Latest news with #LucyPapachristou
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia jails three opposition politicians, including bank founder
By Lucy Papachristou (Reuters) -Three Georgian opposition politicians were sentenced to months in prison on Monday, the first to be convicted in a series of prosecutions targeting government critics who refused to give evidence to lawmakers. Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, leading figures in the opposition Lelo for Georgia party, were both sentenced to eight months, while Zurab Japaridze of the Coalition for Change bloc received seven months. Khazaradze is a co-founder of London-listed TBC Bank, one of Georgia's largest. Authorities have launched a string of cases against people accused of refusing to testify to a parliamentary commission investigating alleged wrongdoing under jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who led the South Caucasus country from 2004 to 2012. Four other people are also being prosecuted. Georgian authorities have moved to clamp down on leading figures of the pro-European Union opposition as street protests continue over a disputed October election and a subsequent government decision to halt talks on joining the EU. Khazaradze and both Japaridzes, who are not related, were also banned from holding public office for two years, the Interpress news agency reported. Their parties rejected last year's election result and accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of rigging the poll in order to win a fourth term. The government denies that allegation, but two U.S. pollsters said there was evidence of manipulation. In a post on X, Khazaradze rejected the court's ruling, saying the parliamentary commission "has no real function" and pointing out he did not hold public office during the period the body is investigating. Spokespeople for the parties of the jailed politicians did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Traditionally one of the most pro-Western countries to emerge from the Soviet Union, Georgia has taken a sharply authoritarian turn in recent years, critics say. Georgian Dream has passed a slew of laws clamping down on foreign-funded organisations operating in the country, and on LGBT people. Georgian Dream says it still wants to join the EU but also wants to preserve the country's traditional values and keep peace with its huge northern neighbour, Russia.
The Star
14-06-2025
- Health
- The Star
Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war, but Moscow received no war dead, Russia says
FILE PHOTO: People in hazmat suits carry what is said to be remains of Ukrainian soldiers received from Russia in an unknown location in a screen grab from a Handout video released on June 13, 2025. Security Service Of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo (Reuters) -Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners-of-war (POWs) on Saturday, the Russian defence ministry said, and Russia handed over the bodies of 1,200 dead Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv. The exchanges are part of agreements reached by the warring sides during talks in Istanbul earlier this month. Ukraine earlier on Saturday confirmed it had received the bodies of its soldiers killed in action. However, Russian state media reported, citing sources, that Moscow had not received any of its war dead back from Kyiv, echoing a statement Russia made on Friday, when it said it had returned the bodies of 1,200 slain Ukrainian soldiers and received none of its own. The Russian defence ministry did not say how many POWs were involved in the swap with Ukraine on Saturday, but it posted video showing its soldiers holding Russian flags and cheering before boarding a bus. The Russian soldiers are in Belarus, where they are receiving medical treatment before transfer back to Russia, the defence ministry said. (Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Toby Chopra and Louise Heavens)
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Three people found alive after small plane comes down in Siberian forest
(Reuters) -Search and rescue teams have found three people, including two pilots, alive after their small plane made an emergency landing in the forests of Siberia on Tuesday, Russia's civil aviation authority said. The Antonov An-2 had issued distress calls while flying over the Yakutia region. Authorities initially said five people were aboard the aircraft before revising the figure to three. (Reporting Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgian police raid homes of activists providing financing to anti-government protesters
By Lucy Papachristou (Reuters) - Georgian prosecutors said on Tuesday they had conducted searches at the apartments of five individuals who helped organise funding campaigns to support street protesters, amid a government crackdown on the rallies that have raged for months. Georgians have taken to the streets nightly since November to voice opposition to a government decision to halt accession talks to the European Union, a reversal of a longstanding national goal in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million. The demonstrations have drawn a swift crackdown by police, resulting in hundreds of arrests and beatings, rights groups say. The government has defended the police response. In a statement on Tuesday, the prosecutor's office said the searches were part of an ongoing criminal investigation into sabotage, attempted sabotage, and the use of funds to violate the constitutional order, among other charges. Prosecutors launched a probe last month into funding campaigns organised by civil society groups that assisted detained protesters with legal help and money to cover fines. The prosecutors accused the groups of encouraging the protesters to commit illegal acts at street rallies. Authorities froze those groups' bank accounts as part of the investigation. The five individuals who were searched on Tuesday are all affiliated with the civil society groups. Several of them wrote on Facebook that officers had confiscated their cell phones and laptops during the searches. Four of the groups accused of helping the protesters did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters was not able to contact the fifth group, Foundation For Each Other 24/7. Traditionally among the more pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union's successor states, Georgia in recent years has tilted more towards Russia under the Georgian Dream (GD) party, in power since 2012. As part of a broader government clampdown on Georgia's pro-Western opposition, GD passed legislation this month banning foreign donor organisations from providing grants locally without government consent, with violators facing steep fines.
The Star
29-04-2025
- The Star
Ukrainian drone attack kills two civilians in Russia's Belgorod region, governor says
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two people were killed and three suffered injuries after a Ukrainian drone slammed into a car on a highway in Russia's Belgorod region, the local governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Tuesday. Reuters could not independently verify his assertion. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
