Russia turns to closed courts for political prisoners in occupied Crimea
Courts in Russian-occupied Crimea have now begun banning relatives and friends from attending court hearings – the only chance many have of seeing the imprisoned men. Most incredibly, the FSB has now told a court that the men should remain in custody as they are recognized internationally as political prisoners! …read more Source: Kharkiv...
Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria
With the latest hasty judgment about Tuesday’s poison-gas deaths in a rebel-held area of northern Syria, the mainstream U.S. news media once more reveals itself to be a threat to responsible journalism and to the future of humanity. Again, we see the troubling pattern of verdict first, investigation later, even when that behavior can lead...
Sanktionen als Dauerzustand?
Sanktionen scheinen zum Dauerzustand in den Beziehungen zwischen der EU und Russland geworden zu sein. Sie haben zur Eindämmung des Krieges im Donbas beigetragen, sind aber nicht geeignet, die Rückgabe der Krim an die Ukraine und die Umsetzung der Minsker Vereinbarungen zu erzwingen. Der EU-Sanktionskonsens ist 2017 weniger stabil als zuvor....
Round-Up of Investment Arbitrations Against CIS States: Recent Developments
In the December 2016 – March 2017 period, some major procedural developments occurred in several pending and concluded investment arbitrations against CIS states. In some of these pending disputes, arbitral tribunals have asserted jurisdiction over the investors’ claims, addressing noteworthy issues such as: provisional application of the...
Russia’s war on George Soros goes global
In Russia there’s nothing new about accusing George Soros of trying to overthrow the government. But recently other authoritarian leaders around the world have also decided that the 86-year-old billionaire is the cause of all their troubles …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
Jehovah’s Witnesses Face Russian Ban
Government argues that refusing blood transfusions is no less dangerous than advocating equal rights for homosexuals. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Bomb the Usual Arabs
It seems that every new US president has to prove his machismo…or make his bones, as wiseguys say…by bombing the usual Arabs. By now, it’s almost a rite of passage. The American public loves it.So we just saw the US launch 59 or 60 $1.5million apiece cruise missiles at a western Syrian airfield to express President Trump’s outrage...
Moldovan President and Prime Minister Increasingly at Loggerheads
From a potential referendum, to membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and the relationship with the EU, Igor Dodon and Pavel Filip cannot find any common ground. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
FTAC: Reprise: How ISIL Serves Moscow, Damascus, and Tehran
Again: Assad (w/ Putin and Khamenei looking on) incubated ISIL as a tool with several interesting functions: –A “jihadi” trap that has drawn thousands of fighters to itself, including from Chechnya, to serve as a “Kill Zone” for the type. Not a bad idea, eh? –However: the same ploy turns out for bribing the west — “Assad OR The Terrorists” in...
Russian media twist Bellingcat study to find Ukrainian Buk in Donbas before MH17
Incredibly, some Ukrainian websites have copy-pasted Russian propaganda media, including a website closely linked with the defence ministry, which deliberately distorted the findings of a new Bellingcat investigation …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
