The broadcast licenses of six Moldovan television stations have been suspended.
Moldova’s Commission for Exceptional Situations said the suspensions were issued because the TV stations were spreading misinformation and were attempting to manipulate public opinion.

The commission, founded after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, announced the suspensions of First in Moldova, RTR Moldova, Accent TV, NTV Moldova, TV6 and Orhei TV late Friday.

The Associated Press reports that four of the six stations “regularly re-transmit programs from Russian TV channels that on Friday were banned by the European Council as part of a fresh wave of sanctions against Russia.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update Saturday that “In recent days, there has been an uptick in Russia’s campaign of long-range strikes against Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure.”

The ministry tweeted, “The waves of strikes have largely consisted of air and maritime launched cruise missiles, but have almost certainly also included Iranian-provided uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) being launched from Russia’s Krasnodar Region.”

“Previously these UAVs had been primarily launched from locations within occupied Crimea,” the ministry said. “The change of launch site is likely due to Russian concerns about the vulnerability of Crimea, while it is also convenient for resupply from the weapons’ likely arrival point in Russia, at Astrakhan.”

Washington’s focus: Help Ukraine succeed

The United States will provide additional security assistance to Ukraine, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told VOA in an interview Friday.

Asked if Washington would heed Russia’s warning not to deliver sophisticated Patriot air defense missiles or risk the consequences, Kirby replied “Russia will not dictate to the United States or any other country what security assistance we provide to Ukraine.”

The U.S. official said Washington is in “lockstep with the Ukrainians, talking to them almost every day about what their needs are, and making sure that we are best meeting those needs.”

Kirby stressed that air defense capabilities are becoming a chief requirement of Ukraine’s military after Russia’s “unprecedented” airstrikes with cruise missiles and Iranian drones “the likes of which we’ve just seen again over the last 12 to 18 hours,” he told VOA.

Kirby said Washington’s focus is to help Ukraine succeed in the battlefield in whichever way Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sees fit. The U.S., he said, does not dictate to Ukraine how to defend its territory.

In his video address, Friday, Zelenskyy said Russia still had enough missiles for more massive strikes like the one it launched earlier in the day against Ukraine’s electrical grid.

“Whatever the rocket worshipers from Moscow are counting on, it still won’t change the balance of power in this war,” he said in a video address.

Warning from Russia

On Thursday, Russia’s foreign ministry warned the U.S. that if it ships sophisticated Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, Moscow would consider it a “provocative move” that could prompt a response from the Kremlin.

Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova did not spell out what Moscow’s response might be but said the United States should “draw the right conclusions” from Russia’s warnings that equipment supplied by the U.S. is a legitimate target for Russian attacks. With its arms shipments to Ukraine, she said the U.S. already had “effectively become a party” to the war.

U.S. officials this week confirmed to reporters plans to send the Patriot missile system to Ukraine, which Zelenskyy has long said Ukraine needs to defend itself against an onslaught of Russian airstrikes targeting vital infrastructure, including power and water facilities. However, no official announcement has been made.

Russia fired more than 70 missiles at Ukraine Friday in one of its biggest attacks since the start of the war, knocking out power in the second-biggest city and forcing Kyiv to implement emergency blackouts nationwide, Ukrainian officials said.

Three explosions were heard in the city of Kyiv alone, one of which was close to the home of VOA’s reporter Anna Chernikova. She reported from Kyiv that the explosion was so powerful, it shook her apartment building.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said late Friday that just a third of its residents had both heat and water and 40% electricity. The metro system — a crucial transport artery – remained shut down, he added.

Despite widespread damage on the country’s power infrastructure, after some repairs, Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenergo lifted a state of emergency that had forced it to impose blackouts. But Ukrenergo also warned that more time would be needed to repair equipment and restore electricity than in previous bombardments.

Other explosions were reported in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Donetsk, and some western regions. The northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest, was also badly hit, knocking out electricity, heating and running water. Later Friday, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov as saying that 55% of the city’s power was back up, and 85% in the surrounding region.

Local authorities of the city of Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown, reported strikes in the residential area. Three people were killed and more than a dozen were injured when an apartment block was hit in central Kryvyi Rih. Another person died in shelling in Kherson in the south, they said. Russian-installed officials in occupied eastern Ukraine said 12 people had died by Ukrainian shelling.

Ukrainian Air Force Command reported that Russia has launched some 76 missiles at Ukraine targeting critical energy infrastructure. About 60 of those missiles were destroyed by air defense. Thirty-seven of 40 missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defense over Kyiv alone. Ten missiles were destroyed in the air over the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Moscow says attacks on basic infrastructure are militarily legitimate. Ukraine says the attacks intended to cause civilian misery are a war crime.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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VOA Russian White House correspondent Mykhailo Komadovsky spoke with John Kirby, National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications, on Dec. 16, 2022, about the latest on U.S. support for Ukraine, White House opposition to ending support for Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen, and Russia-Iran ties.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: John Kirby, thank you very much for your time. So, let’s start with Ukraine, if I may. So recently we’ve heard multiple reports of explosions and presumable drone attacks in the Russian Federation. In one of your interviews, you said the following, let me quote you. ‘We’re not encouraging or enabling Ukrainian operations inside Russia. We’re trying to make sure that they can defend their territory and win back their ground in Ukraine.” From your point of view, is it possible to win the war without targeting military infrastructure within Russia that is actively used to attack Ukrainian civilians?

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby: Well I think we’d let the Ukrainians, President Zelenskyy as Commander in Chief in particular, define what his intentions are, what his specific objectives are. What we’re focused on is making sure that they can defend their territory, they can win back lost ground that the Russians have illegally taken from them.

