УКРОПИ

Listeners protest as Turkey silences radio station

In Turkey, listeners of Acik Radyo are protesting after regulators revoked the Istanbul-based station’s license. For nearly 30 years, Acik sought to bridge the country’s divides. Analysts say the action against it is part of a wider government media crackdown. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
…

Police fire tear gas at protests of deadly canopy collapse in Serbia

NOVI SAD, Serbia — Protesters threw flares and red paint Tuesday on the City Hall building in the Serbian city of Novi Sad in rage over last week’s collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station that killed 14 people. Police responded by firing tear gas canisters. 

The protesters surrounded the building in central Novi Sad, breaking windows and throwing stones and other objects despite calls by organizers to remain calm. Special police troops were deployed inside the building. 

Some of the angry protesters wearing masks, believed to be soccer hooligans who are close to the populist government, tried to get inside the building and hand over their demands that those responsible for the canopy collapse face justice. 

Serbia’s autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic said the police are “showing restraint,” but also issued a warning saying “horrific, violent protests are underway.” 

“People of Serbia, please do not think violence is allowed,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “All those taking part in the incidents will be punished.” 

Protest organizers said they wanted to enter the Hall and submit their demands. 

Miran Pogacar, an opposition activist, said “one glass window can be mended but we cannot bring back 14 lives. People are angry. Serbia won’t stand for this.” 

Bojan Pajtic, an opposition politician, said he believed the violent incidents were stoked deliberately by provocateurs, a tactic used before in Serbia to derail peaceful anti-government protests and paint the opposition protesters as enemies of the nation. 

Thousands first marched through the city streets demanding that top officials step down because of the fatal outer roof collapse last Friday, including President Vucic and Prime Minister Milos Vucevic. 

The protesters first gathered outside the railway station where they held a moment of silence for the victims as organizers read their names. The crowd responded by chanting: “arrest the gang” and “thieves.” 

The protest started peacefully but some demonstrators later hurled plastic bottles and bricks at the headquarters of Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party and smeared red paint on posters of the Serbian president and the prime minister — a message that they have blood on their hands. 

The protesters removed most of the Serbian national red, blue and white national flags that were apparently hung on the headquarters to prevent it from an attack. That triggered an angry reaction from the president. 

“Our Serbian tricolor has been destroyed, hidden and removed by all those who do not love Serbia,” Vucic wrote on X. “Tonight, in Novi Sad, this is being done by those who tell us that they love Serbia more than us, the decent citizens of this country.” 

Critics of Serbia’s populist government have attributed the disaster to rampant corruption in the Balkan country, a lack of transparency and sloppy work during renovation work on the station building which was part of a wider railway deal with Chinese state companies. 

The accident happened without warning. Surveillance camera footage showed the massive canopy on the outer wall of the station building crashing down on the people sitting below on benches or going in and out. 

Officials have promised full accountability and, faced with pressure, Serbia’s construction minister submitted his resignation Tuesday. 

Prosecutors have said that more than 40 people already have been questioned as part of a probe into what happened. Many in Serbia, however, doubt that justice will be served with the populists in firm control of the judicial system and the police. 

Opposition parties behind Tuesday’s protest said they are also demanding the resignation of Vucevic and that documentation be made public listing all the companies and individuals involved. 

The victims included a 6-year-old girl. Those injured in the roof collapse remained in serious condition Tuesday. 

The train station has been renovated twice in recent years. Officials have insisted that the canopy had not been part of the renovation work, suggesting this was the reason why it collapsed but giving no explanation for why it was not included. 

The Novi Sad railway station was originally built in 1964, while the renovated station was inaugurated by Vucic and his populist ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, over two years ago as a major stopover for a planned fast train line between Belgrade and Budapest. 
…

A week after Spain’s floods, families hopeful missing loved ones are alive

SEDAVI, Spain — Francisco Murgui went out to try to salvage his motorbike when the water started to rise. 

He never came back. 

One week after catastrophic flooding devastated eastern Spain, Maria Murgui still holds out hope that her father is alive and among the unknown number of the missing. 

“He was like many people in town who went out to get their car or motorbike to safety,” the 27-year-old told The Associated Press. “The flash flood caught him outside, and he had to cling to a tree in order to escape drowning. He called us to tell us that he was fine, that we shouldn’t worry.” 

