Watchdog

A Russian court has sentenced two activists linked to the banned Open Russia rights group to lengthy prison sentences for drug charges they say are politically motivated.

The Pskov district court on August 12 sentenced Lia Milushkina to 10 1/2 years in prison and her husband, Artyom Milushkin, to 11 years after finding them guilty of drug trafficking.

Milushkina is the former coordinator of the local branch of the Open Russia rights group linked to exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Her prison sentence will be deferred until 2024 because the couple has two young children.

The former head of oil company Yukos, Khodorkovsky is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's wealthiest opponents.

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Several Khodorkovsky-linked organizations have been banned or otherwise targeted in recent years under the so-called "foreign agent" laws, including the pro-democracy Open Russia movement.

The couple was arrested in January 2019 and charged with selling a large amount of drugs based on testimony given by anonymous witnesses and a police agent whose drug addiction came up during the trial. The police officer is now serving time for drug possession.

Milushkin was also charged with arson.

During the trial, the defendants said they were arrested before a rally against arbitrary police practices and that officers planted the drugs.

The activists say the charges are politically motivated because they often organized and participated in protests in Pskov, a city 700 kilometers northwest of Moscow

After the verdict was read, video from the courtroom showed Milushkin breaking the benches inside a cage for defendants.

Earlier this month, two online publications and a legal aid group backed by Khodorkovsky announced they were ceasing operations after the sites were blocked by Russian authorities.

In May, Open Russia said it was ceasing operations to protect is members.

An ethnic Kazakh from China's northwestern province of Xinjiang has been deported from Slovakia to Ukraine after he attempted to illegally cross the two counties’ border, a Kazakh activist says.

Activist Botagoz Isa told RFE/RL on August 12 that Chinese citizen Ersin Erkinuly was deported several days ago.

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Ukraine granted Erkinuly asylum seeker status last year, but he decided to flee to Slovakia after receiving threats from unknown persons, according to Isa.

She said Erkinuly is to go on trial on August 13 on charges of illegal border crossing.

There was no immediate comment from Slovak or Ukrainian officials.

Ukrainian border guards arrested Erkinuly in October 2020 when he tried to cross into Poland without proper documents.

The man was released from custody in the western city of Lviv in December after an appeals court canceled a lower court's decision to deport him back to China.

Erkinuly has claimed he had lost his Chinese passport and that he would face imprisonment and torture if he is sent back to China.

In recent years, many Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other mostly Muslim, indigenous ethnic groups have fled the country, fearing detention.

The U.S. State Department has said as many as 2 million members of these ethnic groups have been taken to Chinese detention centers.

China denies that the facilities are internment camps.

Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans.