Kenyan artists face arrest for painting Öcalan's murals in Nairobi


Kenyan artists are under pressure to be arrested for depicting Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan in their works. "We will not bow in the face of the threat," the artists stated.

ANF
NEWS DESK
Thursday, 26 May 2022,

Kenyan artists who paint portraits on the walls of Nairobi in support of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's freedom are under threat of arrest.

Wahenga, an artist collective, began painting murals in Nairobi in support of the Kurdish People's Leader's release. When the issue of Abdullah Öcalan's release was addressed, the Nairobi Municipality threatened the group with arrest, which had painted over 100 murals in various locations of the city.

Making a statement on the subject, the artists stated that they would not bow to threats, stressing that the concepts of democratic confederalism advanced by Abdullah Öcalan were met with great enthusiasm.

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Swedish newspapers publish joint advertisement against Erdogan

Swedish newspapers published a joint advertisement to criticize the Turkish blackmail against Sweden’s NATO bid and the extradition of Turkish and Kurdish dissidents to Turkey.

ANF
NEWS DESK
Wednesday, 25 May 2022, 

The advertisement published in Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet newspapers was signed by 17 prominent individuals in Sweden. Among them are writers, publishers, actors and journalists.

The advertisement titled “Do not hand over the publishers to Erdogan!” remarked that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is attempting to export his own understanding of freedom of expression to Sweden.

Here is the full advertisement:

“Following Sweden’s and Finland's applications for membership of the NATO military alliance, Turkish President Erdogan outlined a number of conditions.

One of the conditions is the extradition of several Swedish journalists, writers and publishers of Turkish origin to Turkey.

Turkey's demand has rightly caused concern and discomfort among us who work for freedom of expression and publishing.

It is no longer a secret that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has eroded democracy and the rule of law in Turkey. Erdogan has amassed all the legislative, judicial and executive powers in his own hands. He silences journalists and others who disagree with him and puts them in prison. Those who are persecuted by him could be politicians, writers, singers, Youtubers. This list could be extended further. One of the victims of Erdogan's arbitrary rule is businessman and human rights defender Osman Kavala. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers decided to introduce sanctions against Turkey, which is a member of the Council of Europe, because the imprisonment of Osman Kavala violates the European Convention on Human Rights. We would also like to recall the attacks and assassination attempts against prominent journalists, Can Dündar, in Istanbul, Erk Acarer in Berlin, and Ahmet Dönmez in Stockholm.

Under no circumstances can Sweden hand over publishers to a regime which wants to silence its critics far from its borders.

We consider Erdogan's political manoeuvre to extradite the people who took refuge in Sweden to be free as an attempt to export his own understanding of freedom of expression to our country, Sweden.

Do not fall into the trap of Erdogan who abuses his veto right against Sweden's NATO membership bid!

We should never negotiate over freedom of thought and expression!

Protect freedom of thought and expression!

Protect the Kurdish language!

Do not hand over publishers who have escaped the government crackdown in Turkey!”

Below is the list of the individuals who signed the advertisement:

ROBERT ASCHBERG, President of the Publishers Club

KURDO BAKSI, Author

JESPER BENGTSSON, Head of Swedish Pen

ANDERS Q BJÖRKMAN, Deputy Head of Culture at Svenska Dagbladet newspaper

HELENA GIERTTA, Editor-in-Chief of the Journalisten Newspaper

GÖRAN GREIDER, Author, Opinion Leader and Editor-in-Chief of Dala Demokraten Newspaper

ERIK HALKJAER, Head of Reporters Without Borders

ALEX HARIDI, Head of the Swedish Drama Actors' Union

ULRIKA HYLLERT, Head of the Journalists' Union

LISA IRENIUS, Head of Cultural Activities Reports for Svenska Dagbladet Newspaper

LISA NILSSON, Musician/Artist

ÖZZ NUJEN, Actor/Stand-up Comedian

KARIN OLSSON, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Head of Cultural Service, Expressen Newspaper

KARIN PETTERSON, Cultural Service Editor of Aftonbladet Newspaper

AGNETA PLEIJEL, Author

GRETHE ROTTBÖLL, Head of the Swedish Writers' Union

BJÖRN WIMAN, Head of Cultural Service for Dagens Nyheter Newspaper

YPG IS A HUMANIST FEMINIST RESISTANCE

Turkey to launch attack on Kurdish Syria

fb/rl 24.05.2022

During a news conference in Ankara on Monday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would soon launch a new military operation along its southern borders to create a 30-km deep safe zone to combat terrorist threats from the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG), an armed Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) operating in these regions.