The war has evolved over time. You know, the first few weeks it was all about Kyiv. The Battle of Kyiv which the Ukrainians won, and back then we were talking about anti-tank missiles. Then it moved into artillery, as the fighting really concentrated on the Donbas, which is a lot like Kansas, very open farmland. And now given these, well, I think the only word to say is, unprecedented air assaults by Russia, both from cruise missiles and from Iranian drones, the likes of which we’ve just seen again over the last 12 to 18 hours, air defense capabilities are becoming a chief requirement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

VOA: Russia warned Thursday that if the U.S. delivers some sophisticated air defense missiles, like the Patriots, it’s going to be a red line for them and it’s going to prompt a reaction from the Kremlin. And is this the reason why you’re not announcing the delivery of the Patriots to Ukraine as planned? As we’ve heard from President Biden, we have heard him literally an hour ago, when he said, way off the mic, the following – ‘You’ll hear in a few minutes.’ Still no statement, so are you concerned?

Kirby: We have provided more than 25 presidential drawdown packages to Ukraine, not to mention other security assistance initiative funds for contracts, for security assistance for Ukraine over the last nine months, and there will be more. There will be another announcement of a security assistance package for Ukraine, I’m sure, in coming days. When we have a package to announce, we’ll speak to that, we’ll speak to the contents, we’ll speak to the amount of money that’s being spent on it, and we’ll talk about the timing in terms of getting it into the hands of Ukrainian soldiers as fast as possible.

VOA: Are you concerned about the warnings coming from Moscow to Washington? Because they’ve been pretty clear. If you provide Ukraine with that type of munition, we’re going to respond. But they’re not specifying the weight of that response.

Kirby: Russia is not going to dictate to the United States or to any other country what security assistance we provide Ukraine. We’re doing that in lockstep with the Ukrainians, talking to them almost every day about what their needs are, and making sure that we are best meeting those needs. And if we can’t, then the United States has proven able and willing to talk to allies and partners about how they might meet those capabilities.

VOA: After the swap of Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout, you said that the administration will hold Viktor Bout accountable should he commit any wrongdoing again, or should he become a threat to the United States again. What are the national security concerns related to Bout? And what are you going do to mitigate those concerns?

Kirby: Well, let’s not get ahead of where we are. We did a national security assessment before that prisoner exchange, that is common practice, we do that routinely. And as a result of that assessment, we came out of it believing that whatever risk there might be to our national security by Mr. Bout, plying his old trade was a manageable risk. We will always be vigilant about our national security, and if Mr. Bout decides with his newfound freedom that he wants to go back and do his old line of work, then he will be held accountable by the United States.

VOA: Have you heard from Brittney Griner since she came back to the United States? How is she doing, because we haven’t seen her publicly so far since the day of the swap.

Kirby: I would let Ms. Griner speak for herself. We’re focused on making sure that she’s getting the care she needs as she prepares to reassimilate back into society, go back to her team, and go back to her friends and family, and that’s what we all want.

VOA: Let’s move to Yemen. So, in opposing the War Powers resolution on the war in Yemen, the White House has argued that withdrawing U.S. troops for the Saudi-led war would complicate ongoing diplomacy here. Can you explain that? How does ending support for a war prevent peace?

Kirby: Well, we all want to see the war in Yemen end. We’ve been working to that for years. Unfortunately, for way too long we’ve been supporting the U.N.-led process there and we’ll continue to do that. Too many innocent Yemenis have fallen victim and prey to this ghastly war. Now, what we are proud of is our role in helping foster what is now the longest truce in the history of this Yemeni war, going on 10 months here of a cease-fire, which literally has helped save thousands of Yemeni lives. We want to see that cease-fire, we want to see that peace enduring, and we want to see it sustainable.

VOA: Can you give us the latest on the U.S. intelligence on the joint weapons production between Russia and Iran?

Kirby: We do believe, as we have said, that Iran and Russia are trying to deepen their defense partnership. Part and parcel of that could be the development of a joint production facility in Russia for Iranian drones. And we continue to believe that that’s the case. But again, I think you got to step back here. It’s not just about production of drones, which of course the Russians will use to propagate more violence on the Ukrainian people and civilian infrastructure. It’s about this deepening relationship, which is not only not good for the people of Ukraine, it’s not good for the people of the Middle East. An Iran that benefits from enhanced military assistance capabilities from Russia is an Iran that becomes an even bigger threat in the region.

VOA: What about the deepening relationship between North Korea and Russia?

Kirby: We still haven’t seen much in terms of the consummation of some sort of transaction here from a military perspective between North Korea and Russia. That said, noteworthy that Russia would reach out to a nation like North Korea. They’re running out of friends. They’re running out of sympathetic ears, and that they would go to a nation like North Korea to procure what we think would be artillery shells … It shows you the degree to which Mr. Putin is under pressure in Ukraine, that his own defense industrial base is having trouble keeping up with the needs, the rate of expenditure of weapons systems and ammunition inside Ukraine, and that he has to reach outward, outside Russia. You know, this was a military that was put forth by Mr. Putin as one of the most powerful on the planet and the most — one of the most advanced, and here he is, after nine months of war in Ukraine, having to reach out to countries like Iran and North Korea.

VOA: Since we’re approaching the end of the year. Let’s wrap it up. And I’m going to ask you about the biggest challenges that you and your team faced during 2022.

Kirby: It’s been the war in Ukraine and Russia’s aggression and the way in which it has literally transformed the security environment in Europe. That security environment is different now as you and I sit here than it was 9, 10 months ago. It has changed; not is changing, not will change. It has changed and the United States has changed with it. We now have 20,000 more troops on the European continent than we did before the war. And those 20, extra 20,000 will stay in a rotational basis. But our relationship with our NATO allies is certainly as vibrant and as strong as ever and getting stronger by the day. And soon, NATO will be joined by two more very modern militaries.

China also has continued to change the security environment around the world. Now, as you’ve heard us say, we, we look at China as a strategic competitor. We don’t want to see conflict with China. And yet, we have to be ready for the security challenges that China has posed in the information environment in 2022, including their efforts to achieve a new normal with respect to Taiwan in the wake of recent activity there in Taiwan.

And then, while we’re in the Indo Pacific, let’s talk about North Korea. The Kim regime, which has now increased the number, the frequency, of missile tests, rocket exercises…

VOA: A muscle-flexing game.

