planes flying in Syria.
Turkey killed 19 Syrian soldiers in drone strikes on March 1 and shot down two government warplanes.
Turkey and Russia -- which back opposing sides in the conflict -- have avoided direct confrontation so far. The two countries share significant defense and trade ties.
Putin on March 2 told Russian news agency TASS that Russia does not plan to go to war with anyone, but wants to dissuade other countries from engaging in conflict with Moscow.
Erdogan and Putin agreed at a meeting in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi in October 2019 to conduct joint military patrols in northeast Syria.
But Syria and Russia look increasingly determined to regain full control of the area and an offensive launched in December has displaced close to a million civilians.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and TASS


rferl--2020-03-02--Ukrainian President Calls Extraordinary Parliamentary Session To Discuss Corruption

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for an extraordinary parliamentary session to be held on March 4 to discuss law @ @ @ @ @ Parliamentary speaker Dmytro Razumkov told journalists February 28 that officials from the Interior Ministry , @ @ @ @ @ of Investigations , National Anti-Corruption Bureau , and Prosecutor-General 's Office will present themselves to @ @ @ @ @ give further details .
Shortly thereafter , the Ukrainian president added to parliament 's agenda @ @ @ @ @ Cabinet of Minister 's legislative projects '' as well as the desire to learn `` @ @ @ @ @ enforcement bodies . ''
Zelenskiy , a political novice , won a landslide victory in @ @ @ @ @ to fight corruption , an endemic problem that has hampered economic growth .
The United @ @ @ @ @ Zelenskiy to use his popularity and majority in the parliament to push through reforms to @ @ @ @ @ influence of oligarchs .

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for an extraordinary parliamentary session to be held on March 4 to discuss law enforcement and anti-corruption matters.
Parliamentary speaker Dmytro Razumkov told journalists February 28 that officials from the Interior Ministry, Security Service, State Bureau of Investigations, National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and Prosecutor-General's Office will present themselves to lawmakers. He did not give further details.
Shortly thereafter, the Ukrainian president added to parliament's agenda "certain issues regarding the Cabinet of Minister's legislative projects" as well as the desire to learn "about the activity of law enforcement bodies."
Zelenskiy, a political novice, won a landslide victory in April 2019 on a promise to fight corruption, an endemic problem that has hampered economic growth.
The United States and Europe have encouraged Zelenskiy to use his popularity and majority in the parliament to push through reforms to fight corruption and reduce the influence of oligarchs.


rferl--2020-03-02--Russia, Ukraine May Swap Prisoners For Third Time In March

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy 's chief of staff , Andriy Yermak , said Moscow and Kyiv intend to carry out @ @ @ @ @ month .
Yermak made the comments on March 1 following a meeting in Minsk with @ @ @ @ @ chief negotiator to peace talks in eastern Ukraine , according to a statement posted on @ @ @ @ @ .
Zelenskiy has made ending the nearly six-year war in eastern Ukraine that has killed @ @ @ @ @ priority since coming to power in May .
Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed @ @ @ @ @ in eastern Ukraine , where pro-government forces are fighting Kremlin-backed rebels , and additional swaps @ @ @ @ @ already overseen two prisoner exchanges during his first nine months in office .
In September @ @ @ @ @ each exchanged 35 prisoners .
In December 2019 , Ukraine turned over 124 prisoners to @ @ @ @ @ for 76 Ukrainians they held .

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Moscow and Kyiv intend to carry out another prisoner swap later this month.
Yermak made the comments on March 1 following a meeting in Minsk with Dmitry Kozak, Russia's chief negotiator to peace talks in eastern Ukraine, according to a statement posted on the Ukrainian president's website.
Zelenskiy has made ending the nearly six-year war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 13,000 people a priority since coming to power in May.
Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in December to a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, where pro-government forces are fighting Kremlin-backed rebels, and additional swaps of prisoners.
Zelenskiy has already overseen two prisoner exchanges during his first nine months in office. In September 2019, Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 35 prisoners. In December 2019, Ukraine turned over 124 prisoners to the Russian-backed rebels in exchange for 76 Ukrainians they held.


rferl--2020-03-02--Ukrainian Who Led Volunteer Battalion Detained At Greek Border

A Ukrainian who founded and led a volunteer battalion in eastern Ukraine has been detained by Greek authorities while crossing over from Bulgaria on March 2 with his pregnant wife and 9-year-old child .
Serhiy Melnychuk , 48 , posted a video on Facebook from the alleged detention center in Greece , saying that his arrest was based on a notice requested from Russia through Interpol , the world ’ s international police force .
A search through Interpol didn ’ t reveal Melnychuk ’ s name as a wanted person but not all notices are made public .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Aidar Battalion , which was comprised mostly of natives of the easternmost Luhansk region .
Aidar fought Russian-backed separatists that year and took part in liberating towns and cities in the industrial region .
Before it was incorporated into the armed forces in September 2014 , Melnychuk and the battalion he led faced allegations of human rights abuses , looting , and marauding in the early phases of the war in which more than 13,000 people have been killed .
He was voted into parliament in 2014 with the Radical Party , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political movement has no seats in the current legislature .
Melnychuk is from Ukraine 's west-central region of Vinnytsya and said in his Facebook post that he was detained for unknown reasons .
Based on reporting by Hromadske and Ukrayinska Pravda