“The main target of these operations will be areas which are centres of attacks on our country and safe zones,” the Turkish head of state stated.

President Erdogan pointed out that the operations would be launched as soon as military, intelligence and security forces have completed their preparations.

The operation will likely target the north of Syria, where Turkey has launched several military operations since 2016 to undermine the YPG.

However, the YPG is also known for helping form the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-led coalition, that the United States has greatly relied on to fight the Islamic State since 2014.

Turkey at odds with some European countries

Mr Erdogan’s statement came amid Turkey’s objections on Finland and Sweden becoming NATO members, accusing them of harbouring individuals linked to the PKK group which Turkey accuses of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.

Moreover, in his press conference, the Turkish President also accused the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, of trying to block sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey during a visit to the United States.

“We had agreed to not include third countries in our dispute with him. Despite this, last week, he had a visit to the US and talked at the Congress and warned them not to give F-16s to us,” Tayyip Erdogan said. “He no longer exists for me. I will never agree to meet with him. We will continue our way with honourable politicians,” he added.

Turkey and Greece, both NATO members, have been at odds over a host of issues such as maritime boundaries, the extent of their continental shelves, airspace, and ethnically split Cyprus.


source: REUTERS

Eelam Tamil refugees detained by UK on Chagos Islands launch hunger strike

Eelam Tamil refugees detained by UK on Chagos Islands launch hunger strike

 24 May 2022

File photo: Eelam Tamil refugees who fled Sri Lanka for India last month.

As many as 42 Eelam Tamil asylum-seekers have launched a hunger strike after eight months of being detained on a military base 3,000 miles south of India, as a plea to the UK government to allow them to seek asylum in another country.  

The 42 refugees are part of a group of 89 Eelam Tamils, including 20 children who set out from southern India in a fishing boat in late September 2021 in the hopes of claiming asylum in Canada. Most of the group fled to India years earlier to escape death and violence during the culmination of the Tamil Genocide in Mullivaikkal of 2009. At least one of the asylum seekers took part in the Pottuvil to Polikandy (P2P) protest rally last year

But 11 days into fleeing from India, the refugees’ boat was intercepted by UK forces who escorted it to a joint UK/US air and naval base. The Chagos Islands, where the UK/US military base is, have been ruled by a UN court to have been unlawfully detached from Mauritius by the UK when it granted Mauritius independence in 1968. The UK has since refused to cede sovereignty over the islands, claiming such territory as the British Indian Ocean Territory, and locals remain displaced. 

Since their arrival, the Eelam Tamil refugees have had extremely limited contact with the outside world. For the first six weeks, they were being detained without being able to communicate with anyone at all. They have been held there since October 3 last year with no indication of how long they will remain there, or where they will be sent next. 

They are being kept in a tented compound away from the island facilities and have made clear to the authorities that they are seeking international protection but no steps have been taken to allow the Tamil refugees to claim asylum. 

Most of the group is demanding guarantees from the UK government that they will not be repatriated to Sri Lanka, where they are vulnerable to state persecution and torture, nor to India, where at least 60 of them are registered as refugees and would be forced to squalid camps, where many attempted to commit suicide over the conditions of the camps.

“They are living in a confined compound on the island, where their lives and their children’s futures are in limbo,” Meera, whose husband is in the camps, told Al Jazeera. “They want an answer as to when they will be taken elsewhere.” 

Leigh Day, the firm representing the Eelam Tamil refugees, said “it cannot be right for the UK government to leave this vulnerable group, which includes victims of torture and 20 children, stranded with limited access to communication, no education and without an opportunity to seek international protection.” 

“The mental state of many of our clients can best be described as utterly despairing,” the law firm said in a letter due to the UK government on May 19. “They have asked us what the UK government will do in the event of their deaths on the island, and some have requested that if they die their organs should be donated to the British people."

“It is clear that our clients are at imminent risk of serious harm," Leigh Day added. "Immediate action is needed to ensure that a durable solution is found without any further delay.”

Read more from Al Jazeera here and The Guardian here.