But when Maria set out into the streets of Sedavi to try to rescue him from the water washing away everything in its path, he was nowhere to be found. 

“He held up until 1 in the morning,” she said. “By 2, I went outside with a neighbor and a rope to try to locate him. But we couldn’t find him. And since then, we haven’t heard anything about him.” 

At least 218 have been confirmed dead after a deluge caused by heavy rains late on October 29 and the next morning swamped entire communities, mostly in Spain’s Valencia region, catching most off guard. Regional authorities have been heavily criticized for having issued alerts to mobile phones some two hours after the disaster had started. 

Authorities have yet to any give an estimate of the missing seven days on. Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, however, shows a steady stream of appeals by people who are searching for family members who are not accounted for. 

Maria Murgui herself has posted a missing person’s message on social media with a photo of her father, a 57-year-old retiree. 

“This is like riding a roller coaster. Sometimes I feel very bad and sometimes I feel better. I try to stay positive,” she said. “This truly is madness. We don’t know what else to do. Neither does anybody else in town.” 

Relief package 

While many search for their loved ones, the gargantuan recovery efforts in Sedavi and dozens of other communities slowly moved forward. 

To aid those in need, the central government approved a 10.6-billion-euro relief package for 78 communities on Tuesday. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez compared it to the measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The package includes direct payments of 20,000 euros to 60,000 euros to owners of damaged homes, among other financial aid for businesses and municipal governments. 

“We have a lot of work left to do, and we know it,” Sanchez said.  

Sanchez said that he will ask the European Union to help pay for the relief, saying, “it is time for the European Union to help.” 

Many people are still without basic goods amid scenes of devastation. 

Street after street in town after town is still covered with thick brown mud and mounds of ruined belongings, clumps of rotting vegetation, and wrecked vehicles. A stench arises from the muck.

In many places, people still face shortages of basic goods, and lines form at impromptu emergency kitchens and stands handing out food. Water is running again but authorities say it is not fit for drinking. 

The ground floors of thousands of homes have been ruined. It is feared that inside some of the vehicles that the water washed away or trapped in underground garages there could be bodies waiting to be recovered. 

Thousands of soldiers are working with firefighters and police reinforcements in the immense emergency response. Officers and troops are searching in destroyed homes, the countless cars strewn across highways, streets, or lodged in the mud in canals and gorges. 

Authorities are worried about other health problems caused by the aftermath of the deadliest natural disaster in Spain’s recent history. They have urged people to get tetanus shots and to treat any wounds to prevent infections and to clean the mud from their skin. Many people wear face masks. 

Thousands of volunteers are helping out, filling the void left by authorities. But the frustration over the crisis management boiled over on Sunday when a crowd in hard-hit Paiporta hurled mud and other objects at Spain’s royals, Sanchez and regional officials when they made their first visit to the epicenter of the flood damage. 

Sanchez’s national government is set to announce a new package of relief on Tuesday. 
…

WHO: 2 UK mpox cases first local transmissions in Europe

London — Two new cases of the mpox variant clade 1b detected in the U.K. are the first locally transmitted cases in Europe and the first outside Africa, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed late Monday that the two new cases were household contacts of Britain’s first case identified last week, bringing the country’s total confirmed cases to three.

The WHO warned that European states should be prepared for “rapid action” to contain the latest mpox variant, which spreads through close physical contact including sexual relations and sharing closed spaces.

The two cases are also the first to be locally transmitted outside Africa since August 2024, when the WHO declared the outbreak of the new variant an international public health emergency — its highest level of alarm.

Those affected are under specialist care and the risk to the U.K. population “remains low,” UKHSA said.

The original case was detected after the person traveled to several African countries on holiday and returned to the U.K. on Oct. 21.

The patient developed flu-like symptoms more than 24 hours later and, on Oct. 24, started to develop a rash that worsened in the following days.

Mpox, a viral disease related to smallpox, has two types, clade 1 and clade 2. Symptoms include fever, a skin rash or pus-filled blisters, swollen lymph nodes and body aches.

The WHO first declared an international public health emergency in 2022 over the spread of clade 2. That outbreak mostly affected gay and bisexual men in Europe and the United States.

Vaccination and awareness drives in many countries helped stem the number of worldwide cases and the WHO lifted the emergency in May 2023 after reporting 140 deaths out of around 87,400 cases.