Kirby: …and they are definitely continuing to pursue their nuclear ambitions. We have said time and time again, over the course of this year, that we’re willing to sit down without preconditions to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful diplomatic way. They have rebuffed those offers and instead only increased instability, only made things worse. And so one of the things that we have done over the course of this year is really try to deepen and strengthen our vast network of alliances and partnerships in the region.

The president has made a focus, particularly working with South Korea and Japan, bilaterally, they’re of course treaty allies, and trilaterally between all three countries. We have conducted more exercises, we are much more engaged than we were in the past. And we have also unilaterally, the United States, has increased our intelligence capabilities there off the peninsula.

I might also add counterterrorism. A couple of very, very noteworthy counterterrorism operations in 2022, including taking out al-Zawahiri, de facto leader of al Qaeda, as well as ISIS terrorists.

VOA: It’s been quite a bumpy ride here. But if you were to pick one or two of your biggest achievements in 2022, what would it be?

Kirby: Well, I believe one of the biggest achievements is the manner in which President Biden and this administration has really revitalized this network of alliances and partnerships. When you just take a look at where U.S. leadership on the world stage sits now as to where it was when President Biden came into office, it’s night and day. NATO is a much more, not that it wasn’t before, but it’s just, it’s a much more vibrant alliance. It’s more relevant than ever before. And people will say, ‘Well, that’s because Putin and his war.’ It’s because of the leadership the United States has shown in the wake of those kinds of threats, really unifying the world stage. You just have to see in 2022, how much more important and relevant U.S. leadership is on the world stage, and how President Biden has really worked to solidify that, and I have every expectation that going into 2023 you’re going to see the same thing.
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In a one-on-one interview with VOA’s Russian White House correspondent Mykhailo Komadovsky, NSC spokesperson discusses U.S. support for Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, ties between Russia and Iran
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In 2012, actress Chulpan Khamatova was campaigning for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now based in Latvia, she speaks out against Putin and his war on Ukraine. Anna Rice narrates this story from VOA’s Russian Service.
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Rising domestic demand is forcing Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to cut back or halt natural gas exports to China, prompting a shakeup of regional energy markets and a rethinking of trade relationships across Central Asia. Meanwhile, American experts have been urging the West to invest in the region’s energy infrastructure, arguing that this kind of support “will create steady partners and balance Chinese and Russian ambitions.”

Residents in Central Asia not only face bitterly cold winters but also endure energy cuts during this season. They blame the government for corruption and lack of accountability, but authorities blame decreasing production and supply bottlenecks.

“Stop exporting, start delivering!” blare many social media debates in Uzbekistan, to which officials respond: “We are not exporting. … This is all we have.”

“We import natural gas in winter to meet domestic needs and export it in summer to return the gas we have received,” said Jurabek Mirzamahmudov, Uzbekistan’s energy minister.

The China-Central Asia pipeline from Turkmenistan carries gas across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Beijing, the region’s biggest trade partner, mostly buys energy products, including natural gas and oil, from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

In the first quarter of 2022, Turkmenistan, China’s largest gas supplier, delivered $2.87 billion worth, according to official Chinese data. Ashgabat increased gas exports by 53% this year, with October’s cost volume amounting to $8.23 billion.

Kazakhstan, selling $270.6 million worth of gas to China at the beginning of the year, will halt exports, instead using it for domestic consumption. The government has warned that gas prices, currently subsidized by exports, will rise.

Uzbekistan aims to end gas exports in coming years due to rising domestic demand. This year its plan is to export 3.3 billion cubic meters, a notable decrease from 2019, when it sold 12.2 billion cubic meters. China’s General Administration of Customs reported that Uzbekistan exported $132.8 million in gas to China from January to April.

On December 7, Mirzamahmudov confirmed that Uzbekistan had stopped gas exports to China, then 6 million cubic meters a day. “However, our daily domestic demand has gone up to 25 million cubic meters a day,” he said.

Relations with China

Meetings in Tashkent with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua in early December indicated the countries are working toward boosting business and aiming to grow annual trade to $10 billion from about $8 billion.

Official news agency Xinhua highlighted that “Uzbekistan is willing to deepen cooperation with China in such fields as trade, investment, transportation, energy, infrastructure … and advance the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and other connectivity projects to benefit people in the two countries and the region.”

“China wants to engage and invest in Central Asian resources as a bridge towards markets in Europe, towards hydrocarbon resources and politically friendly parts of the Middle East, such as Iran, and increasingly Saudi Arabia and Iraq. … It wants to reshape the international economic order,” said Wesley Hill, one of the authors of a recent report from Washington-based International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC), which focused on Central Asia’s energy potential.

In Kazakhstan, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, a vision of building land and sea trade routes from China to other countries through investments and infrastructure. Kazakhstan was also the first country Xi visited since COVID-19 became a public health emergency.

Western interests, Russian ambitions

Beyond China, “Efficient exports of Central Asian resources to potential trading partners requires infrastructure investments, including pipelines and specialized port terminals,” said the ITIC report, since existing ones mostly cross Russia or Iran.

Kazakhstan earns 40% of its revenue from oil, but 80% of the energy exports pass through Russia via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium.

“Kazakhstan is a responsible actor,” said First Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov, who was visiting Washington for the annual Strategic Dialogue earlier this month.

“Over 70% of our oil exports go to the European Union,” he told journalists and experts gathered at George Washington University on December 6. “Kazakh oil exports account for more than 1.5% of global supply.”

As the West intensifies ties with Central Asia, American analysts caution that Russia is likely to weaponize energy, intimidating regional exporters, “hoping to prevent their role as potential suppliers to Europe. Similarly, China could attempt to increase its leverage while Russia is preoccupied in Ukraine and protect its own economic interests.”

Like many reports from U.S. think tanks, the ITIC study also stresses multivector cooperation and regional integration, underlining “these are not in Russian or Chinese interests.”

“Western investment — both government-directed and private — should prioritize the energy infrastructure of states whose resources make them best able to meet current demand: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan,” the ITIC publication says.

