Reports of dissenters working for £4 a day on onion plantation owned by Saxony state parliament AfD member Jörg Dornau
Midway through Nikolai’s shift sorting onions alongside other political prisoners in a warehouse in western Belarus, a tall and bald foreigner entered the building.
“He arrived in a car with German license plates. Then he came over and greeted us warmly,” Nikolai*, recalled in an interview with the Observer.
Continue reading...Dozens from European film industry and other artists write letter warning Andrei Gnyot could face death penalty
Dozens of European directors, actors and other artists have called on Serbian authorities not to extradite a Belarusian activist back to Belarus. In an open letter published on Monday, the artists warn that Andrei Gnyot faces “imprisonment, torture and even the death penalty” if sent back to Belarus.
Gnyot, a film-maker who was instrumental in organising an alliance of athletes to oppose the dictatorial rule of Alexander Lukashenko, was detained on arrival in Serbia last year after Belarus issued a warrant for his arrest on tax evasion charges via Interpol. He says the charges are political.
Continue reading...Rico Krieger, found guilty on terrorism charges in case held behind closed doors, to be freed on orders of Alexander Lukashenko
A German man sentenced to death in Belarus has been pardoned by the country’s president, just a few days after news of the case became public. Rico Krieger, 30, was found guilty on terrorism charges in a case that was held behind closed doors and only became public last week.
Krieger, who formerly worked for the German Red Cross, was accused of placing explosives on a rail track in the country on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence.
Continue reading...Secretive trial of Rico Krieger, 30, may be linked to Belarusian volunteer unit fighting alongside Ukraine against Russia
A German national has been sentenced to death in Belarus, the German foreign ministry has said, hours after a Belarusian human rights group said a German combat medic had been sentenced to death by firing squad.
The German ministry did not name its national but the Viasna Human Rights Centre said earlier on Friday that Rico Krieger, 30, had been convicted under six articles of Belarus’s criminal code in a trial held at the end of June. It said he had been in custody since November.
Continue reading...Group who crossed from Belarus included sister of one of the accused in case highlighting Latvia’s harsh migration laws
Two Dutch people are facing prison sentences of up to eight years in Latvia over what they say was an act of compassion to help a group of refugees reach safety, including the sister of one of the pair.
The case has put Latvia’s harsh laws on migration under the spotlight and comes as a local rights activist also faces jail time, for helping refugees who crossed into Latvia via the country’s border with neighbouring Belarus.
Continue reading...Vulnerable birds deviating from migratory routes by up to 155 miles, which could affect breeding
Eagles that have migratory routes through Ukraine have shifted their flight paths to avoid areas affected by the conflict, researchers have found.
GPS data has revealed that greater spotted eagles not only made large detours after the invasion began, but also curtailed pitstops to rest and refuel, or avoided making them altogether.
Continue reading...Activists say little has changed in treatment of migrants and refugees under Donald Tusk’s new government
The case of a woman from Eritrea who was forced to give birth alone in the forested border area between Poland and Belarus has raised questions about the new Polish government’s response to the continuing humanitarian crisis at the border between the two countries.
The previous, rightwing government of the Law and Justice party (PiS) used the migration issue to score political points and was accused of encouraging rights abuses by guards along the border, with reports of frequent violent “pushbacks” of people to Belarus.
Continue reading...Two Polish citizens detained earlier on suspicion of attacking Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov in Lithuania
A Belarusian national has been detained in Poland on suspicion of ordering the attack on a top Russian opposition leader, Leonid Volkov, on Moscow’s behalf, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, has announced.
Volkov, a close aide of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was briefly admitted to hospital last month after he was ambushed and attacked outside his house in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The assailant smashed open Volkov’s car window and repeatedly struck him with a hammer, breaking Volkov’s left arm and damaging his left leg before fleeing the scene.
Continue reading...State investigations say they have received numerous reports as officials repeat claims that Ukraine and west involved in assault
The final death toll from the Moscow concert hall terrorist attack could be much higher than 140 confirmed dead, with Russian state investigations saying they have received 143 reports about people who had gone missing.
The investigative committee said in a statement that 84 bodies had so far been identified.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Guardian investigation for podcast series Black Box reveals names connected to app that generated nonconsensual images of underage girls around the world
The first Miriam al-Adib learned of the pictures was when she returned home from a business trip. “Mum,” said her daughter. “I want to show you something.”