In 2024, a two-pronged epidemic of clade 1 and clade 1b, a new strain that affects children, has spread widely in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The new strain has also been recorded in neighboring Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, with imported cases in Sweden, India, Thailand, Germany and the U.K.
…

Iran claims Iranian-German prisoner died before he could be executed

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — An Iranian official claimed Tuesday that Iranian-German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd died before Tehran could execute him — directly contradicting the country’s earlier announcement he had been put to death.

The comment by Asghar Jahangir came after Germany shut down all three Iranian consulates in the country over Sharmahd’s death, leaving only the embassy in Berlin open. Germany later disputed Jahangir’s remark.

Meanwhile, even Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has offered his own criticism of Germany’s response to Sharmahd’s death as tensions remain high between Tehran and the West over its rapidly advancing nuclear program and the ongoing Mideast wars.

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency quoted Jahangir as saying: “Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death, his sentence was ready to be carried out, but he passed away before implementation of the sentence.”

He did not elaborate. Jahangir’s remarks were made to the state-affiliated Quds newspaper after a weekly news conference, when journalists typically buttonhole the spokesperson into answering questions he didn’t take from the podium.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry, reacting to the official’s comment, said, “His death was confirmed to us by the Iranian side.

“Jamshid Sharmahd was abducted by Iran and held for years without a fair trial, in inhumane conditions and without the necessary medical care,” the ministry said. “Iran is responsible for his death.”

Germany added it was “lobbying the Iranian government to hand over his body to his family.”

The State Department in the United States, where Sharmahd once lived, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jason Poblete, a lawyer representing Sharmahd’s family, told The Associated Press that the conflicting comments from Iran were “deeply concerning.”

“This inconsistency raises serious questions about the circumstances of the death and the transparency of the Iranian system,” Poblete said. “The family has been urging the German and U.S. authorities to investigate this matter to ascertain the truth, ensure accountability thoroughly and reunite Jimmy with his family in California.”

Iran had said it executed Sharmahd on October 28. He was 69.

Iran accused Sharmahd, who lived in Glendora, California, of planning a 2008 attack on a mosque that killed 14 people — including five women and a child — and wounded over 200 others, as well as plotting other assaults through the little-known Kingdom Assembly of Iran and its Tondar militant wing.

Iran also accused Sharmahd of “disclosing classified information” on missile sites of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard during a television program in 2017.

His family disputed the allegations and worked for years to see him freed. Germany, the U.S. and international rights groups dismissed Sharmahd’s trial as a sham. Amnesty International said the proceedings against Sharmahd were a “grossly unfair trial” because he was denied access to an independent lawyer and “the right to defend himself.”

However, Amnesty also noted that Sharmahd ran a website for the Kingdom Assembly of Iran and its Tondar militant wing that included claims of “responsibility for explosions inside Iran,” although he repeatedly denied being involved in the attacks.

Sharmahd was apparently kidnapped while on a layover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2020. His family received their last message from him on July 28, 2020.

It’s unclear how the abduction happened, but tracking data showed that Sharmahd’s cellphone traveled south from Dubai to the city of Al Ain on July 29, crossing the border into Oman. On July 30, tracking data showed the phone traveled to the Omani port city of Sohar, where the signal stopped.

Two days later, Iran announced it had captured Sharmahd in a “complex operation.” The Intelligence Ministry published a photograph of him blindfolded.

In the time since his execution, Germany shut the consulates. It’s a diplomatic tool Germany seldom uses and signals a major downgrade in relations with Tehran.

However, Iran has responded by criticizing Germany and the West, including Pezeshkian, who campaigned on a promise of getting sanctions on the Islamic Republic lifted.

“When someone who has slaughtered dozens is executed, they say you do not observe human rights,” Pezeshkian said.
…

Brazilian police official chosen as next head of Interpol

London — Brazilian police official Valdecy Urquiza will be the next chief of Interpol, the global police organization announced Tuesday.

Urquiza was elected secretary-general by a vote of Interpol’s general assembly at its meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, and will take up the post when the gathering ends on Thursday.

Currently Interpol’s vice president for the Americas, Urquiza is the first chief of the Lyon, France-based organization not to come from Europe or the United States.