“As Russia escalates its bid for hegemony over formerly Soviet states, the strengthening of the Central Asian republics’ energy sectors allows them a pathway to greater autonomy and prosperity … Kazakhstan with oil and uranium, Uzbekistan with natural gas and uranium, and Turkmenistan with natural gas.”

By supporting the region’s energy industry, the ITIC experts urge, “the democratic world will create steady partners and balance Chinese and Russian ambitions.”

Observers in Washington agree, this is a time of economic uncertainty and assertive Russian aggression.

The Carnegie Endowment’s Russia and Eurasia expert, Paul Stronski, said Washington should avoid asking Central Asians to pick sides.

“They are sympathetic to Ukraine and wary of Russia. But Russia is willing to muck around,” he said.

Stronski suggested the U.S. provide security assistance and encourage the region to seek new linkages.

“We and Central Asians don’t want the region to be stuck between Russia and China.”

“Economic engagement is key but largely depends on these countries’ willingness to reform. In Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, specifically, Washington should hold governments accountable for their promises, while providing technical support,” Stronski said.

The ITIC report noted, as energy exporters, Central Asian states must continue “market liberalization and anti-corruption reforms, building confidence that energy and infrastructure projects will not be hindered by grift, needless roadblocks, expropriation, or confiscatory and punitive taxation” and ensure the rule of law to be attractive “safe harbors for foreign investment.”
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A massive aquarium in Berlin has burst, spilling 1,500 tropical fish and a million liters of water into the complex surrounding the structure and into the street.

About 100 emergency workers responded to the scene early Friday at the DomAquaree building .

Officials say they do not know what caused the Aqua Dom to collapse.

The aquarium was the centerpiece of the Radisson Blu hotel lobby and opened in 2003.

Guests have been moved out of the hotel.
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Ten people, including five children aged 3 to 15 years, were killed in a fire that broke out Friday morning at a residential building in Vaulx-en-Velin, near the French city of Lyon, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

Darmanin said the cause of the fire was not yet known.

“There are several scenarios and a probe will be opened,” he said, adding he was in touch with President Emmanuel Macron about the incident.

Around 180 firefighters were at the site. The fire was extinguished, Darmanin said, adding he was heading to the site.

The fire occurred in the early hours of Friday morning at a seven-story residential building. A security cordon was set up at the site, the authority of the Rhone area said.
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Six Chinese diplomatic personnel left Britain this week for their alleged roles in assaulting protesters at the Chinese Consulate in Manchester in October.

British parliamentarians and rights defenders welcomed Wednesday’s development, even as they criticized 10 Downing Street for not acting sooner.

“Six Chinese Consulate officials, including the consul general, are being removed from the U.K., following the disgraceful incident in October,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced Wednesday.

Cleverly added that British authorities requested diplomatic immunity to be waived for the consulate officials so they could be questioned by Manchester police in connection to their roles in the violent incident of October 16.

“We all saw the disturbing footage of the incident outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester. … We informed the Chinese Embassy of that, and we set a deadline which expired today, making clear that we expected them to take action,” Cleverly said in a taped video message released Wednesday.

Chinese Consul General Zheng Xiyuan and other men from the consulate were captured on camera kicking down banners that had been put up by several dozen protesters. One of the protesters, later identified as Bob Chan, who moved to Britain from Hong Kong, was seen being dragged into the consulate and beaten.

“Due to our fears for the safety of the man, officers intervened and removed the victim [Chan] from the consulate grounds,” Manchester police said later in a statement.

Following Cleverly’s announcement, China’s diplomatic mission in London issued a statement, quoting the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson saying Zheng Xiyuan had “completed his tenure and returned to China upon instruction not long ago.” It further stated that the U.K. government had sided with “those violent rioters … and wrongfully accused the relevant Chinese Consulate members who were actually the victims.”

No footage is readily available that shows the Chinese Consulate staff were victims in the altercation. Meanwhile, Australian media reported that one of the men from the Chinese Consulate in Manchester had engaged in physical violence against Taiwanese diplomats while stationed in Fuji in 2020.

China also denied wrongdoing in that incident.

While Beijing called Zheng’s departure from Britain “a normal rotation” and insisted that “it’s for us to determine the duration of posting of members of Chinese diplomatic and consular missions,” British media cast the forced departure of Zheng and others who would otherwise have been questioned by British police as “fleeing.”

Prominent British lawmakers from the Conservative and Labour parties and human rights activists say Zheng’s and others’ departures should have come much sooner.

“It should never have taken two months and intense and persistent parliamentary pressure to achieve this outcome,” Benedict Rogers, co-founder of Hong Kong Watch, wrote in response to VOA’s request for comment from his home in London.

Rogers said he believed the Chinese personnel should have been “expelled from the U.K. at a much earlier stage, given that the video footage of the incident and the Consul-General’s own admission, in a television interview, of his participation in the incident, provided clear evidence.”

“All that said,” he added, “the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s statement is welcome, and certainly the six PRC diplomats’ removal from the U.K. is absolutely right in the circumstances. They are not welcome here and should not be welcome in any democratic country that upholds basic freedoms and the rule of law.”

Zheng, then-consul general seen in the video in a fancy-looking coat, hat, scarf and face mask, “may have dressed like a gentleman, but he behaved like a gangster and a thug,” Rogers added.

On Thursday, cross-party parliamentarians in Britain urged “no more dither and delay” by British authorities in investigating inappropriate and illegal conduct by Chinese official representatives stationed in Britain.

Declaring the six people persona non grata is a first step, lawmakers from the Conservative and Labour parties said.

Labour Party member Catherine West, who serves as shadow foreign minister for Asia and the Pacific, urged her government to engage with international partners “to prevent similar occurrences from happening in New York, Canberra, Amsterdam or Ottawa.”
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Russian and NASA engineers were assessing a coolant leak on Thursday from a Soyuz crew capsule docked with the International Space Station that could have been caused by a micrometeorite strike.

Dramatic NASA TV images showed white particles resembling snowflakes streaming out of the rear of the vessel for hours.

The coolant leak forced the last-minute cancellation of a spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts on Wednesday and could potentially impact a return flight to Earth by three crew members.