Related Articles: 

14 February 2022 : Eelam Tamil children amongst refugees being held at Diego Garcia

18 February 2022 : P2P protestor amongst Eelam Tamils being held at Diego Garcia

Serbia Resists US-led Bullying

BY GREGORY ELICH
MAY 24, 2022


National Assembly of Serbia. Photograph Source: Boris Dimitrov – CC BY-SA 3.0

Little more than half a year has passed since Belgrade hosted the Non-Aligned Summit on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the movement’s founding, and Serbia is increasingly under fire for upholding the organization’s principles.

Russia’s ill-considered invasion of Ukraine has provided US imperialism with the opportunity of a lifetime, supercharging NATO and US military expansion and transforming the conflict into a proxy war. By sending arms to Ukraine and urging it on to total victory rather than a negotiated settlement, the hope in Washington is that the war can be prolonged. The expectation is that sanctions would then have enough time to bring about the collapse of Russia, which would advance the project of isolating the People’s Republic of China.

Washington is in no mood to countenance neutrality, and no effort is spared to persuade or bully other nations into imposing sanctions on Russia. While the US has met with limited success in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Europe is a different matter, where only one nation maintains a neutral stance – Serbia.

Serbia voted in favor of the UN resolution deploring the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calling for the unconditional withdrawal of forces. It also supported the UN resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the war and is donating €3 million to aid Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons. [1]

Serbia planned, however, to abstain in the vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. Before the vote was scheduled, Western officials met with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković, warning him that Serbia faced punishment unless it joined the West in expelling Russia. Russia’s Gazprom is a majority shareholder in the Petroleum Industry of Serbia. That relationship provided the EU with a decisive leverage point to get its way. Serbia is wholly dependent on Russia for its oil supply, and the earliest possible avenue for diversification is two years away if a planned pipeline from Bulgaria meets its target date. [2] It was pointed out that the EU would be meeting on the day of the UN vote to decide whether or not to allow Serbia to import Russian oil, which has to pass through EU territory. Selaković was told that unless Serbia voted against Russia, it risked a complete cutoff of its supply of crude oil. Furthermore, he was cautioned that Serbia’s path to joining the EU would be blocked, and Western investments would be withdrawn. The EU’s vote on Serbia’s oil supply was initially scheduled for 4:00 PM on the day of the UN vote but was delayed by two hours to see how Serbia voted before the EU would make its decision. Russia made calls to Serbia, too, although no threats were made. [3] After Serbia switched its vote to comply with the EU’s position, the EU granted it an exemption to import Russian oil. [4]

However, Serbia is drawing a firm line in its refusal to sanction Russia. Economic sanctions are a form of siege warfare in which collective punishment is visited upon an entire population. For Serbia to impose sanctions is to join someone else’s war, an action incompatible with its non-aligned status. Serbia knows well the harm done by sanctions, based on the economic ruin it experienced when it was the target of sanctions during the 1990s. It is easy for those in the West to dismiss or ignore the reality of sanctions. No one who has lived through sanctions can do the same. As one Serbian political analyst noted, “Sanctions are an instrument of war; they are often more devastating than bombs, and Serbia is not at war with Russia.” [5]

Coercive economic sanctions unilaterally imposed by states can be regarded as contravening international law in their impact on the human rights of targeted populations, including denial of food, medical care, employment, and even life itself. Sanctions are, of course, the first tool of choice for Western nations.

“People talk about choosing sides. No, we have our own side, Serbia’s side,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić asserts. “We were bombed by 19 NATO countries and sanctioned. We haven’t imposed sanctions against anyone…because we don’t believe sanctions change anything. You can pressure and force Serbia, but that is our genuine opinion.” [6]

Aleksandar Vučić had a more personal experience with Western respect for international law when he was targeted for assassination in 1999. One night after the United States dropped three laser-guided bombs onto the home of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević in a failed attempt to murder him and his wife, [7] it next tried to kill Vučić, who was information minister at the time. Vučić received a fax from CNN inviting him to a live broadcast interview. CNN asked him to arrive for makeup at Radio Television Serbia in Belgrade at 2:00 AM sharp for a program scheduled for half an hour later. At 2:06 AM, NATO missiles pulverized the building, killing 16 people. The first missile struck the makeup room, where NATO expected Vučić to be. Luckily for Vučić, he was running behind schedule and arrived after the attack. [8]

Washington was again disappointed in its hope to see Vučić removed from the scene when he trounced his conservative opponent in this year’s presidential election. That leaves US and EU officials with only their arsenal of bullying tactics. Every day, Western diplomats contact Serbian officials, relentlessly pushing their demands. According to an unnamed Serbian source, “Serbia is threatened with diplomatic channels by withdrawing all investments from Serbia, even sanctions in the banking sector, and some European countries go so far as to mention removing Serbia from the Schengen list,” [9] which allows citizens visa-free entry to EU nations.

