Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed
5. Belarusian Singer Who Refused Lukashenka Scholarship Handed Parole-Like Sentence
Belarusian singer Patrytsia Svitsina, who in 2020 refused to accept a scholarship from authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka, citing her "moral principles," has been handed a parole-like sentence on a charge of "actively participating in actions that blatantly disrupt social order."
Judge Viktoria Shabunya of Minsk's central district on August 2 found Svitsina guilty of taking part in unsanctioned rallies in August 2020 against the official results of the presidential poll that handed victory to Lukashenka, who has led Belarus with an iron fist since 1994.
The judge then sentenced Svitsina to 2 1/2 years of so-called house arrest-like restrictions known as "home khimia."
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In recent years, the modern definition of "home khimia" is derived from the Soviet-era system for parole-like sentences.
https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-svitsina-parole-sentence/32532890.html
4. Thousands Rally In Bulgaria Against Domestic Violence After Shocking Case
SOFIA -- Thousands of people staged protest rallies in the capital, Sofia, and other Bulgarian cities following a case of shocking violence against an 18-year-old woman.
The incident happened on June 26 in the central city of Stara Zagora, where a woman identified by her initials, DM, was allegedly beaten and disfigured with a knife by her boyfriend, but was only made public on July 28 following the victim's family's frustration with the slow pace of the investigation.
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The 26-year-old suspect, identified by the media as Georgi Georgiev, was arrested after the attack, but a court in Stara Zagora later released him after rating the woman's injuries as "light."
He was rearrested on July 31, after the case was made public, sparking a wave of public outrage, and the prosecutor's office announced that it was "accelerating" the investigation. A new prosecutor, Zhaneta Nedkova, was appointed to the case.
Nedkova ordered a new medical examination to determine how serious the victim's injuries actually are. The victim said Georgiev cut her hundreds of times, broke her nose, and shaved off her hair.
https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-domestic-violence-rally-shocking-case/32528971.html
3. Armenian Aid Truck Convoy Blocked At Azerbaijani Checkpoint For Third Day
A convoy of 19 Armenian trucks carrying emergency food aid to Nagorno-Karabakh remains blocked at an Azerbaijan checkpoint, where it has been waiting for approval to access the Lachin Corridor for three days.
The corridor is the only route linking Armenia with the breakaway region, and has been blocked by Baku for more than seven months. Armenia on July 28 vowed not to turn back the convoy, with Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanian saying that although "there are no positive developments at the moment," the vehicles will continue to stay there "as long as necessary."
The Armenian government said on July 25 that it would try to send 360 tons of flour, cooking oil, sugar, and other basic foodstuffs to Nagorno-Karabakh to alleviate severe food shortages there caused by the blockade.
The trucks reached the entrance to the Lachin Corridor late on July 26 but remained stranded there in the following hours, with Baku refusing to let them though an Azerbaijani checkpoint set up there in April.
https://www.rferl.org/a/karabakh-armenian-trucks-azerbaijani-blockade-third-day/32525535.html
2. Lithuania Declares More Than 1,000 Belarusians And Russians To Be National Security Risks
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania declared more than a thousand citizens of Russia and Belarus living in the country to be threats to national security on Friday and said it was stripping them of their permanent residency permits.
The decision comes after the government asked the Russians and Belarusians to answer a questionnaire that included questions about their views on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the status of Crimea, the Ukrainian territory which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.
Lithuania, a Baltic nation that declared its independence from the Soviet Union more than 30 years ago, is a democracy that belongs to NATO and the European Union. It has been a strong backer of Ukraine and also a place of refuge in recent years for many who have fled an authoritarian crackdown in neighboring Belarus and increased repression in Russia.
https://apnews.com/article/lithuania-russia-national-security-crimea-4031b76009711bb0a6bdadad1b60b796
1. Foreign Office failed to notice torture of British academic in UAE, watchdog finds
The UK’s parliamentary ombudsman has found that the Foreign Office “failed to notice signs of torture” when officials visited a British academic imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates.
Matthew Hedges was convicted on spying charges by the UAE in 2018 after travelling to Dubai to conduct research for his PhD at Durham University. He spent six months in prison, where he has said he had been handcuffed, drugged and questioned for hours, before being pardoned from a life sentence for spying.
The ombudsman wrote in its finding: “It’s hard to imagine the experience Mr Hedges has endured and quite how terrifying his detention must have been. The nightmare was made even worse by being failed by the British government. He trusted them to help him and they let him down. Officials failed to notice signs of torture, failed to intervene and failed to help.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/aug/03/foreign-office-failed-notice-torture-british-academic-uae-watchdog
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