Leak posed no danger

Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos and the U.S. space agency said the leak on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft did not pose any danger to the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station.

“The crew members aboard the space station are safe, and were not in any danger during the leak,” NASA said.

It said ground teams were evaluating “potential impacts to the integrity of the Soyuz spacecraft.”

“NASA and Roscosmos will continue to work together to determine the next course of action,” NASA said.

The TASS news agency quoted Sergei Krikalev, a former cosmonaut who heads the crewed space flight program for Roscosmos, as saying that the leak could have been caused by a tiny meteorite striking Soyuz MS-22.

“The cause of the leak may be a micrometeorite entering the radiator,” TASS quoted Krikalev as saying. “Possible consequences are changes in the temperature regime.”

“No other changes in the telemetric parameters of either the Soyuz spacecraft or the (ISS) station on the Russian or American segments have been detected,” Krikalev said.

NASA later added that the crew on the station “completed normal operations Thursday, including … configuring tools ahead of a planned US spacewalk on Monday.”

Soyuz MS-22 flew Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the space station in September.

It is scheduled to bring them back to Earth in March and another vessel would have to be sent to the space station if Soyuz MS-22 is unavailable.

Prokopyev and Petelin had been making preparations for a spacewalk on Wednesday when the leak was discovered.

“The crew reported the warning device of the ship’s diagnostic system went off, indicating a pressure drop in the cooling system,” Roscosmos said. “At the moment, all systems of the ISS and the ship are operating normally, the crew is safe.”

NASA said the leak had occurred on the “aft end” of Soyuz MS-22, which is secured to the space station.

International collaboration

There are currently four other astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station in addition to Rubio, Prokopyev and Petelin.

NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina were flown to the space station in October aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.

Space has been a rare avenue of cooperation between Moscow and Washington since the start of Moscow’s assault on Ukraine in February, and ensuing Western sanctions on Russia that shredded ties between the two countries.

The ISS was launched in 1998 at a time of increased US-Russia cooperation following their Space Race competition during the Cold War.
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The International Criminal Court on Thursday confirmed the convictions of Dominic Ongwen, a former Ugandan child soldier who rose to be a commander in the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army, and upheld his 25-year sentence for rape, murder and child abduction.   

“The appeals chamber rejects all the defense grounds of appeal and unanimously confirms the convictions,” presiding judges Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza said. 

Later the judges also rejected all the grounds of appeal related to the sentencing.   

Led by fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, the LRA terrorized Ugandans for nearly 20 years as it fought the government of President Yoweri Museveni from bases in northern Uganda and neighboring countries. 

The militia has been largely wiped out. 

Ongwen, now in his mid-40s, was abducted at 9 years old and forced into a life of violence after the group killed his parents. 

The defense had argued that his horrific experiences in the LRA meant he could not be held responsible for his later actions.   

Appeals judges, however, dismissed this and confirmed the lower court’s findings that Ongwen was not under duress and acted independently when he committed the crimes for which he was charged. 

Ongwen is the only LRA suspect to appear before the ICC so far. Kony is still at large despite being the subject of an arrest warrant from the court since 2005. 

In a hearing earlier this year Ongwen told judges he felt as though he was being blamed for all of Kony’s crimes.   

The ICC prosecutor recently said he would seek to start proceedings against Kony and intensify efforts to bring him to trial. 

Prosecutors and lawyers for the more than 4,000 victims participating in the case have asked judges to uphold the conviction and sentence. 

The ICC was established in 2002 to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and other major human rights violations. 
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The European Parliament voted Thursday to suspend all work on legislation linked to Qatar after allegations of corruption involving a parliament vice president rocked the assembly.

Prosecutors suspect the vice president, Eva Kaili, and three other people took bribes from World Cup host Qatar in its alleged bid to influence European Union policymaking.

At a news conference following the vote, Parliament President Roberta Metsola told reporters the criminal proceedings from a probe by Belgian police were damaging for democracy, for Europe, “and for everything that we stand for … trust that has taken years to build.”

She announced the planned implementation of a reform package, to be ready by the first of the year, that would include “the strengthening of the parliament’s whistleblower protection systems, a ban on all unofficial friendship groups, a review of the policing of our code of conduct rules and a complete and in-depth look at how we interact with third countries.” A ban on Qatari representatives’ access to the parliament’s premises is also to be considered.

The European Parliament, one of the European Union’s legislative bodies, said it would suspend all work on legislative files relating to Qatar, notably on visa liberalization, a European Union-Qatar aviation agreement and planned visits, until the allegations have been confirmed or dismissed.

EU lawmakers backed the resolution 541-2 and said they were “appalled” by the alleged corruption, one of the union’s biggest scandals to date.

Belgian investigators searched 19 homes and the offices of the European Parliament, looking into allegations that Qatar paid large bribes to influence the parliament’s policy debates.

A source close to the investigation told the Reuters news agency that $1.6 million was seized in the raids, and that people were arrested on corruption charges, including parliament Vice President Eva Kaili of Greece.

Authorities in Athens on Monday froze Kaili’s assets, and her political party in Greece also suspended the former television news anchor. Both Kaili and Qatar officials have denied any wrongdoing.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Georgia’s imprisoned former president, Mikheil Saakashvili, is likely to stay in detention in the former Soviet republic after his legal bid for medical treatment abroad was delayed on Wednesday.

After Saakashvili called off a hunger strike earlier in the week, his lawyer said Thursday that the former president would eat only food sent to him by his family because he no longer trusted the prison’s food. Saakashvili and his medical team alleged last month that he was being slowly poisoned with heavy metals.

Saakashvili, a pro-Western leader of the ex-Soviet republic between 2004 and 2013, is serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power, a charge that he and his supporters deny and call politically motivated.

On Wednesday, a Tbilisi court heard some opening arguments from prosecutors before adjourning until December 22, the second weeklong delay of the proceedings. Saakashvili, who is being treated in a Tbilisi clinic, accused the government of denying him the right to trial, but Georgia’s Justice Ministry said that the hospital was simply not equipped for videoconferencing.