The girl, 14, opened her phone to show an explicit image of herself. “It’s a shock when you see it,” said Adib, a gynaecologist in the southern Spanish town of Almendralejo and a mother of four daughters. “The image is completely realistic … If I didn’t know my daughter’s body, I would have thought that image was real.”
Continue reading...Event has already been widely used as PR opportunity for notorious Chechen unit accused of war crimes in Ukraine
Led out by a beaming Adam Kadyrov, the son of the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, a group of muscular men sporting black beards strode on to the brightly illuminated stage in Dubai last week to receive gold medals and a $5,000 (£3,960) cheque.
The men were members of the notorious Chechen Akhmat Kadyrov special police regiment, a group that Ukrainian officials have said was responsible for some of the worst atrocities in the war with Russia. The unit had just won one of the contests at the international Swat Challenge games, which are held each year in the United Arab Emirates.
Continue reading...Alexander Lukashenko’s law also bars exiled opposition leaders from standing in presidential elections
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has signed a new law granting him lifelong immunity from criminal prosecution and preventing opposition leaders living in exile from running in future presidential elections.
The law theoretically applies to any former president and members of his or her family. In reality, it is only relevant to the 69-year-old Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for almost 30 years.
Continue reading...Proposals aimed at choking off commercial revenues include total ban on sale of Russian rough diamonds
The European Commission is proposing a 12th round of sanctions against Moscow, including restrictions on scores of individuals apparently including the son of the former president Dmitry Medvedev and a relative of Vladimir Putin’s.
Among the 47 individuals the commission wants added to existing sanctions lists are Putin’s cousin Anna Tsivileva, who chairs the “defenders of the fatherland” foundation that supports Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Alexander Lukashenko put forward axis plan during summit with Vladimir Putin in Sochi as rumours of arms deal persist
Alexander Lukashenko has expressed interest in creating a trilateral partnership with Russia and North Korea amid rumours that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un were negotiating an arms deal to sustain Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Belarusian leader made the remarks during a summit with Putin in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, where the two held their seventh face-to-face meeting this year.
Continue reading...Foundation backtracks on earlier announcement that representatives from Russia, Belarus and Iran would be invited
The Nobel Foundation has reversed its decision to invite ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to this year’s Nobel awards ceremony in Stockholm after the invitation sparked anger.
In 2022, the Nobel Foundation, which organises the annual Nobel prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm, decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to the awards event because of the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Mateusz Morawiecki to ask voters if they want to accept ‘thousands of illegal immigrants’ under the bloc’s proposed new rules
Poland’s rightwing prime minister has said he will go ahead with a referendum on EU migration reforms, in which voters will be asked if they are willing to accept “thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa”.
Mateusz Morawiecki announced in a video published online on Sunday that the referendum would coincide with a parliamentary election on 15 October. Migration and security will be central topics of the election, as Morawiecki’s ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), seeks to retain power.
Continue reading...Leaders of the two Nato countries say they expect provocations from their neighbouring Russian ally and Wagner fighters
Belarus has begun military exercises near its border with Poland and Lithuania, as tensions heighten with the two Nato members over Russia-linked Wagner mercenaries who moved to Belarus after their short-lived mutiny in Russia.
Both Poland and Lithuania have increased border security since thousands of Wagner fighters arrived in Russia-allied Belarus under a deal that ended their armed rebellion in late June and allowed them and their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to avoid criminal charges.
Continue reading...Polish military says army helicopters crossed eastern flank, adding to tensions caused by proximity of Wagner fighters
Poland has rushed troops to its eastern border after accusing Belarus, Russia’s closest ally, of violating its airspace with military helicopters.
The Belarusian military denied any such violation and accused Poland, a Nato member and one of Ukraine’s most fervent backers in its conflict with Russia, of inventing the accusation to justify a buildup of its troops.
Continue reading...Lithuania says move may be needed as Poland warns mercenaries are in Belarus to bring crisis to neighbours
Poland and Lithuania are considering closing their respective borders with Belarus amid concerns over the presence there of the Wagner mercenary group, a Lithuanian deputy interior minister said on Friday.
“The considerations are real. The possibility of closing the border exists,” Arnoldas Abramavičius told reporters.
Continue reading...Russian president reacts angrily after Polish defence minister sends troops to guard eastern border
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will use “all means at its disposal” to defend Belarus after Poland and other EU countries voiced concerns about the deployment of Russian paramilitaries near their borders.
Putin delivered a series of aggressive remarks during a meeting of his security council, where he claimed without evidence that Poland was seeking to invade Belarus, a Russian ally, and that their elites were “dreaming of Belarusian lands”.
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