Western officials dispense with diplomatic niceties when delivering their threats. “You cannot understand the scale of the rudeness of those who threaten this country,” Vučić observed, “and the bottom line is that they want to break Serbia’s freedom spirit and ability to make decisions on its own.” [10]

Last month, in talks characterized as “difficult,” a delegation of US senators visited Belgrade in a failed attempt to persuade Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia. The senators also complained about Serbia’s purchase of a Chinese FK-3 surface-to-air defense system.[11] If the US expected this high-powered delegation to bend Serbia to its will, it was sorely disappointed.

Talk is not the only means of bullying available to the West. Air Serbia is the only European airline company with active routes to Russia, a fact that has not gone unnoticed. Over two days in a row last month, NATO warplanes closely followed Air Serbia flights coming from Moscow, the second of which tracked the airliner inside Russian airspace. It was a clear attempt at intimidation, prompting Vučić to announce that his government would “request information from NATO to see who was trying to be the smart guy and with what fighter planes they were endangering civil aviation and civilians on a flight…” [12]

Most of Serbia’s trade is with European nations, so it aspires to join the EU. During the decade that it has been a candidate, Serbia has been asked to clear one hurdle after another as it chases a moving target. The main sticking point is the insistence by EU and US officials on Serbia agreeing to the independence of Kosovo, its province that was ripped away through NATO violence. No politician in Serbia could be elected as president who would agree to the violation of the nation’s territorial integrity, and that creates an insurmountable impasse on advancing to EU membership. “As sweetly as you are now talking about the territorial integrity of [Bosnia-Herzegovina] and Ukraine,” Vučić recently responded to an unsympathetic German reporter, “why didn’t you say so in 1999 about Serbia? When it comes to territorial integrity, I would ask you to step into our shoes. In 1999, no one was interested in Serbia’s territorial integrity.”[13]

Despite the challenges in attaining EU membership, Vučić argues that economic factors necessitate that “our strategic path is the path to Europe,” and Serbia has no alternative. [14] How that goal can be achieved in the face of Western intransigence is another question. For many in Serbia, weary of Western threats and overweening demands, the concept of joining the EU is beginning to curdle. Unrelenting demands, pressure, and blackmail have taken a toll, and for the first time, a poll of Serbian citizens showed a majority are opposed to membership. [15]

Certainly, Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, founder of the Movement of Socialists, a coalition partner with Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party, has started to sour on EU membership. Vulin regards the demand for sanctions as a clear signal “that the EU does not want Serbia” and adds, “They measure our love for Europe with hatred of Russia…I don’t want to hate anyone.” [16] Vulin believes that for Western leaders, “it is more important for Russia to be defeated than to achieve peace in Ukraine.” Serbia, he says, does not want to play that game. “The countries that bombed us, I would not say that they have the moral right to ask us to join their own policy.” [17]

It is also apparent that the benefits of EU membership do not apply equally to all, as Zoran Milanović, president of neighboring Croatia, pointed out recently regarding his nation’s place in the union. “We give a lot. We win a little bit. Some things cross all borders, how they treat us and small nations.” [18]

Serbia’s strong economic relationships with China and Russia have long rankled Western leaders, who have never ceased trying to disrupt them. However, it is not in Serbia’s interests to bend to US and EU dictates. Russian and especially Chinese firms have played an instrumental role in Serbia’s ambitious infrastructure improvement project. Furthermore, China and Russia offer the most robust support Serbia can rely on in the United Nations to counter US attempts to formalize its violent theft of the province of Kosovo.