“The aim is to kill Mikheil Saakashvili,” the ex-president’s lawyer, Shalva Khachapuridze, told reporters in Tbilisi on Wednesday. The government has denied that Saakashvili’s life is in danger.

Video surveillance

Saakashvili had not been seen for months until Wednesday, when the government released video surveillance from his hospital room in an attempt to prove that he was healthier than his team has claimed.

“The aim is to prove that no one is tortured in Georgia,” Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said.

The video footage is dated from August, October and December this year. The most recent video shows the ex-president using a walker.

Saakashvili’s lawyer said that the government published footage of Saakashvili without his consent and that he would file a complaint against the justice minister and the prison system.

The charges against Saakashvili, as well as his treatment in detention, have prompted concerns among human rights watchdogs and foreign diplomats that the Georgian government’s pursuit of justice risks being seen as political retribution and a source of national division.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told VOA that department officials were closely monitoring the situation.

“Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the Georgian government to ensure Mr. Saakashvili’s health is protected and human rights are respected,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to advocate for the authorities to take appropriate steps to ensure his health and welfare, based on the recommendations of the public defender’s medical experts.”

On Wednesday, the European Union parliament voted for a resolution asking Georgia’s president, Salome Zurabishvili, to use her constitutional right to release Saakashvili. The resolution also emphasized the Georgian government’s responsibility for the health and life of the former president.

‘Very near death’

A medical report distributed on November 29 by Saakashvili’s legal team stated that he had been “poisoned” by heavy metals and that his life could be in danger without proper treatment. Saakashvili’s doctors say that his health has worsened significantly since he went to prison in October 2021 and staged repeated hunger strikes.

“He’s [Saakashvili] very near death now because the toxins are continuing to eat on his body; he needs to be transferred to a facility that understands detoxification,” Dr. David Smith, the author of the report, told VOA’s Georgian Service.

Smith could not elaborate on how exactly these toxins appeared in the former president’s body, but he believes this was not done on purpose by the doctors.

“This is speculative, but I think what happened is they didn’t recognize the heavy metal poisoning and they prescribed a whole series of drugs, some of which were counteractive,” he said. “They didn’t know what was happening. Heavy metal poisoning is a difficult diagnosis.”

In a statement to VOA, Georgia’s justice ministry said that they suggested Saakashvili take another toxicology test following the report from his medical team. The results have not been released.
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The United States imposed new economic sanctions on Russian financial interests Thursday, targeting one of the country’s richest businessmen, Vladimir Potanin, and his family, in the latest effort to pressure Moscow over its war against Ukraine.

Potanin was once Russia’s deputy prime minister, and the U.S. said he has direct ties to President Vladimir Putin. Potanin, 61, controls Interros, an investment holding company the U.S. said has sweeping interests across the Russian economy, including 36% ownership of Nornickel, the world’s largest palladium and refined nickel producer.

The U.S. also blocked Potanin from use of Nirvana, the yacht worth hundreds of millions of dollars that he partially owns. Britain and Canada had previously imposed sanctions against him.

In addition, the U.S. Department of State blacklisted Rosbank, a Russia-based commercial bank it said Potanin acquired earlier this year, along with 17 subsidiaries of Russian VTB, the country’s second largest bank.

Brian Nelson, the Department of the Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement, “By sanctioning additional major Russian banks, we continue to deepen Russia’s isolation from global markets.”

He said the U.S. sanctions, “together with actions taken by our international partners, will further inhibit the Putin regime’s ability to fund its horrific war against Ukraine.”

The State Department also imposed sanctions on members of the board of directors of the state-owned Russian Railways, members of the government, including the governor of the Moscow region and their family members.

The sanctions freeze whatever U.S. assets those blacklisted might hold, and generally bar Americans from any financial deals with them.

The newest sanctions follow a lengthy list of sanctions the U.S. and its allies have imposed on Russian oligarchs and other key business leaders since Putin invaded Ukraine last February. But there has been no indication the financial pressures that the individuals might be facing have influenced Putin to curtail Russia’s war effort.

Whatever the sanctions’ effect in Russia may or may not be, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement the United States would continue “to impose costs on Russia for its war of aggression against Ukraine.”

“Our actions today are a clear message that the United States will not hesitate to continue to use the tools at our disposal to promote an end to, and accountability for, President Putin’s unconscionable war,” Blinken said.
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German tennis star Boris Becker, 55, has been freed from a British prison, the government said on Thursday, meaning he is now expected to be deported from the country.

In April, Becker, a six-times Grand Slam champion, was jailed for two years and six months by a London court for hiding hundreds of thousands of pounds of assets after he was declared bankrupt.

“Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity,” the Home Office said in a statement while declining to comment directly on Becker’s case.

Becker had previously been convicted of tax evasion in Germany in 2002, for which he received a suspended prison sentence.

The former tennis great had won his first Wimbledon final in 1985 aged 17 becoming the youngest and first unseeded player to claim the men’s singles title.

He went on to win two more Wimbledon titles.

Becker had denied all the charges in relation to the London court proceedings, saying he had cooperated with the bankruptcy proceedings – even offering up his wedding ring – and had relied on his advisers.
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National Health Service nurses in Britain staged a strike on Thursday, their first ever national walkout, as a bitter dispute with the government over pay increases pressure on already-stretched hospitals at one of the busiest times of year.

An estimated 100,000 nurses will strike at 76 hospitals and health centers, cancelling an estimated 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries in Britain’s state-funded NHS.

Britain is facing a wave of industrial action this winter, with strikes crippling the rail network and postal service, and airports bracing for disruption over Christmas.

Inflation running at more than 10%, trailed by pay offers of around 4%, is stoking tensions between unions and employers.

Of all the strikes though, it will be the sight of nurses on picket lines that will be the stand-out image for many Britons this winter.

“What a tragic day. This is a tragic day for nursing, it is a tragic day for patients, patients in hospitals like this, and it is a tragic day for people of this society and for our NHS,”

Pat Cullen, the head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, said to the BBC on a picket line on Thursday.