The Interpol secretary-general essentially runs the organization on a daily basis. Juergen Stock of Germany, who has held the post since 2014, is not allowed under its rules to seek a third term.

Urquiza pledged to promote diversity within the organization, saying “a strong Interpol is one that includes everyone.”

“When we respect and elevate diverse perspectives, we get a clearer, more comprehensive approach to global security,” he said.

Interpol, which has 196 member countries and celebrated its centennial last year, works to help national police forces communicate with each other and track suspects and criminals in fields such as counterterrorism, financial crime, child pornography, cybercrime and organized crime.

The world’s biggest police organization has been grappling with challenges including a growing caseload of cybercrime and child sex abuse, and increasing divisions among its member countries.

Interpol had a total budget of about $188 million last year, compared to more than $200 million at the European Union’s police agency, Europol, and some $11 billion at the FBI in the United States.
…

Analysts: North Korea’s ties with Russia elevate danger to itself  

washington — Pyongyang may have bet all its chips on its relationship with Moscow by committing the lives of its soldiers to fight for Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, according to analysts.

North Korean soldiers are gearing up for an anticipated battle in the Russian border region of Kursk.

According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine on Saturday, more than 7,000 North Korean soldiers in the front line near the border were armed with various weapons by Russia. They included 60 mm mortars, AK-12 rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

Some North Korean soldiers in the region have already come under fire, according to a message that Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, posted on Telegram on Monday.

The U.S. estimates that 8,000 soldiers are in the Kursk Oblast to fight in front-line operations against Ukraine forces in the coming days.

“There is no more significant and long-term a commitment one country can make to another than sending troops at wartime,” Victor Cha, president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told VOA.

“I never believed this was short term, at least from the North Korean perspective,” said Cha, who formerly served as the deputy head of the U.S. delegation to the Six Party Talks with North Korea.

Cha added that Kim could face many risks by deploying troops  thousands of miles away from home and exposing them to fight alongside Russian soldiers.

“What if North Korean soldiers desert or are captured? What is the future of DPRK-Europe relations? What if South Korean weapons [supplied via the U.S to Ukraine thus far] kills North Korean soldiers? What if Ukraine makes a point of targeting North Korean soldiers for propaganda purposes?” he asked.

Long-term commitment

Cha, in an article CSIS published October 23, said that by sending troops, North Korea may have crossed the point of no return in its ties with Russia.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said during a news conference in Washington, held last week after a security meeting, that Seoul is looking to send a team to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troops.

When Kim visited Russia last year and began sending munitions the same year, some analysts saw him as largely engaged in a short-term transactional relationship with Moscow.

But after North Korea deployed troops to Russia — a move in line with a mutual defense treaty the two signed this summer — and joined Moscow’s war efforts against Ukraine and, by default, against NATO and U.S. interests, Kim is viewed as engaged in an “all-in” relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin that comes with major risks.

Evans Revere, a former State Department official with extensive experience negotiating with North Korea, said, “Kim Jong Un’s willingness to take these risks suggests he is ‘all in’ on the relationship with Moscow and prepared to make important sacrifices to show support for his Russian patron, in the hope that doing so will yield the benefits he seeks.”

Revere added, “This tells us a lot about what Kim is prepared to do to receive key military and space technologies. It remains to be seen whether Moscow is prepared to provide all the technologies and support Kim wants. If it does not, it will leave the North Korean ruler in a very difficult position.”

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell held talks Monday in Seoul and condemned North Korea’s troop deployment and possible military technology transfers Russia could make in return.

North Korea launched a Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday in demonstration of what it described as the “world’s most powerful strategic deterrent.”

In addition to technologies Kim might want to further advance Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, North Korea will receive about $200 million from Moscow for its troop deployment, according to an estimate from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.

“North Korea is not necessarily wanting to back away from the relationship at the moment because it’s given a lifeline as well as a hedge partner against China,” said Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

Kim is “willing to commit almost anything that Putin is willing to ask him to do at this point,” Ramani said.

Transactional relationship

Whether long term or short term, Dan DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities, said, “Ties are still very much transactional in the sense that Kim expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to compensate him in some way, shape or form.”

However, DePetris said, “it’s unlikely North Korea will be comfortable putting all its chips in Russia’s basket,” as “betting on Russia over the long term would mean handcuffing North Korea to a single power, limiting the flexibility North Korean officials seek to maintain and giving Russia the ability to blackmail North Korea in the future.”

