VISUAL REPORTS
Protesters Dragged Away By Kazakh Police After Activist's Death
Dozens of supporters of Kazakh rights activist Dulat Aghadil angrily took to the streets in Nur-Sultan on February 25 after a police statement said that he died while being held in pretrial detention.
PHOTOGALLERY: Boris Nemtsov: A Life And Death In Pictures
Boris Nemtsov was shot dead on the night of February 27, 2015, on a bridge near the Kremlin. He was 55 years old. A liberal politician who became one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most prominent opponents, Nemtsov became a symbol of the struggle for democracy in Russia.
OTHER NEWS
Three Years After Unexplained Medical Emergency, Russia’s Kara-Murza Sues FBI For Toxicology Results
In a lawsuit filed February 25 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., prominent Russian political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza is suing the FBI to obtain records and results of toxicology tests taken by the bureau in 2017, charging that the U.S. Justice Department -- of which the FBI is a part -- was improperly withholding them. The FBI took the tests two days after Kara-Murza suffered a medical emergency Kara-Murza in Moscow that he has said was the result of poisoning.
Russian Diplomat In Geneva Identified As Agent Who Oversaw Secret Hit Squad
A Russian man who had diplomatic credentials in Geneva was in fact a military intelligence officer linked to a secret hit squad accused of a spate of poisonings in Europe, according to a new report by the open-source investigative organization Bellingcat.
Second Convicted 'Network' Activist In Russia Has Tuberculosis
Arman Sagynbaev, a Russian man convicted of belonging to a terrorist cell authorities have labeled the Network (Set), is the second convicted member of the group who has been afflicted with tuberculosis. Vasily Kuksov, who was seen during courtroom trials in a defendant’s cage together with other suspects, was diagnosed with the highly contagious disease in late December.
Former French Intelligence Chief Launches A Program On RT
Former head of French foreign intelligence Alain Juillet is the host of a new show about geopolitics for the Russian state-run foreign broadcaster RT. In previous remarks made as a guest on RT, Juillet spoke of the 2018 Skripal poisoning as an “Anglo-Saxon manipulation,” and said that Russia is not a threat to Western countries. Juillet was head of France’s General Directorate for External Security in 2002. (Russian Service)
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Announces Official Day Dedicated To Crimean Resistance
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced that February 26 will be decreed as an official “day of resistance to the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the decree “does not reflect the real situation and the reasons why Crimeans decided to reunite with Russia.” (in Russian, Current Time TV)
Belarus To Import Oil Through Ukraine
Belarus media reports that, starting next month, oil to Belarusian refineries will flow through the Ukrainian pipeline “Odessa - Brody,” although the origin of the oil remains unknown. Russia stopped supplying oil to Belarus on January 1, 2020, although it continues to transport oil to European countries through its territory. (Belarus Service)
Armenia To Repatriate Citizens From Iran Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Armenia will repatriate dozens of its citizens from Iran, one of the countries hardest hit by the new coronavirus outbreak outside China. The Foreign Ministry said that 65 Armenian citizens, including some with dual citizenship, had contacted the Armenian Embassy in Tehran to be repatriated.
Georgia Marks 1921 Red Army Occupation
Georgian flags flew at half-staff as the nation marked the anniversary of the Red Army invasion of 1921, officially known as Soviet Occupation Day. The Democratic Republic of Georgia existed from May 1918 to February 1921.
Thousands March In North Macedonia Against Former Prime Minister
Thousands of opposition supporters marched through the streets of North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, late on February 25 to protest injustice and alleged abuse of power by the country’s former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.
Islamic Party Leaders Wrongly Imprisoned In Tajikistan, UN Group Says
Eleven political leaders, all senior members of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), have been in a prison in Tajikistan for more than four years and, according to a UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, they should not have been charged with crimes. For the first time in 20 years, the party will not be participating in parliamentary elections being held on March 1.
Jehovah's Witness Jailed In Turkmenistan
A court in Turkmenistan’s northern Dashoguz region has jailed a Jehovah's Witness for objecting to mandatory military service and sentenced him to two years in prison, RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reports. According to the group, 20 Jehovah’s Witnesses have been imprisoned for their conscientious objection to military service since 2018.
Jailed Gulnara Karimova Offers $686 Million For Freedom
Gulnara Karimova, the imprisoned eldest daughter of the late Uzbek President Islam Karimov, has offered to return $686 million to the country's treasury in exchange for closure in the latest court case against her. In a letter to her father's successor, Shavkat Mirziyoev, she said her health is deteriorating and that she has not seen her children for years.
Two Top Former Uzbek Officials Convicted On Corruption Charges
In a case involving more than a dozen defendants from the public sector, former State Security Service Chief Ikhtyor Abdullaev was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being found guilty of organizing a criminal group, bribe-taking, abuse of office, extortion, the theft of private property, and violating customs regulations. Former Prosecutor-General Otabek Murodov was found guilty of bribe-taking and given a conditional five-year sentence.