The widely admired nursing profession will shut down parts of the NHS, which since its founding in 1948 has developed national treasure status for being free at the point of use, hitting healthcare provision when it is already stretched in winter and with backlogs at record levels due to COVID delays.

Health minister Steve Barclay said it was deeply regrettable that the strike was going ahead.

“I’ve been working across government and with medics outside the public sector to ensure safe staffing levels — but I do remain concerned about the risk that strikes pose to patients,” he said.

Barclay said patients should continue to seek urgent medical care and attend appointments unless they have been told not to.

More Strikes Ahead?

The industrial action by nurses on December 15 and December 20 is unprecedented in the British nursing union’s 106-year history, but the RCN says it has no choice as workers struggle to make ends meet.

Nurses want a 19% pay rise, arguing they have suffered a decade of real-terms cuts and that low pay means staff shortages and unsafe care for patients.

The government has refused to discuss pay, which Cullen said raised the prospect of more strikes.

“Every room I go into with the secretary of state, he tells me he can talk about anything but pay,” she said. “What it is going to do is continue with days like this.”

Outside St. Thomas’ Hospital in central London, Ethnea Vaughan, 50, a practice development nurse from London said she felt nurses had no option but to strike, blaming a government that had ignored their concerns for years.

“Nothing is changing and I’ve been in nursing for 27 years and all I can see is a steady decline in morale,” she told Reuters.

The government in Scotland avoided a nursing strike by holding talks on pay, an outcome that the RCN had hoped for in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

But the government has said it cannot afford to pay more than the 4-5% offered to nurses, which was recommended by an independent body, and that further pay increases would mean taking money away from frontline services.

Some treatment areas will be exempt from strike action the RCN has said, including chemotherapy, dialysis and intensive care.

Polling ahead of the nursing strike showed that a majority of Britons support the action, but once the walk-outs are underway politicians will be closely monitoring public opinion.
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Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele has been sentenced to 28 years in prison in Iran for a “fabricated series of crimes,” Belgium’s justice minister said on Wednesday, adding the government was doing everything possible to secure his release.

Vandecasteele had been sentenced as retribution for a jail sentence Belgium imposed on an Iranian diplomat last year, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said in the Belgian parliament.

“This is a compatriot who was innocently arrested in February and has been held under inhumane conditions since,” he said.

Belgium has repeatedly said there are no grounds for the detention of Vandecasteele, 41.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

“It’s a disgrace and a tragedy for Olivier and his family,” family spokesman Olivier Van Steirtegem told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. “He is innocent and the victim of a larger, shady international game.”

Swap suspended

Last week, the Belgian constitutional court suspended an agreement between Iran and Belgium that would have made it possible to swap prisoners between the two countries. But Van Quickenborne said the agreement would legally still be relevant for Vandencasteele.

That deal was seen by his family as his only hope. Belgian media suggested he might be swapped for Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian who last year was found guilty of attempted terrorism and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in Belgium in connection with a foiled plot to bomb a 2018 rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a French-based dissident group.

Van Quickenborne said Vandecasteele’s situation was directly linked to the sentencing of Assadi, who worked as a diplomat at the Iranian Embassy in Vienna, Austria.

Prosecutors said his position was a cover for actions against members of the Iranian opposition in Europe.

Iran dismissed all terrorism charges and called the Paris attack allegations a “false flag” stunt by the NCRI, which it considers a terrorist group.
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National Health Service nurses in Britain will strike on Thursday in their first-ever national walkout as a bitter dispute with the government over pay ramps up pressure on already-stretched hospitals at one of the busiest times of year.

An estimated 100,000 nurses will strike at 76 hospitals and health centers on Thursday, canceling thousands of non-urgent operations, such as hip replacements, and tens of thousands of outpatient appointments in Britain’s state-funded NHS.

Britain is facing a wave of industrial action this winter, with strikes crippling the rail network and postal service, and airports bracing for disruption over Christmas.

Inflation running at more than 10%, trailed by pay offers of around 4%, is stoking tensions between unions and employers.

Of all the strikes though, it will be the sight of nurses on picket lines that will be the standout image for many Britains this winter.

“It is deeply regrettable some union members are going ahead with strike action,” health minister Steve Barclay said.

“I’ve been working across government and with medics outside the public sector to ensure safe staffing levels — but I do remain concerned about the risk that strikes pose to patients.”

Considered a national treasure

The widely admired nursing profession will shut down parts of the NHS, which since its founding in 1948 has developed national treasure status for being free at the point of use, hitting health care provision when it is already stretched in winter and with backlogs at record levels due to COVID delays

Barclay said patients should continue to seek urgent medical care and attend appointments unless they have been told not to.

The industrial action by nurses on Thursday and December 20 is unprecedented in the British nursing union’s 106-year history, but the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said it has no choice as workers struggle to make ends meet.

Nurses want a 19% pay rise, arguing they have suffered a decade of real-terms cuts and that low pay means staff shortages and unsafe care for patients. The government has refused to discuss pay.

The government in Scotland avoided a nursing strike by holding talks on pay, an outcome that the RCN had hoped for in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but Barclay is not budging.

The government has said it cannot afford to pay more than the 4-5% offered to nurses, which was recommended by an independent body, and that further pay increases would mean taking money away from frontline services.

The RCN has accused the government of “belligerence.” It said as late as Tuesday that the strikes could still be stopped if the government was prepared to negotiate.

Some treatments exempt from strike

Some treatment areas will be exempt from strike action the RCN has said, including chemotherapy, dialysis and intensive care.

Polling ahead of the nursing strike showed that a majority of Britains support the action, but once the walkouts are underway, politicians will be closely monitoring public opinion.
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France and Kylian Mbappe are headed back to the World Cup final for a much anticipated matchup with Lionel Messi after ending Morocco’s historic run at soccer’s biggest tournament.

France defeated Africa’s first ever semifinalist 2-0 Wednesday, with Mbappe playing a part in goals by Theo Hernandez in the fifth minute and then substitute Randal Kolo Muani in the 79th.