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said Friday, when she met in Moscow with her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that Pyongyang would fully back Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine until victory.

Choe also said Kim had already “instructed” North Korean officials to provide support for the Russian army “without regard to anyone” when Russia launched what she described as “the special military operation” against Ukraine in 2022.

In return, Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s “full support for North Korea’s measures aimed at countering the aggressive policies of the U.S. and its partners” and its commitment to implement the mutual defense treaty.

“We’ve long thought of North Korea as a rogue state, but the tight cooperation between Putin and Kim Jong Un now makes Russia look like a rogue state, too,” said Stephen Sestanovich, senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations who served as U.S. ambassador-at-large for the former Soviet Union from 1997 to 2001.
…

China files complaint at WTO over EU tariffs on Chinese EVs

GENEVA — China has moved forward with a complaint at the World Trade Organization that alleges the European Union has improperly set anti-subsidy tariffs on new Chinese-made electric vehicles. 

The Chinese diplomatic mission to the WTO said Monday it “strongly opposes” the measures and insisted its move was designed to protect the EV industry and support a global transition toward greener technologies. 

The European bloc announced last month it was imposing import duties of up to 35% on electric vehicles from China, alleging the Chinese exports were unfairly undercutting EU industry prices. The duties are set to remain in force for five years, unless an amicable deal can be struck. 

Electric vehicles have become a major flashpoint in a broader trade dispute over the influence of Chinese government subsidies on European markets and Beijing’s burgeoning exports of green technology to the bloc. 

China alleged that the EU move amounted to “an abuse of trade remedies” that violates WTO rules, and amounted to “protectionist” measures, according to the mission’s statement. 

Valdis Dombrovskis, the executive vice president of the EU’s Commission, last week called the steps “proportionate and targeted” and were aimed to underpin fair market practices and support the bloc’s industrial base.
…

Serbian minister to resign over concrete canopy collapse that killed 14 people

belgrade, serbia — Serbia’s construction minister said Monday he was stepping down days after a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway station, killing 14 people and severely injuring three.

Minister Goran Vesic announced his resignation at a hastily called press conference as anger mounted in the Balkan country over the fatal collapse that happened just before noon on Friday in the northern city of Novi Sad. Vesic’s resignation needs to be confirmed in Serbia’s parliament.

“I would like to inform you that I will formally submit my resignation tomorrow morning,” said Vesic. “Once the parliament accepts it, I will no longer perform this duty.”

Surveillance camera footage showed the massive canopy on the outer wall of the station building crashing down on the people sitting below on benches or going in and out.

The train station has been renovated twice in recent years. Critics of Serbia’s populist government attributed the disaster to rampant corruption, a lack of transparency and sloppy work during the reconstruction. The renovation was part of a wider deal with Chinese construction companies.

Opposition parties have demanded the resignation of top officials, including President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, accusing them of being responsible for the deadly accident.

Opposition groups plan to hold a rally on Tuesday in Novi Sad and more protests later if their demands are not met.

Vesic said that he does not accept any guilt for the deaths of the victims.

“I cannot accept guilt for the death of 14 people because neither I, nor the people who work with me, bear even a shred of responsibility for the tragedy that happened,” he said. “I urge the authorities to determine as soon as possible who was responsible for this tragedy.”

The dead included a 6-year-old girl. The three injured, who are between 18 and 24 years old, all had to have limbs amputated. They were still in serious condition on Monday without improvement, doctors said.

Populist officials have accused opposition parties of using the tragedy for political gains while pledging accountability. Vucic on Monday promised those responsible will be punished.

“I am certain that the state authorities will determine criminal responsibility for the tragedy that happened in our country,” said Vucic.

Serbian prosecutors said they have already questioned more than 40 people — including Vesic — since opening the probe on Saturday. But critics believe that justice is unlikely to be served with the populists in firm control of the judicial system and the police.

Officials have insisted that the canopy had not been part of the renovation work, suggesting this was the reason why it collapsed but giving no explanation for why it was not renovated.