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


rferl--2020-03-02--Russian Billionaire Tinkov Posts $26 Million Bail In London Amid U.S. Tax Case

Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov posted bail of 20 million pounds ( $ 25.6 million ) to remain free in London as he fights the U.S. tax authorities , the Sunday Express reported .
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service ( IRS ) has accused Tinkovof filing a false tax return and underreporting his 2013 income , the British newspaper said .
Tinkov , the founder of TCS Group Holdings , a digital financial services company operating in Russia , gave up his U.S. passport in 2013 , the same year he sold shares in his company on the London stock exchange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 2.5 billion , according to Forbes .
“ We are not able to disclose more details of the case , but Mr. Oleg Tinkov is confident that it will be resolved as swiftly as possible , ” TCS said in a statement on February 28 .
U.S. passport holders must pay an “ exit tax ” to the IRS when they give up their American citizenship .
The tax is based on the profit Tinkov would have made if he sold all of his assets at the time he relinquished his citizenship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the few nations that requires its citizens to pay taxes even if they live and earn their money abroad , pushing some American passport holders residing in low-tax nations to surrender their citizenship .
The highest income tax bracket at the time Tinkov relinquished his U.S. citizenship in 2013 was 39.6 percent compared with a 13 percent flat income tax in Russia .
The United States also has higher capital gains taxes than Russia .
Tinkov Bank , the main operating asset of TCS , is one of the most successful privately owned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gone bust amid risky lending .
TCS , which is valued at $ 4.4 billion , said the London trial will not affect any of its businesses .
With reporting by the Sunday Express , Vedomosti

Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov posted bail of 20 million pounds ($25.6 million) to remain free in London as he fights the U.S. tax authorities, the Sunday Express reported.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has accused Tinkovof filing a false tax return and underreporting his 2013 income, the British newspaper said.
Tinkov, the founder of TCS Group Holdings, a digital financial services company operating in Russia, gave up his U.S. passport in 2013, the same year he sold shares in his company on the London stock exchange. His net worth is estimated at $2.5 billion, according to Forbes.
“We are not able to disclose more details of the case, but Mr. Oleg Tinkov is confident that it will be resolved as swiftly as possible,” TCS said in a statement on February 28.
U.S. passport holders must pay an “exit tax” to the IRS when they give up their American citizenship. The tax is based on the profit Tinkov would have made if he sold all of his assets at the time he relinquished his citizenship.
The United States is one of the few nations that requires its citizens to pay taxes even if they live and earn their money abroad, pushing some American passport holders residing in low-tax nations to surrender their citizenship.
The highest income tax bracket at the time Tinkov relinquished his U.S. citizenship in 2013 was 39.6 percent compared with a 13 percent flat income tax in Russia. The United States also has higher capital gains taxes than Russia.
Tinkov Bank, the main operating asset of TCS, is one of the most successful privately owned banks in Russia, where many have gone bust amid risky lending.
TCS, which is valued at $4.4 billion, said the London trial will not affect any of its businesses.
With reporting by the Sunday Express, Vedomosti


rferl--2020-03-03--Bulgarian PM Borisov Accuses EU Of Not Paying Turkey In ‘Refugee Deal’

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov on March 2 joined Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in blaming the European Union for the collapse of the 2016 refugee deal , following rising tensions in Syria .
The two addressed journalists in Ankara after meeting to discuss a new wave of refugees that Turkey has released into the EU .
Erdogan justified “ opening the gates ” for thousands of refugees and accused the EU of not paying Turkey 6 billion euros ( $ 6.68 billion ) to house some 4 million Syrian refugees .
`` We spent over 40 billion euros ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 6 billion euros -- they [ Brussels ] did not release , ” Erdogan said .
“ Now they say they will allocate 1 billion [ euros ] .
Who are you lying to ?
We do not want this money anymore .
We will find this money.
” Borisov said the EU “ voted this money for Turkey…I can not understand why they were not given . ''
The European Commission insists it has paid the money out in full albeit to refugee aid organizations and not directly to the Turkish state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is ready to invest several billion more euros in the coming years , and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that Germany would be willing to build refugee housing in Turkish-controlled areas within Syria .
On March 2 , Turkish authorities released information that 18,000 migrants had already crossed into the EU .
`` Nearly 1.5 million people have left their homes in Idlib and are close to the Turkish border .
Unfortunately , EU countries can not understand the burden that Turkey has been carrying for nine years , '' Erdogan said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` unacceptable '' and EU migration commissioner Margaritis Schinas said nobody could `` blackmail or intimidate the EU . ''
Erdogan 's office also said on March 2 that he spoke to Merkel over the phone , saying Europe must take a `` fair share of the burden '' of dealing with migrants .
He warned that more refugees , mainly from Afghanistan , Syria , and Iraq , would head toward the EU .
`` There will be more .
Soon , this number will be expressed in millions , '' Erdogan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off another mass influx of refugees from Syria , where government forces backed by Russian air power are trying to take the last rebel stronghold of Idlib .

