Hundreds of people protested on February 16 in front of the Russian embassies in several countries after reports of the death of jailed Russian opposition politician and outspoken Kremlin foe Aleksei Navalny.
Given the history of the poisoning and assassination of foes of the Russian regime, Lithuania's prime minister said she finds it hard to believe that Aleksei Navalny’s reported death could be of natural causes. Ingrida Simonyte was speaking to RFE/RL on February 16 upon her arrival to the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Navalny was like a Bizarro Putin: tall, gregarious, freewheeling, and completely at ease speaking off the cuff.
World leaders reacting on February 16 to the reported death of imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny left no doubt as to who they blame: President Vladimir Putin and his government.
Amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent in Belarus, a former worker of the Belarusian Metallurgical Works in the eastern city of Zhlobin has gone on trial for their participation in the 2020 protests against the presidential election that named Alyaksandr Lukashenka the winner.
Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have confirmed reports about the detention of Karakalpak activist Aqylbek Muratov (aka Muratbai) at Uzbekistan's request.
The Czech Foreign Ministry said on February 16 that it and 22 other nations have nominated RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who has been detained by security officials in Russia for more than 120 days, for the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano 2024 World Press Freedom Prize.
The Taliban opposes the appointment of a UN special envoy, a leading international interlocutor who would promote dialogue among Afghans.
Amid reports of his sudden death on February 16, Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny looks healthy and in good spirits in the last-known video allegedly shot during court proceedings a day earlier. In it Navalny is addressing a judge via a video link from his prison in the town of Kharp in northern Russia.
The Tajik Prosecutor-General's Office, for the first time, confirmed on February 16 that opposition activist Bilol Qurbonaliev was arrested after Germany deported him in November.
Russian opposition activist Aleksei Navalny: an unyielding Putin critic noted for his courage and his devotion to nonviolent resistance and democracy. Through years of persecution and prison, his message to Russians has stayed the same: “I am not afraid, and you shouldn’t be either.”
The Volgograd regional court in Russia on February 15 rejected an appeal filed by 23-year-old Alyona Agafonova against her arrest on charge of "rehabilitating Nazism" over an online video showing her mocking a monument to a significant Soviet victory in World War II.
A court in Siberia has sent activist Sergei Piskunov to pretrial detention on a charge of "sexual abuse" until at least April 12, activist Denis Shadrin told RFE/RL on February 15.
Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has been found dead, according to Russian media reports citing Federal Penitentiary Service.
The press service for the Moscow courts of common jurisdiction said on February 15 that an arrest warrant was issued for noted Russian actor Aleksei Panin, who currently resides in the United States, on a charge of justifying terrorism.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on February 16 reappointed Ali Asadov to the post of prime minister shortly after lawmakers approved his nomination.
A bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation will visit Hungary on February 18 as pressure grows on Budapest to ratify Sweden's NATO membership when parliament reconvenes after its winter break.
Iranian women's rights activist Sepideh Rashno, a vocal critic of the country's compulsory head scarf law, said she has been ordered to begin a prison sentence of three years and 11 months.
Jailed Iranian activist Manuchehr Bakhtiari, a vocal critic of the government whose son was killed in 2019 protests, has been handed an additional six months in prison for "insulting the leader of the Islamic Republic."
A well-known Karakalpak activist has been detained by police at his home in Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty, the activist's partner told RFE/RL on February 15, adding that Uzbekistan had issued the warrant for his arrest.