The Novi Sad railway station was originally built in 1964. The renovated station was inaugurated by Vucic and his populist ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, over two years ago as a major stopover for a planned fast train line between Belgrade and Budapest.
…

Thousands rally again in Georgia to protest Oct. 26 parliamentary election they say was rigged

Tbilisi, Georgia — Thousands of opposition supporters rallied outside Georgia’s parliament for the second straight Monday to denounce the Oct. 26 election as illegitimate after the ruling party was declared the winner amid allegations of vote-rigging helped by Russia.

The protesters, who waved Georgian and European Union flags, demanded a new parliamentary election under international supervision and an investigation of the alleged ballot irregularities.

Opposition leaders vowed to boycott sessions of parliament and hold regular protests until their demands are met.

The protest took place under the watch of riot police, reflecting the simmering political tensions in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million that lies between Russia and Turkey.

The Central Election Commission said the ruling Georgian Dream party won about 54% of the vote. Its leaders have rejected the opposition claims of vote fraud.

President Salome Zourabichvili, who has rejected the official results, says Georgia has fallen victim to pressure from Moscow against joining the EU. Zourabichvili, who holds mostly ceremonial position, has urged the United States and EU support the demonstrations.

Officials in Washington and Brussels have urged a full investigation of the election, while the Kremlin has rejected the accusations of interference.

Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012, was established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia.

The opposition has accused it of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. It has recently adopted laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

European election observers said the election took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence. Observers said instances of intimidation and other violations were particularly prevalent in rural areas.

The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely because of its passage in June of a Russian-style “foreign influence law.” Many Georgians viewed the parliamentary election as a pivotal referendum on the country’s effort to join the EU.

Georgian Dream promised to continue pushing toward EU accession but it also wants to “reset” ties with Russia, the country’s former imperial master. In 2008, Georgia fought and lost a brief war with Moscow, which then recognized the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions and bolstered its military presence there.

Georgia’s prosecutors last week launched an investigation of the alleged vote-rigging. The opposition immediately objected that the Prosecutor’s Office would not conduct an independent investigation because its head was appointed by the Georgian Dream-controlled parliament.
…

EU, South Korea urge withdrawal of North Korean troops from Russia’s war with Ukraine

Seoul, South Korea — South Korea and the European Union on Monday jointly condemned North Korea’s supply of weaponry to Moscow and demanded that it withdraw troops it has sent as Russia wages war against Ukraine.

The EU and South Korea were holding their first “Strategic Dialogue” meeting in Seoul, shortly after Washington and Seoul sounded the alarm about North Korea sending soldiers to help Russia.

In a joint statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul condemned the North’s “unlawful arms transfers to the Russian Federation for its use in attacking Ukraine.”

They demanded an end to the “unlawful military cooperation” and a withdrawal of the North Korean forces.  

Borrell also met South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is an existential threat,” Borrell said in a post on X that included a photo of him shaking hands with Kim. “The Republic of Korea is best positioned to understand it. We are united in our support to Ukraine. I encouraged them to step it up.”

The two countries also signed a security and defense partnership covering 15 areas including cyber security and disarmament.

Cho said last week, when asked whether Seoul could send weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea aiding Russia, that all possible scenarios were under consideration,  

South Korea has provided non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including mine clearance equipment, but rebuffed requests for weapons.

Seoul expects the North to be compensated by Moscow with military and civilian technology, as it races to launch a spy satellite and upgrade its missile capabilities.

North Korea last week flexed its military muscle with the test of a huge new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile dubbed Hwasong-19.

Washington expects the North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region, part of which has been seized by neighboring Ukraine, to enter the fight against Ukrainian forces soon, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week.

At talks in Moscow on Friday, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said her country would back Russia until it achieved victory in Ukraine.
…

Trial opens in France in beheading of teacher over prophet cartoons

Paris — The trial of eight people in Paris on terrorism charges started on Monday over the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, who was killed by an Islamic extremist after showing caricatures of Islam’s prophet to his middle school students for a lesson on freedom of expression.

Paty’s shocking death left an imprint on France, and several schools are now named after him. Paty was killed outside his school near Paris on Oct. 16, 2020, by an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, who was shot to death by police.

Those on trial include friends of assailant Abdoullakh Anzorov who allegedly helped purchase weapons for the attack, as well as people who are accused of spreading false information online about the teacher and his class.

The proceedings started Monday in the presence of members of Paty’s family, including his two sisters.

The trial was held under high security, with many police officers patrolling and making checks outside and inside the courtroom.

