Watchdog

Jailed Iranian political activist Emad Bahavar has been transferred to a prison known for its harsh regime, his mother has told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

Tahereh Taherian said her son was transferred to Rejaee Shahr prison for refusing to make a televised confession to his interrogators.

Rejaee Shahr is located in Karaj, just west of Tehran. Bahavar had previously been held at Evin prison in northwestern Tehran.

Both are known for their harsh conditions, but Rejaee Shahr inmates face an even tougher regime. Whereas almost all inmates of Evin are political prisoners, in Rejaee Shahr political prisoners are frequently put in cells with common criminals.

Bahavar has led the youth wing of the Freedom Movement of Iran, which supports Iranian opposition leader and former presidential candidate Mir Hussein Musavi.

Bahavar, who is accused of spreading propaganda against the Islamic establishment, was last taken into custody on March 1. This was the fourth time he had been arrested since the disputed presidential election last June.

Taherian said her son faced intense pressure by his interrogators.

"Emad was misinformed that his wife had been arrested and that I had suffered a stroke and been taken to hospital," Taherian told RFE/RL. "Nevertheless, he did not comply by making the televised confession."

It is not uncommon in Iran for prisoners to make televised confessions in political cases. Those who refuse to do so may face harsher punishment.

Russian human rights activists opened a branch of the NGO Antiment in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, today, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.

The main aim of the NGO -- whose name roughly translates as "down with bad cops" -- is to fight police corruption.

Evgeny Arkhipov, chairman of the Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights, told an RFE/RL correspondent that the human rights situation in Ukraine is getting worse, but the experience of Russian activists may help the country to counter this trend.

In addition, Arkhipov believes that the office of the Russian NGO in Kyiv will provide an international platform for Russian citizens in order to better protect their rights.

According to Russian authorities, about 66,000 Russian citizens are hiding from prosecution abroad.

An increasing number of Russians have received refugee status in Ukraine in recent years. Among them is Olga Kudrina, the head of the Ukraine branch of the Union of Russian Political Emigrants. Kudrina fled Russia in 2006 after being sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for hanging a banner from a Moscow hotel calling for then-President Vladimir Putin to resign.

Arkhipov said that despite the improvement in Russian-Ukrainian relations at the highest level, Russian human rights activists have a better chance of escaping political persecution by acting from the territory of Ukraine.

He noted that there are a number of Ukrainian NGOs ready to help Russian human rights activists.