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has joined Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in blaming the European Union for the collapse of the 2016 refugee deal, following rising tensions in Syria.
The two addressed journalists in Ankara on March 2 after meeting to discuss a new wave of refugees that Turkey has released into the EU.
Erdogan justified "opening the gates" for thousands of refugees and accused the EU of not paying Turkey 6 billion euros ($6.68 billion) to house some 4 million Syrian refugees.
"We spent over 40 billion euros ($44.56 billion). The promised 6 billion euros -- they [Brussels] did not release," Erdogan said. "Now they say they will allocate 1 billion [euros]. Who are you lying to? We do not want this money anymore. We will find this money."
Borisov said the EU "voted this money for Turkey...I cannot understand why they were not given."
The European Commission insists it has paid the money out in full, albeit to refugee aid organizations and not directly to the Turkish state.
The EU has also signaled it is ready to invest several billion more euros in the coming years, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that Germany would be willing to build refugee housing in Turkish-controlled areas within Syria.
On March 2, Turkish authorities released information that 18,000 migrants had already crossed into the EU.
"Nearly 1.5 million people have left their homes in Idlib and are close to the Turkish border. Unfortunately, EU countries cannot understand the burden that Turkey has been carrying for nine years," Erdogan said.
Merkel described Turkey's move as "unacceptable" and EU Migration Commissioner Margaritis Schinas said nobody could "blackmail or intimidate the EU."
Erdogan's office also said on March 2 that he spoke to Merkel over the phone, saying Europe must take a "fair share of the burden" of dealing with migrants.
He warned that more refugees, mainly from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq, would head toward the EU.
"There will be more. Soon, this number will be expressed in millions," Erdogan said.
Turkey is trying to hold off another mass influx of refugees from Syria, where government forces backed by Russian air power are trying to take the last rebel stronghold of Idlib.
With reporting by dpa


rferl--2020-03-02--Kosovar, Serbian Presidents Hold 'Goodwill' Meeting At White House

PRISTINA – Kosovar President Hashim Thaci says he has met with his Serbian counterpart , Aleksandar Vucic , at the While House to discuss ways to reach a “ final agreement ” between the two Balkan countries .
In a telephone interview with RFE/RL , Thaci said that there were no specific topics discussed during the March 2 talks , which he described as `` a goodwill meeting , a message of peace sent to Kosovo , Serbia , and the Western Balkans.
” He also said that both sides welcomed the “ leading role ” of U.S. President Donald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” of his special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo , Richard Grenell .
After the meeting , which was attended by Grenell and national-security adviser Robert O'Brien , Thaci wrote in a post on Facebook that the United States “ is our hope and our faith .
We are forever grateful ! ''
The United States is one of the biggest backers of Kosovo 's independence from Serbia , which it declared in 2008 .
Serbia continues to consider its former province part of its territory .
European Union-facilitated talks on normalizing diplomatic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pristina 's imposition of 100 percent tariffs on Serbian goods and services in response to Belgrade 's continued lobbying for countries to reverse their recognition of Kosovo .
The Kosovar government on February 27 announced it would temporarily and partly lift the tariff -- a move described by Grenell , who also serves as U.S. ambassador to Germany and has recently been appointed as Trump 's intelligence chief , as a “ half measure.
” `` Our position is quite clear : the tariffs must be completely dropped , '' Grenell tweeted , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` is making a serious mistake . ''
However , the EU welcomed Kurti 's announcement as a `` first step '' that `` could have a positive effect '' on restoring regional trade and `` offer an opening '' for the resumption of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina .
In a step toward improving ties , Serbian and Kosovar officials earlier this year signed deals to establish air , rail , and highway links between Pristina and Belgrade .

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--2020-03-02--Armenia Extends Closure Of Border With Iran Over Coronavirus Fears

YEREVAN -- Armenia says it will extend the closure of its border with neighboring Iran , where an outbreak of @ @ @ @ @ of people .
Speaking during a government meeting about coronavirus prevention on March 2 , @ @ @ @ @ his country will also suspend its visa-free regime for Iranian citizens within the next five @ @ @ @ @ say how long the measures will remain in place .
The moves came a day @ @ @ @ @ confirmed case of the virus , that of a 29-year-old man who recently returned with @ @ @ @ @ Armenia closed its border with Iran , a hotvspot for the coronavirus in the Middle @ @ @ @ @ .
Iran 's Health Ministry rtported 12 more deaths from the disease on March 2 @ @ @ @ @ 66 deaths , while the number of cases in the country has reached 1,501 .
@ @ @ @ @ have expressed concerns that Tehran is severely underreporting the magnitude of the crisis in the @ @ @ @ @ has vehemently denied .

YEREVAN -- Armenia says it will extend the closure of its border with neighboring Iran, where an outbreak of the coronavirus has killed dozens of people.
Speaking during a government meeting about coronavirus prevention on March 2, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said his country will also suspend its visa-free regime for Iranian citizens within the next five days.
Pashinian did not say how long the measures will remain in place.
The moves came a day after Armenia announced its first confirmed case of the virus, that of a 29-year-old man who recently returned with his wife from Iran.
Armenia closed its border with Iran, a hotvspot for the coronavirus in the Middle East, on February 23.
Iran's Health Ministry rtported 12 more deaths from the disease on March 2, bringing the total to 66 deaths, while the number of cases in the country has reached 1,501.
Many critics and outside experts have expressed concerns that Tehran is severely underreporting the magnitude of the crisis in the country, allegations the government has vehemently denied.
With reporting by Reuters


rferl--2020-03-02--U.S. Calls On Russia To Hand Over MH17 Evidence, Let Whelan Go