Five of the accused, who are currently imprisoned, were seated in a wide glass box. Three others, placed under judicial supervision, sat on the defendants’ benches outside the box.

France’s secularism at stake

The attack occurred against a backdrop of protests in many Muslim countries and calls online for violence targeting France and the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The newspaper had republished its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad a few weeks before Paty’s death to mark the opening of the trial over deadly 2015 attacks on its newsroom by Islamic extremists.

The cartoon images deeply offended many Muslims, who saw them as sacrilegious. But the fallout from Paty’s killing reinforced the French state’s commitment to freedom of expression and its firm attachment to secularism in public life.

“We expect that the justice system will be up to the crime that has been committed,” Francis Szpiner, the lawyer representing Paty’s 9-year-old son, told reporters. “It’s an unheard-of event in the history of the republic. It’s the first time a teacher has been assassinated because he is a teacher.”

Thibault de Montbrial, a lawyer for Paty’s sister, Mickaelle Paty, said the trial “will enable everybody in French society to become aware of the direct link, extremely clear, that exists between fundamentalist Islam … and the violence that can lead to such a terrifying act.”

A student’s father among the accused

Much attention at the trial will focus on Brahim Chnina, the Muslim father of a teenager who was 13 at the time and claimed that she had been excluded from Paty’s class when he showed the caricatures on Oct. 5, 2020.

Chnina, 52, sent a series of messages to his contacts denouncing Paty, saying that “this sick man” needed to be fired, along with the address of the school in the Paris suburb of Conflans Saint-Honorine.

In reality, Chnina’s daughter had lied to him and had never attended the lesson in question.

Paty was giving a lesson mandated by the National Education Ministry on freedom of expression. He discussed the caricatures in this context, saying students who did not wish to see them could temporarily leave the classroom.

An online campaign against Paty snowballed, and 11 days after the lesson, Anzorov attacked the teacher with a knife as he walked home, and displayed the teacher’s head on social media. Police later shot Anzorov as he advanced towards them armed.

Chnina will be tried for alleged association with a terrorist enterprise for targeting the 47-year-old teacher through false information.

His daughter was tried last year in a juvenile court and given an 18-month suspended sentence. Four other students at Paty’s school were found guilty of involvement and given suspended sentences; a fifth, who pointed out Paty to Anzorov in exchange for money, was given a 6-month term with an electronic bracelet.

A figure promoting radical Islam involved

Abdelhakim Sefrioui, 65, is another key figure in the trial opening Monday for the adult suspects. He presented himself as a spokesperson for Imams of France, although he had been dismissed from that role. He filmed a video in front of the school with the father of the student. He referred to the teacher as a “thug” multiple times and sought to pressure the school administration via social media.

Sefrioui founded the pro-Hamas Cheikh Yassine Collective in 2004, which was dissolved a few days after Paty’s killing. Sefrioui had long criticized and threatened Muslims who advocate friendship with Jews, including the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris.

Sefrioui and Chnina face 30 years in prison if convicted.

Chnina denied any incitement to “kill” in his messages and video, claiming he did not intend to incite hatred and violence, according to judicial documents.

Sefrioui’s lawyer, Ouadie Elhamamouchi, said he will seek to prove his client is “innocent” and that the video filmed by Sefrioui in front of the school was not seen by the attacker. “In this case, he is the only one who never had any link with the terrorist,” Elhamamouchi said.

Others face charges of complicity

Anzorov, who had wanted to go to Syria to fight with Islamic extremists there, discovered Paty’s name on jihadist social media channels, according to investigators. Anzorov lived 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Paty’s school and did not know the teacher.

Two of Anzorov’s friends face life imprisonment if convicted on charges of complicity in murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. Naim Boudaoud, 22, and Azim Epsirkhanov, 23, are accused of helping Anzorov buy a knife and a pellet gun. Boudaoud also drove Anzorov to Paty’s school. They turned themselves in at the police station, and deny being aware of the attacker’s intentions.

The other four individuals are charged with criminal terrorist conspiracy for communicating with the killer on pro-jihad Snapchat groups. They all deny being aware of the intent to kill Paty.

On Oct. 13, 2023, another teacher in France was killed by a radical Islamist from Russia, originally from Ingushetia, a region bordering Chechnya.
…