 RFE/RL Watchdog 4/22/2010 6:05:44 PM A blog of human rights, media freedom, and democracy developments from RFE/RL's broadcast region. For more, please visit and bookmark Watchdog . |
 Jailed Iranian Activist 'Out Of Solitary' A jailed Iranian student activist is reported to have been moved out of solitary confinement. More  Armenian Officer Held In Custody Death An Armenian police officer has been arrested in the ongoing criminal investigation into the suspicious death of a man in police custody, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  European Court Rules Azerbaijan Should Release Jailed Journalist The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) today ruled that the Azerbaijani authorities should release journalist Eynulla Fatullayev from prison and pay him 25,000 euros ($33,512) in moral damages. More Iran Student Still In Solitary Confinement An Iranian student activist whose case has become a symbol for opposition protests remains imprisoned in solitary confinement. More  Karabakh Official Pleads For Arrested Moldovan Journalist A senior Nagorno-Karabakh official said he has asked authorities in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region to improve conditions for a local Armenian-born journalist detained there. More  Daghestani Rights Group Plans To Sue Over 'Black Widow' Photos The co-chair of the advocacy group Mothers of Daghestan for Human Rights, Svetlana Isayeva, says her organization will file a lawsuit against the daily "Komsomolskaya pravda" for publishing the photographs of 22 women who law-enforcement officials say could potentially become suicide bombers. More  For Meskhetian Turks, Kyrgyz Attacks Are More Of The Same RFE/RL has reported that some of yesterday’s violence in Kyrgyzstan, which claimed the lives of at least three people, was ethnically motivated. Amid speculation that Russians were being targeted, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev swung into action, ordering his defense minister to ensure the security of Russian citizens in the country. More Mother: Armenian Police Tortured, Killed Son Relatives of Vahan Khalafian, who died in a police station in the town of Charentsavan, told RFE/RL on April 19 that they reject police claims that Khalafian committed suicide. More  Moldova Ex-Minister, Police Chief On Trial A Moldovan court today began the first high-profile trial over the violent protests that followed the country's disputed April 2009 parliamentary elections. More  Prominent Serbian Rights Activist Dies Biljana Kovacevic Vuco was one of a small group of intellectuals and public figures who opposed the regime of late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and the wars he waged in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo in the 1990s. More  Iranian Writer Sentenced To Prison Iran's reformist daily "Sharq" is reporting that prominent filmmaker, journalist, and blogger Mohammad Nourizad has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison and 50 lashes. More  South Ossetian Journalist's Trial Begins In Tskhinvali The trial of journalist Fatima Margieva on charges of illegal possession of weapons began this week in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia. More  Russian Media Union Joins Source Fray The Russian Journalists Union has expressed solidarity with a Moscow-based magazine that refuses to turn over source material to police. More U.S. Voices Concern At Journalist's Arrest In Transdniester U.S. Ambassador to Moldova Asif J. Chaudhry says he has spoken to the leader of Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region about last week's arrest of an independent journalist. More  Iranian Official Says Filmmaker Detained For Security Reasons An Iranian government official has ruled that the detention of renowned filmmaker Jafar Panahi is for security reasons. More  Appeal For Iran Detainee Releases More than 100 Iranian journalists and bloggers have written an open letter to Iran's judiciary chief to demand the immediate release of their jailed colleagues. More |