France will head into Sunday’s title match against Argentina looking to become the first team to retain the World Cup title since Brazil in 1962. Mbappe has the chance to cement his status as soccer’s new superstar when he comes up against the 35-year-old Messi, who has dominated the game with Cristiano Ronaldo for the past 15 years.

There will be no team from the Arab world in the final of the first World Cup in the Middle East, a prospect that seemed nigh impossible before the tournament.

Yet Morocco did break ground for Africa and generated an outpouring of pride among Arab nations after topping a group containing Croatia and Belgium and eliminating two more European powers — Spain and Portugal — in the knockout stage. They gave France a far-from-easy ride, too.

Hernandez’s goal was the first scored against them by an opposition player in the tournament — the other had been an own-goal — and came amid defensive rearrangement forced by injuries to Morocco’s two best center backs. Nayef Aguerd competed in the warmup but didn’t come out for kickoff, while captain Romain Saiss lasted only 21 minutes before limping off with a hamstring injury.

Mbappe helped to create the goal because his shot deflected off a defender and into the path of Hernandez, who let the ball bounce before driving a downward effort into the net from a tight angle.

Typically a defense-first team, Morocco was forced to come out and play. Roared on by tens of thousands of fans who dominated the 60,000-seat Al Bayt Stadium, the team contained France in the early going.

Jawad El Yamiq hit the post with an overhead kick in the 44th minute and France’s defenders had to make a number of last-ditch tackles in front of their own goal.

Mbappe enjoyed more space as Morocco tired, and after dribbling past two defenders, his deflected shot was tapped in by Kolo Muani, who had been on the field for less than a minute.
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Representatives of Ukraine have received the European Parliament’s 2022 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on behalf of “the brave people of Ukraine” amid their battle to repel invading Russian forces.

The annual prize, named after the Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in 1988 by the European Parliament to honor individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola opened the ceremony in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday, citing a Sakharov quotation in which he said, “A country which does not respect the rights of its own citizens will not respect the rights of its neighbors.”

“This year, we meet to honor our 2022 Sakharov Prize laureates — the brave people of Ukraine represented by their president, elected leaders and civil society who have already fought hard and sacrificed so much for their freedom and our values,” she said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the ceremony via a video link, saying that “Russia’s terrorist war aims to deprive Europe of Ukraine and freedom,” adding that Ukraine is fighting against Russia’s invasion to prevent similar attacks against Ukraine and Europe in future.

“After Ukraine and all Europeans win, there will be no attempts to again apply a genocidal policy against people both in Ukraine and throughout Europe. We must give, and we will give, a new security architecture for global freedom and international law and order. I believe this is part of our moral duty,” Zelenskyy said, expressing gratitude to the members of the European Parliament for the award and support.

He also called for Europe to help set up a tribunal to ensure justice is served against Russian officials for their “crime of aggression.”

Several Ukrainian nationals represented their country at the ceremony, including a veteran volunteer Yulia “Taira” Payevska; the Mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov; and human rights defender Oleksandra Matviychuk; and others.

The award comes with a prize of $53,240, which will be given to representatives of Ukraine’s civil society.

The 2021 prize was awarded to jailed Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny for his efforts to challenge Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power. Navalny is currently in prison on charges he says are politically motivated.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters
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A court in Turkey sentenced the mayor of Istanbul, the country’s most populous city, to two years and seven months in prison Wednesday on charges of insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council.

The court convicted Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and also imposed a political ban that could lead to his removal from office. Imamoglu, who belongs to the main opposition Republican People’s Party, is expected to appeal the verdict.

Critics alleged the mayor’s trial was an attempt to eliminate a key opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in June. Polls indicate a drop in Erdogan’s popularity ratings amid an economic turmoil and inflation at more than 84%.

Imamoglu was elected to lead Istanbul in March 2019. His win was a historic blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. The party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16 million, alleging irregularities.

The challenge resulted in a repeat of the election a few months later, which Imamoglu also won.

Imamoglu was charged with insulting senior public officials after he described canceling legitimate elections as an act of “foolishness” on Nov. 4, 2019.

The mayor denied insulting members of the electoral council, insisting his words were a response to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu calling him “a fool” and accusing Imamoglu of criticizing Turkey during a visit to the European Parliament.

Thousands gathered in front of the municipal building to denounce the verdict against the popular mayor, shouting “Rights, Law, Justice!” and calling on the government and Erdogan to resign.

“This decision is proof that the rulers of this country have no aim to bring justice and democracy to the country,” Imamoglu said as he addressed the crowd from the top of a bus. “They have stopped fighting honestly and bravely. They are resorting to all kinds of tricks to protect their order.”

Opposition politician Meral Aksener, whose center-right party joined forces with the Republican People’s Party in the 2019 municipal elections, traveled to Istanbul from Ankara in a show of support for the mayor.

“It’s when (governments) are afraid that they oppress and carry out injustices,” she said, standing besides Imamoglu. “A great fear lies behind this decision.”

Aksener recalled that Erdogan had served as Istanbul’s mayor in the 1990s and was unjustly removed from office for reading a poem that the courts deemed to be a violation of Turkey’s secular laws.

“This song won’t end here,” she said, repeating a comment that Erdogan made at the time.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party, cut short a visit to Germany to return to Turkey and lend his support to Imamoglu.

During the trial, the court heard testimony from Imamoglu’s press officer, Murat Ongun, who confirmed that the mayor’s words were in response to Soylu.

“Either before or after this event, or even on May 6 (2019), when the elections were canceled, I did not hear any negative words from Ekrem Imamoglu concerning the (Supreme Electoral Council) members,” the T24 news website quoted Ongun as saying. “All of his statements were made toward political figures.”

But in a video posted on social media, Soylu insisted the mayor’s comments were directed at the electoral council members.

After the 2019 elections, several mayors from the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, were removed from office over alleged links to Kurdish militants and replaced by state-appointed trustees.

Dozens of HDP lawmakers and thousands of party members were arrested on terror-related accusations as part of a government crackdown on the party.
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