With their trial set to start in a few days , the United States has called on Russia to hand over suspects in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 , a disaster that cost the lives of all 298 people on board .
`` It is long past time for Russia to comply , to reveal what it knows and to turn over those individuals who have been indicated in these cases , '' U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Christopher Robinson said in an interview with RFE/RL during a visit to Prague @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Girkin , Oleg Pulatov , and Sergei Dubinsky , and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko have been charged by Dutch prosecutors with shooting down the Boeing 777 with a Russian-made BUK missile as it flew over territory held by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine .
The men are unlikely to be present at their first hearing scheduled for March 9 at a high-security courthouse near Amsterdam 's Schiphol Airport .
The men are all believed to be hiding in Russia , which does not extradite its citizens , or in separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , was among 35 prisoners sent to Moscow from Kyiv in the September 7 swap of 70 people captured during the conflict in eastern Ukraine .
A Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team ( JIT ) has concluded that Russia 's 53rd Antiaircraft Missile Brigade had transported the Buk in 2014 to and from Ukraine .
Robinson said the array of public information available indicates that the MH17 downing happened in an area under Russian control .
Russia denies involvement in the incident .
`` This is another case where Russia engages in aggression , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it puts out disinformation and lies and tries to distort the truth , '' Robinson said .
`` I think Russia has behaved reprehensibly in this issue . ''
The JIT had pleaded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to keep Tsemakh in Ukrainian custody .
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly insisted that Tsemakh be included in the exchange , or the swap would be called off .
MH17 took off from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur on July 17 , 2014 .
About two-thirds of the passengers were Dutch nationals .
Robinson also said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russia not to interfere in U.S. elections and called on the Kremlin to release Paul Whelan , a former Marine held in a Moscow prison on espionage charges .
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded in March 2019 following a two-year investigation that Russia carried out a broad campaign to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections , including through hacking into the Democratic National Committee computer system .
U.S. intelligence officials last month told the Trump administration and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders that Russia is interfering in the elections to support them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Post reported .
However , the intelligence officials did not say how Russia was interfering and did not give any evidence .
Russia has also been accused of interfering in other nations ’ elections .
The Kremlin has denied the accusations .
`` There can be no improvement in the U.S.-Russia bilateral relationship until Russia ceases its broad campaign to support malign activities around the world , not just against the United States but against our allies and partners , '' Robinson said .
Russia arrested Whelan in Moscow in December 2018 for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ secrets , according to local media .
Whelan said he was given the drive by a Russian acquaintance in an apparent setup .
A Moscow City Court recently extended his detention until March 29 , 2020 .
`` They have not produced evidence [ of his guilt ] , '' the deputy secretary said .
`` It is long past time to let Paul Whelan go . ''
With reporting by Mike Eckel in Prague

With their trial set to start in a few days, the United States has called on Russia to hand over suspects in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a disaster that cost the lives of all 298 people on board.
"It is long past time for Russia to comply, to reveal what it knows and to turn over those individuals who have been indicated in these cases," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Christopher Robinson said in an interview with RFE/RL during a visit to Prague on March 2.
Russian citizens Igor Girkin, Oleg Pulatov, and Sergei Dubinsky, and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko have been charged by Dutch prosecutors with shooting down the Boeing 777 with a Russian-made BUK missile as it flew over territory held by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The men are unlikely to be present at their first hearing scheduled for March 9 at a high-security courthouse near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The men are all believed to be hiding in Russia, which does not extradite its citizens, or in separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine.
A fifth suspect, Volodymyr Tsemakh, was among 35 prisoners sent to Moscow from Kyiv in the September 7 swap of 70 people captured during the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
A Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has concluded that Russia's 53rd Antiaircraft Missile Brigade had transported the Buk in 2014 to and from Ukraine.
Robinson said the array of public information available indicates that the MH17 downing happened in an area under Russian control. Russia denies involvement in the incident.
"This is another case where Russia engages in aggression, Russia fails to reveal the truth, it puts out disinformation and lies and tries to distort the truth," Robinson said. "I think Russia has behaved reprehensibly in this issue."
The JIT had pleaded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to keep Tsemakh in Ukrainian custody. Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly insisted that Tsemakh be included in the exchange, or the swap would be called off.
MH17 took off from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014. About two-thirds of the passengers were Dutch nationals.
Election Interference, Whelan Incarceration
Robinson also said that the United States has repeatedly warned Russia not to interfere in U.S. elections and called on the Kremlin to release Paul Whelan, a former Marine held in a Moscow prison on espionage charges.
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded in March 2019 following a two-year investigation that Russia carried out a broad campaign to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, including through hacking into the Democratic National Committee computer system.
U.S. intelligence officials last month told the Trump administration and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders that Russia is interfering in the elections to support them, The New York Times and Washington Post reported. However, the intelligence officials did not say how Russia was interfering and did not give any evidence.
Russia has also been accused of interfering in other nations’ elections. The Kremlin has denied the accusations.
"There can be no improvement in the U.S.-Russia bilateral relationship until Russia ceases its broad campaign to support malign activities around the world, not just against the United States but against our allies and partners," Robinson said.
Russia arrested Whelan in Moscow in December 2018 for possessing a flash drive that contained state secrets, according to local media.
Whelan said he was given the drive by a Russian acquaintance in an apparent setup. A Moscow City Court recently extended his detention until March 29, 2020.
"They have not produced evidence [of his guilt]," the deputy secretary said. "It is long past time to let Paul Whelan go."
With reporting by Mike Eckel in Prague


rferl--2020-03-02--Putin Seeks To Enshrine Same-Sex Marriage Ban In Russian Constitution

