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WORLD NEWS Saturday 23 april 2022

Kremlin pursues more cases against critics of Ukraine war

Russian authorities have House of Representatives
opened a criminal case as the basis for the latest
against prominent oppo- charges.
sition activist Vladimir Ka- In March and early April,
ra-Murza Jr. for allegedly the activist made a series of
spreading "false informa- public addresses in which
tion" about the country's he denounced Russia's ac-
armed forces, his lawyer tions in Ukraine. In an April
said Friday. 11 interview with American
Russian media reported television network CNN, he
that similar charges were described the Kremlin as "a
being drawn up against regime of murderers."
outspoken tech executive Kara-Murza was detained
Ilya Krasilshchik, the former hours after the interview
publisher of Russia's top in- and jailed for 15 days for
dependent news site, Me- disobeying a police officer.
duza. The moves against Prokhorov said his client
the two Kremlin critics are had been due to appear in
part of a widening crack- court for an appeal hear-
down against individuals ing Friday but instead was
speaking out against Rus- taken in for questioning at
sia's war in Ukraine. the Russian Investigative
Russia adopted a law crimi- Committee headquarters.
nalizing spreading false in- Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian opposition activist, arrives to lay flowers near the place where Prokhorov said Kara-Murza
formation about its military Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down, in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 27, 2021. has maintained his inno-
shortly after its troops rolled Associated Press cence.
into Ukraine in late Febru- the invasion. and oligarch-turned-dissi- 2015 and 2017. The spokespeople for a
ary. The offense is punish- Kara-Murza is a journal- dent Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov Moscow court said investi-
able by up to 15 years in ist and a former associate who was jailed for years in told reporters that the false gators have petitioned to
prison. Human rights advo- of late Russian opposition Russia. Kara-Murza himself information case against place Kara-Murza in pre-
cates so far have counted leader Boris Nemtsov, who was hospitalized with poi- Kara-Murza cited a March trial detention for an initial
32 cases targeting critics of was assassinated in 2015, soning symptoms twice, in 15 speech to the Arizona period of two months.q

Rights Commission urges El Salvador to

respect rights

SAN SALVADOR, El Salva- States."Many of the deten- declared in late March re-
dor (AP) — The Inter-Amer- tions have been carried stricts the right to gather, to
ican Commission on Hu- out illegally, arbitrarily and be informed of rights and
man Rights called on the through the use of violence, have access to a lawyer. It
government of El Salvador " the commission said in a extends to 15 days the time
Thursday to respect human statement. Detainees are that someone can be held
rights, after authorities de- often picked up "for be- without charges.
clared a state of emergen- longing to criminal groups. The commission warned Heavily armed police guard the streets in down town San
Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, March 27, 2022.
cy and rounded up 14,000 Gang members held at the government that even Associated Press
suspected gang members. Salvadoran prisons have with the decree, "its power
The arrests often appear been put on reduced food is not unlimited, because it the rights of all of those un- nocent people are being
arbitrary, according to the rations, denied mattresses has the duty at all times to der its jurisdiction." caught up in sweeps tar-
commission, part of the and frog-marched around. act in accordance with ap- Rights groups have ex- geting the notorious violent
Organization of American The state of emergency plicable rules and respect pressed concerns that in- street gangs. q