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Human rights organizations call on President of Azerbaijan to release all political prisoners
Human rights organization issued a joint statement calling for the release of the remaining political prisoners in Azerbaijan who were not included in President Ilham Aliyev’s pardon on March 17th, Ekho Kavkaza reported.
The joint statement issued by the 21 organizations welcomes Aliyev’s pardon, though it calls for the additional release of the political prisoners still being held in Azerbaijani prisons.
“We are incredibly relieved for those released yesterday, including Rasul Jafarov, who …
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Russian court finds Nadiya Savchenko guilty
A Russian court has found Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko guilty of complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists.
The judge in the Russian town of Donetsk said Savchenko had been driven by "political hatred".
The ruling will not be official until the judge finishes reading it, but Russian media have stated that his wording "strongly indicates" that the judge will issue a guilty verdict.
One of her lawyers stated earlier there was "no doubt" that the court in southern Russia would …
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Yanukovych says asset seizure is an attempt to divert attention from Kiev's failures
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych commented on the special assets forfeiture bill that was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, which will allow his assets to be taken away.
"Talks about 'mythical billions' of Yanukovych are nothing more than an attempt of the current political 'losers' to divert attention of the Ukrainians from the fact that they have led the country to a political and economic collapse," he said in an interview with Reuters.
Yanukovych assured that his assets in …
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Human rights activists tell the UN of Russian-Crimean casualties in Syria
At a meeting on the annexation of Crimea at the United Nations Security Council, human rights activists reported that several Crimeans who had served in the Russian army had been killed in Syria.
This was said by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, Vladimir Elchenko, during a press conference in New York after the UN meeting, Ukrinform reports.
"Some of the sources during today's Arria-formula meeting and human rights experts reported on the recent return of a …
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Organization chaired by Madeleine Albright deemed 'undesirable' in Russia
The Russian General Prosecutor's Office said that activities of yet another non-governmental organization from the United States, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), are “undesirable” on the territory of Russia. This was information was posted on the website of the Russian agency, as reported by Grani.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, activities of the NDI are a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security of Russia. "Details of the …
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Russian Embassy in Ottawa vows 'retaliation' after Canada extended sanctions
Canada's decision to expand the anti-Russian sanctions will have a negative impact on the relations between the two countries. This was reported by the press service of the Russian Embassy in Canada.
"The decision of the Government of Canada to extend the existing anti-Russian sanctions deserves condemnation and is contrary to its stated intentions to change the policy and restore communication internationally. Instead of making a change to an unsuccessful policy, a repetition of …
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Belarusian National Front demands that Minsk stop accepting Syrian refugees
The Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) issued a statement at the Party Congress on Sunday demanding that the authorities stop accepting Syrian refugees, Interfax reported.
The party noted that throughout the course of the war in Syria, more than 300 Syrian refugees have arrived in Belarus. The authorities in Minsk have taken measures to facilitate the process of receiving refugee status and asylum in Belarus.
"The demographic crisis in Belarus, where a large number of our fellow citizens travel …
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Crimean Tatar leader: Putin visited Crimea to 'reassure' the people
The head of the Central Election Commission of the Crimean Tatars, Zahir Semdlyaev, believes that the purpose of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Crimea on March 18th was to “soothe the Crimean people who live in poor socio-economic conditions.”
"He arrived to promise, to reassure local residents a little, to say that we must still be patient for about another hundred years, and then everything will be fine for sure. But in any case, they [the officials] are fine now, and about …
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Moscow does not plan to discuss sanctions during John Kerry's visit
According to the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, Russia will not bring up the issue of sanctions during US Secretary of State John Kerry’s upcoming visit to Moscow. If Kerry were to initiate such a discussion, however, the Foreign Ministry would welcome it.
“We are not bringing it up [the subject of sanctions], we did not impose the sanctions. If our American colleagues wish to, of course, we will hear them, but we discuss it neither with the Europeans …
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Ukrainian Energy Minister: Our gas reserves will last for 50 years
Ukraine has gas reserves of 1 trillion cubic meters that could last for 50 years if sustainable production is maintained, according to the Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry, Vladimir Demchyshyn, as quoted by Ukrinform.
"Our reserves are 1 trillion cubic meters. We extract 20 billion. We have enough gas for at least 50 years," he said. By Demchyshyn’s estimate, Ukraine lagged in developing Ukrainian gas extraction in the last 20 years.
"We buy at least 15 billion cubic meters of …