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent constitutional amendments to the lower house of parliament for a crucial second reading .
The proposed changes include an amendment stating that marriage is between `` a man and a woman , '' State Duma deputy speaker Pyotr Tolstoi told reporters on March 2 .
The proposed amendment would enshrine the country 's ban on same-sex marriage in the constitution , after Putin vowed last month that Russia would not legalize such unions as long as he is president .
Another proposed constitutional change would be to include a mention of `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin .
Volodin said that one draft amendment states that `` alienating part of the territory of the Russian Federation , as well as calls for such actions are not allowed . ''
The proposals also include a clause describing ethnic Russians as the `` state-forming '' group for Russia and the Russian language as the state language .
Last month , lawmakers unanimously approved in its first reading the sweeping constitutional reform bill put forward by Putin , just three days after the amendments were presented to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and third readings in the Duma , the bill will go to the upper house of parliament , the Federation Council , before being signed into law by Putin .
The bill is almost certain to pass in parliament , which is dominated by Kremlin-loyal lawmakers .
With the constitutional reform , observers say that the Russian leader may be laying the groundwork to hold on to power after his current term expires in 2024 .
Putin , 67 , has been in power as president or prime minister for two decades .

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent constitutional amendments to the lower house of parliament for a crucial second reading.
The proposed changes include an amendment stating that marriage is between "a man and a woman," State Duma deputy speaker Pyotr Tolstoi told reporters on March 2.
The proposed amendment would enshrine the country's ban on same-sex marriage in the constitution, after Putin vowed last month that Russia would not legalize such unions as long as he is president.
Another proposed constitutional change would be to include a mention of "faith in God," according to State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
Volodin said that one draft amendment states that "alienating part of the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as calls for such actions are not allowed."
The proposals also include a clause describing ethnic Russians as the "state-forming" group for Russia and the Russian language as the state language.
Last month, lawmakers unanimously approved in its first reading the sweeping constitutional reform bill put forward by Putin, just three days after the amendments were presented to the State Duma.
Once approved in second and third readings in the Duma, the bill will go to the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, before being signed into law by Putin.
The bill is almost certain to pass in parliament, which is dominated by Kremlin-loyal lawmakers .
With the constitutional reform, observers say that the Russian leader may be laying the groundwork to hold on to power after his current term expires in 2024.
Putin, 67, has been in power as president or prime minister for two decades.
With reporting by dpa


rferl--2020-03-02--Russian Court Sends Opposition Activist Kotov's Case To Moscow Appeals Unit

A Russian court has sent the high-profile case of an opposition activist imprisoned for repeatedly taking part in unsanctioned rallies to an appeals unit of the Moscow City Court .
Moscow 's Court Of Cassations No .
2 said on March 2 that it rejected a motion by Konstantin Kotov 's lawyers and prosecutors to annul a four-year prison term handed to the activist .
His lawyers wanted the case against their client to be closed and the charge to be dropped , while prosecutors had asked the court to cut the prison term to one year .
The court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in pretrial detention until May 2 .
The 35-year-old computer programmer was detained on August 10 for taking part in a rally to demand that opposition and independent candidates be put on the ballot for the Moscow City Duma election that was held on September 8 .
The barring of the would-be candidates sparked a wave of protests in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia last summer , some of which were violently suppressed by police as thousands were briefly detained , sparking international condemnation .
Kotov was one of several activists punished with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been dubbed the Moscow Case .
His conviction and sentencing on September 5 sparked a public outcry in Russia because of its severity .
On January 25 , amid protests against Kotov 's imprisonment , President Vladimir Putin ordered the Prosecutor-General 's Office to review the legality of the sentencing .
Two days later , Russia 's Constitutional Court ruled that the case must be reviewed .
Based on reporting by Mediazona and Rapsinews

A Russian court has sent the high-profile case of an opposition activist imprisoned for repeatedly taking part in unsanctioned rallies to an appeals unit of the Moscow City Court.
Moscow's Court Of Cassations No. 2 said on March 2 that it rejected a motion by Konstantin Kotov's lawyers and prosecutors to annul a four-year prison term handed to the activist.
His lawyers wanted the case against their client to be closed and the charge to be dropped, while prosecutors had asked the court to cut the prison term to one year.
The court also ruled that Kotov must be kept in pretrial detention until May 2.
The 35-year-old computer programmer was detained on August 10 for taking part in a rally to demand that opposition and independent candidates be put on the ballot for the Moscow City Duma election that was held on September 8.
The barring of the would-be candidates sparked a wave of protests in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia last summer, some of which were violently suppressed by police as thousands were briefly detained, sparking international condemnation.
Kotov was one of several activists punished with prison following the protests in what has been dubbed the Moscow Case.
His conviction and sentencing on September 5 sparked a public outcry in Russia because of its severity.
On January 25, amid protests against Kotov's imprisonment, President Vladimir Putin ordered the Prosecutor-General's Office to review the legality of the sentencing.
Two days later, Russia's Constitutional Court ruled that the case must be reviewed.
Based on reporting by Mediazona and Rapsinews


rferl--2020-03-02--Afghan Taliban Ends Partial Truce As Deadly Bombing Hits Near Soccer Ground

