Accessibility links

Breaking News

Watchdog

Protests Rock Iran Following Death Of Woman Arrested By Morality Police
please wait

No media source currently available

0:00 0:03:11 0:00

At least three people have been killed in Iran during protests over the death of a 22-year-old woman who was taken into custody by the country's morality police. Human rights groups said Mahsa Amini was detained for breaking Iran's strict religious laws requiring Muslim women to wear a head scarf. Protests continued across the country on September 20 for a sixth straight day. Iranian police denied accusations of mistreatment, calling Amini's death an "unfortunate incident."

Lilia Chanysheva, pictured at the Basman court in Moscow on July 7, may face up to 18 years in prison if convicted on charges of extremism and taking part in an extremist organization's activities.
Lilia Chanysheva, pictured at the Basman court in Moscow on July 7, may face up to 18 years in prison if convicted on charges of extremism and taking part in an extremist organization's activities.

The former chief of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's office in the city of Ufa in Bashkortostan has been handed final indictment papers and may face up to 18 years in prison if convicted on charges of extremism and taking part in an extremist organization's activities.

Navalny associate Ivan Zhdanov wrote on Telegram on September 20 that the probe against Lilia Chanysheva has finished and her lawyers have started studying the case's materials.

Chanysheva, 40, was arrested in Ufa in November and later transferred to a detention center in Moscow.

She headed the local unit of Navalny's network of regional campaign groups until his team disbanded them after a Moscow prosecutor went to court to have them branded "extremist."

The court accepted the prosecutor's request, effectively outlawing the group.

Chanysheva's defense team said at the time that her arrest was the first since the movement was banned. The charges appear to be retroactive since the organization she worked for disbanded before it had been legally classified as extremist.

In January, Amnesty International urged Russian authorities to release Chanysheva "immediately," insisting the extremism charges are absurd and should be dropped.

Navalny himself has been in prison since February last year, while several of his associates have been charged with establishing an extremist group. Many of his associates have fled the country.

Several former activists who worked for Navalny's groups have fled the country shortly before and after Chanysheva's arrest.

Load more

About This Blog

"Watchdog" is a blog with a singular mission -- to monitor the latest developments concerning human rights, civil society, and press freedom. We'll pay particular attention to reports concerning countries in RFE/RL's broadcast region.

Subscribe

Journalists In Trouble

RFE/RL journalists take risks, face threats, and make sacrifices every day in an effort to gather the news. Our "Journalists In Trouble" page recognizes their courage and conviction, and documents the high price that many have paid simply for doing their jobs. More

XS
SM
MD
LG