The Taliban have announced an end to a partial truce in the country as a deadly bomb blast near a soccer field shattered days of relative calm .
The March 2 Taliban announcement came just two days after the militant group and the United States signed a historic deal aimed at ending the nearly 19-year war .
Afghan officials said three civilians were killed and at least seven others were wounded at a soccer match in the eastern province of Khost .
The explosives were placed on a motorbike that had stopped near the soccer field in Nadir Shah Kot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s spokesman , Talib Khan Mangal .
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing .
The blast came as the Taliban ordered its fighters on March 2 to resume operations against Afghan forces as the militants said the weeklong partial truce between the Taliban , U.S. , and Afghan forces that preceded the February 29 peace agreement was `` over . ''
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the reduction in violence `` has ended now and our operations will continue as normal . ''
The militants `` will not attack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the Kabul administration forces , '' Mujahid said .
The previous day , Afghan President Ashraf Ghani committed to continuing the partial truce at least until talks between his Western-backed government and the Taliban start , scheduled for March 10 .
But Ghani also warned he was not committed to a key clause in the Doha deal involving the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners .
Mujahid said the militant group would not take part in intra-Afghan talks until that provision was met .
The agreement also lays out a timetable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Afghanistan in return for various security commitments from the militants and a pledge to hold talks with the Afghan government -- which it so far has refused to do .
General Scott Miller , the commander of the U.S.-led international force in Afghanistan , said on March 2 that the `` United States has been very clear about our expectations -- the violence must remain low . ''
Washington has said it would defend Afghan forces if they came under Taliban attack .
Speaking at a Pentagon news conference , U.S. Defense Secretary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Miller to begin drawing down American troops from about 13,000 to 8,600 .
With reporting by Reuters , AFP , and TOLOnews

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--2020-03-02--Kazakh President Cancels International Women's Day Events Due To Coronavirus

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has cancelled public events devoted to International Women 's Day due to the coronavirus outbreak .
Toqaev made the announcement via Twitter on March 2 , six days before International Women ’ s Day .
`` I made a decision not to hold a celebratory gathering and a concert in Nur-Sultan scheduled to mark International Women 's Day [ on March 8 ] .
This has been done due to the spread of the coronavirus around the world .
I wish all women great health and happiness , '' Toqaev wrote .
Each year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who ran the energy-rich Central Asian nation for almost three decades before he resigned on March 19 last year , held special meetings with the country ’ s noted women on March 8 .
The meetings were broadcast by television channels and later large concerts to celebrate International Women 's Day were held .
In recent days , due to the coronavirus , Kazakhstan has either suspended or restricted air flights to several countries .
Kazakhstan has yet to report any confirmed cases of people carrying the virus , which has infected over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since first emerging in China late last year .
The death toll from COVID-19 , the illness caused by the virus , rose on March 2 to over 3,000 people .

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has cancelled public events devoted to International Women's Day due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Toqaev made the announcement via Twitter on March 2, six days before International Women’s Day.
"I made a decision not to hold a celebratory gathering and a concert in Nur-Sultan scheduled to mark International Women's Day [on March 8]. This has been done due to the spread of the coronavirus around the world. I wish all women great health and happiness," Toqaev wrote.
Each year, Toqaev's predecessor Nursultan Nazarbaev, who ran the energy-rich Central Asian nation for almost three decades before he resigned on March 19 last year, held special meetings with the country’s noted women on March 8.
The meetings were broadcast by television channels and later large concerts to celebrate International Women's Day were held.
In recent days, due to the coronavirus, Kazakhstan has either suspended or restricted air flights to several countries.
Kazakhstan has yet to report any confirmed cases of people carrying the virus, which has infected over 89,000 people across more than 60 countries since first emerging in China late last year.
The death toll from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, rose on March 2 to over 3,000 people.


rferl--2020-03-02--As Expected, Tajik Ruling Party Wins Parliamentary Elections, Opposition Shut Out

DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan 's election authorities say President Emomali Rahmon 's ruling party , as expected , has won March 1 parliamentary elections and is set to retain control over parliament with its pro-presidential allies .
Central Election Commission Chairman Bakhtiyor Khudoyorzoda announced preliminary results on March 2 showing 50.4 percent of the ballots cast supported the ruling People 's Democratic Party , securing 47 seats in the 63-seat Majlisi Namoyandagon ( Assembly of Representatives ) .
Tajikistan uses a mixed system in which 41 of the 63 lower-house seats are contested in single-seat constituencies .
The election commission did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winners in those constituencies , but said that a total of six parties had secured at least one seat each in the legislature .
According to Khudoyorzoda , the only opposition political party , the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan , failed to meet the 5 percent threshold for representation in parliament , while the Agrarian Party secured 7 seats , the Party of Economic Reforms won five , and the Communist Party got two seats .
The Democratic Party and the Socialist Party got one seat each by the party lists .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Central Asian nation ’ s 4 million voters took part in the first parliamentary elections since a ban was imposed nearly five years ago on the Islamic Renaissance Party ( IRPT ) , a leading opposition group.Rahmon has been widely criticized for marginalizing the opposition , cracking down on independent media , and mishandling the economy .
Tajikistan is one of the poorest countries in the region , plagued with a struggling economy , high unemployment , and rampant corruption .

DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan's election authorities say President Emomali Rahmon's ruling party, as expected, has won March 1 parliamentary elections and is set to retain control over parliament with its pro-presidential allies.
Central Election Commission Chairman Bakhtiyor Khudoyorzoda announced preliminary results on March 2 showing 50.4 percent of the ballots cast supported the ruling People's Democratic Party, securing 47 seats in the 63-seat Majlisi Namoyandagon (Assembly of Representatives).
Tajikistan uses a mixed system in which 41 of the 63 lower-house seats are contested in single-seat constituencies. The election commission did not announce the party affiliations of the winners in those constituencies, but said that a total of six parties had secured at least one seat each in the legislature.
According to Khudoyorzoda, the only opposition political party, the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, failed to meet the 5 percent threshold for representation in parliament, while the Agrarian Party secured 7 seats, the Party of Economic Reforms won five, and the Communist Party got two seats.
The Democratic Party and the Socialist Party got one seat each by the party lists.
More than 86 percent of the authoritarian Central Asian nation’s 4 million voters took part in the first parliamentary elections since a ban was imposed nearly five years ago on the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRPT), a leading opposition group.Rahmon has been widely criticized for marginalizing the opposition, cracking down on independent media, and mishandling the economy.
Tajikistan is one of the poorest countries in the region, plagued with a struggling economy, high unemployment, and rampant corruption.


rferl--2020-03-02--Dozens Detained As Police Disperse Protest In Support Of Jailed Kyrgyz Politician Japarov

BISHKEK -- Police and protesters have clashed at a rally by supporters of jailed Kyrgyz politician Sadyr Japarov as they demanded his release .
An RFE/RL correspondent at the rally on March 2 said police fired tear gas and used water cannon to drive away hundreds of people gathered in Bishkek 's Ala-Too square , where they were also demanding that the government resign and calling for constitutional amendments .
The demonstrators responded by hurling rocks at security forces , damaging cars and businesses in the area .
The Interior Ministry said more than 30 people had been detained .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said at the rally that the constitution `` must be amended to liquidate a number of problems in the country . ''
He did not specify what exactly he and other protesters wanted to change in the constitution .
Interior Ministry spokesman Bakyt Seitov told reporters that the rally was dispersed because it had run past the 5 p.m. local time limit granted in the demonstration permit .
Former lawmaker Sadyr Japarov was sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison after a court in Bishkek convicted him of taking a government official @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gold Mine by demonstrators demanding that the mine be nationalized .
Japarov has rejected the charges saying they were politically motivated .
In April 2019 , the Supreme Court cut Japarov 's sentence by 18 months .
In November 2019 , Japarov officially asked President Sooronbai Jeenbekov for clemency .
He is still waiting for an answer to his request .

BISHKEK -- Police and protesters have clashed at a rally by supporters of jailed Kyrgyz politician Sadyr Japarov as they demanded his release.
An RFE/RL correspondent at the rally on March 2 said police fired tear gas and used water cannon to drive away hundreds of people gathered in Bishkek's Ala-Too square, where they were also demanding that the government resign and calling for constitutional amendments.
The demonstrators responded by hurling rocks at security forces, damaging cars and businesses in the area.
The Interior Ministry said more than 30 people had been detained.
Mukar Cholponbaev, the former parliamentary speaker, said at the rally that the constitution "must be amended to liquidate a number of problems in the country." He did not specify what exactly he and other protesters wanted to change in the constitution.
Interior Ministry spokesman Bakyt Seitov told reporters that the rally was dispersed because it had run past the 5 p.m. local time limit granted in the demonstration permit.
Former lawmaker Sadyr Japarov was sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison after a court in Bishkek convicted him of taking a government official hostage during 2013 protests around the Kumtor Gold Mine by demonstrators demanding that the mine be nationalized.
Japarov has rejected the charges saying they were politically motivated.
In April 2019, the Supreme Court cut Japarov's sentence by 18 months.
In November 2019, Japarov officially asked President Sooronbai Jeenbekov for clemency. He is still waiting for an answer to his request.


rferl--2020-03-03--Accounts Of Navalny, Associate Frozen As Tycoon Deripaska Launches Lawsuit

Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny says his finances , along those of his wife , children , parents , and the head of his Anti-Corruption Foundation ( FBK ) have been frozen without explanation in a move to discredit and disgrace him .
The staunch Kremlin critic wrote on his website on March 3 that bank accounts and payment cards for his family , and for FBK head Ivan Zhdanov and his family , had been blocked .
At the same time , Navalny said he obtained information that billionaire Oleg Deripaska , who has strong links to Russia 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reasons .
According to Navalny and Zhdanov , a check of their banks online showed that they both had negative balances of 75.5 million rubles ( $ 1,130,000 ) .
Navalny accused President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating the situation , alleging that by freezing his and his associate 's accounts , the Kremlin was trying to impede the FBK 's activities at a time when many Russians are becoming disillusioned with the country 's current leadership .
Navalny and the FBK regularly publish materials exposing the luxurious properties and wealth of Russian officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the reports , however , have sparked legal investigations by the authorities .
Navalny , a lawyer by training who has doggedly pursued evidence of corruption at the highest level of Russian politics , founded the FBK in 2011 .
Its investigations regularly provoke public uproar over the misuse of state funds , such as in 2017 , when an FBK probe into Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev 's wealth became a catalyst for a wave of mass rallies that erupted across Russia .

Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny says his finances, along those of his wife, children, parents, and the head of his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) have been frozen without explanation in a move to discredit and disgrace him.
The staunch Kremlin critic wrote on his website on March 3 that bank accounts and payment cards for his family, and for FBK head Ivan Zhdanov and his family, had been blocked.
At the same time, Navalny said he obtained information that billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who has strong links to Russia's leadership, was suing him for unknown reasons.
According to Navalny and Zhdanov, a check of their banks online showed that they both had negative balances of 75.5 million rubles ($1,130,000).
Navalny accused President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating the situation, alleging that by freezing his and his associate's accounts, the Kremlin was trying to impede the FBK's activities at a time when many Russians are becoming disillusioned with the country's current leadership.
Deripaska's lawyer, Aleksei Melnikov, confirmed to the TASS news agency on March 3 that his client was suing Navalny for "damaging his business reputation."
According to Melnikov, Deripaska wants Navalny to retract public statements he made via YouTube earlier in the year where he alleged the tycoon had taken sizable loans from the government without repaying them.
"We insist that such information is not true and ask a court to oblige Navalny to retract the statements and pay the symbolic amount of one ruble for moral damages," Melnikov said.
Navalny and the FBK regularly publish materials exposing the luxurious properties and wealth of Russian officials, accusing them of corruption. None of the reports, however, have sparked legal investigations by the authorities.
Navalny, a lawyer by training who has doggedly pursued evidence of corruption at the highest level of Russian politics, founded the FBK in 2011.
Its investigations regularly provoke public uproar over the misuse of state funds, such as in 2017, when an FBK probe into Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's wealth became a catalyst for a wave of mass rallies that erupted across Russia.


rferl--2020-03-03--Kyrgyz Ex-Lawmaker Detained, Accused Of Trying To Seize Power

BISHKEK -- Former lawmaker Kanybek Osmonaliev , one of the organizers of a March 2 mass rally in Bishkek that turned violent , has been detained by the State Committee for National Security ( UKMK ) on suspicion of attempting to seize power .
The UKMK said on March 3 that Osmonaliev and a second , unidentified person were placed in pretrial detention , but have yet to be officially charged .
The Interior Ministry said the same day that police had detained 166 people during clashes with protesters at the rally in Bishkek 's central Ala-Too square , four @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roles in organizing the violent rally are investigated .
It was not clear if Osmonaliev and the person detained by the UKMK were among the four still detained by the police .
According to the ministry , 24 police officers were injured in the clashes with hundreds of demonstrators demanding the immediate release from prison of Kyrgyz politician Sadyr Japarov .
The Health Ministry said on March 3 that one police officer was hospitalized with a concussion and a strained neck .
The clashes broke out after police started dispersing the rally , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ p.m. limit granted in the demonstration permit .
Police fired tear gas and used water cannons to drive hundreds of protesters out of the square , where they were also demanding that the government resign and calling for constitutional amendments .
The demonstrators responded by hurling rocks at security forces , damaging cars and businesses in the area .
Former lawmaker Japarov was sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison after a court in Bishkek convicted him of taking a government official hostage during 2013 protests around the Kumtor gold mine by demonstrators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Japarov has rejected the charges as politically motivated .
In April 2019 , the Supreme Court cut Japarov 's sentence by 18 months .
In November 2019 , Japarov officially asked President Sooronbai Jeenbekov for clemency .
He is still waiting for an answer to his request .

BISHKEK -- Former lawmaker Kanybek Osmonaliev, one of the organizers of a March 2 mass rally in Bishkek that turned violent, has been detained by the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) on suspicion of attempting to seize power.
The UKMK said on March 3 that Osmonaliev and a second, unidentified person were placed in pretrial detention, but have yet to be officially charged.
The Interior Ministry said the same day that police had detained 166 people during clashes with protesters at the rally in Bishkek's central Ala-Too square, four of whom remain in custody while their roles in organizing the violent rally are investigated.
It was not clear if Osmonaliev and the person detained by the UKMK were among the four still detained by the police.
According to the ministry, 24 police officers were injured in the clashes with hundreds of demonstrators demanding the immediate release from prison of Kyrgyz politician Sadyr Japarov.
The Health Ministry said on March 3 that one police officer was hospitalized with a concussion and a strained neck.
The clashes broke out after police started dispersing the rally, as it had run past the 5 p.m. limit granted in the demonstration permit.
Police fired tear gas and used water cannons to drive hundreds of protesters out of the square, where they were also demanding that the government resign and calling for constitutional amendments.
The demonstrators responded by hurling rocks at security forces, damaging cars and businesses in the area.
Former lawmaker Japarov was sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison after a court in Bishkek convicted him of taking a government official hostage during 2013 protests around the Kumtor gold mine by demonstrators demanding that the mine be nationalized.
Japarov has rejected the charges as politically motivated.
In April 2019, the Supreme Court cut Japarov's sentence by 18 months.
In November 2019, Japarov officially asked President Sooronbai Jeenbekov for clemency. He is still waiting for an answer to his request.