Western officials are unrelenting in demanding that Serbia consent to Kosovo’s independence. Last year, US President Joe Biden sent an insulting “congratulatory” message to Vučić on Serbia’s Statehood Day holiday. Biden encouraged Vučić to “take the hard steps” toward EU membership, including “instituting necessary reforms” and “mutual recognition” with Kosovo. [19] Earlier this month, with the support of Western officials, the province of Kosovo applied for membership in the Council of Europe. [20] It also announced its goal of joining NATO. [21]Serbian intelligence services also learned that “two large countries” – it is not hard to guess which – are actively providing “serious logistical support” to Kosovo to compel more countries to recognize its independence. [22]

Responding to these provocative developments, Vučić remarked, “It is clear that key western countries are running this game,” and that Serbia would oppose them peacefully and diplomatically but with “no surrender.” The problem, he added, “is that everyone thinks they have the right to create Serbia’s policies” and that “they have the right to order how Serbia will behave.” [23]

Recently, G7 foreign ministers quickly followed up on the pressure campaign by issuing a statement calling upon Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia and “normalize” relations with Kosovo. [24] “G7 leaders hammered on the immutability of Ukrainian borders and urged Belgrade to join them unconditionally,” Vučić observed, “even though those same countries in Serbia rudely violated the principle of border immutability two decades ago and robbed us of part of our territory.” [25]

Serbia’s stance has been consistent. “Our only principled position,” announced Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, “is that we are against sanctions on Russia, as well as that we respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and consider it wrong to violate that integrity.” [26]

Washington is not so consistent, treating international law as a menu, where an item may be chosen or ignored according to taste. Ukrainian territory is regarded as sacrosanct, whereas the US backed the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and currently campaigns for Serbian and international recognition for its theft of the province of Kosovo. Similarly, it is ramping up efforts to promote Taiwan’s separation from China and encourage separatist tendencies on the mainland. The hypocrisy can be hard to stomach. “My guts turn when I hear of principles and respect for territorial integrity,” Vučić complained. “They ask us to respect someone’s integrity, and what about ours?” [27] Concerning the unceasing pressure on Serbia to recognize Kosovo, Vučić commented, “As they say, Ukraine will not give up its integrity at any cost, and then you demand that from Serbia. For Serbia to give up its integrity, it can only happen with a gun to the forehead.” [28]

It is now Washington’s moment. The United States believes it can capitalize on the conflict in Ukraine to more thoroughly impose its will on other nations and compel obedience in furtherance of geopolitical domination. Serbia, situated in Europe, is in a particularly vulnerable position. The population of Serbia is nearly united in opposing sanctions on Russia, with the percentage in support measuring in a single digit. An even lower number favors EU membership at the cost of recognizing Kosovo.[29] Yet, the EU sets those as the two primary conditions Serbia must meet for it to be welcomed into the union. Western punishment for Serbia’s independence is already taking a toll, according to Vučić: “The price we pay is huge; we essentially have no access to the capital market.” [30]

In the weeks and months ahead, Serbia can expect to be confronted by escalating threats and blackmail. Vučić vows that although his government will “try to preserve peace and the future of Serbia,” it will not be easy. “I have never seen or dreamed of experiencing this in my life,” he said. “I have never seen such pressure. We face hysteria, and no one wants to hear, let alone listen. Unprecedented hysteria; diplomacy no longer exists.” [31] Western arrogance is not going to dissipate. It is in the DNA of imperialism. As a small nation, can Serbia maintain its sovereignty and independence and hold out against the combined might of the West? And what punishment will it have to take?

Notes.

[1] “Brnabic: Serbia to Donate 3 Mln Euros to Ukraine,” Tanjug, May 5, 2022.

[2] “Србија Даје Помоћ Од Три Милиона Евра: За помоћ деци и расељенима унутар и ван Украјине,” Večernje Novosti, May 5, 2022.

[3] “Вучић о гласању у УН: Првобитна одлука била је да будемо уздржани,” Politika, April 7, 2022.

Milenković, D., “Четири Претње Пре Гласања: Како су западне дипломате притискале нашу земљу да би је натерале да подржи резолуцију против Русије, Večernje Novosti, April 9, 2022.

[4] Србија ће бити изузета из ЕУ санкција на нафту и гас, Politika, April 8, 2022.

[5] Katić, Nebojša, “Србија и политика санкција,” Politika, April 23, 2022.

[6] Dunai, Martin, “Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic Rejects Sanctions on Russia,” Financial Times, April 21, 2022.

[7] “Serbs See Pre-dawn Strike on Milosevic Villa as an Attack on Yugoslav History,” Irish Times, April 23, 1999.

[8] Robert Fisk, “Taken in by the NATO Line,” The Independent (London), July 7, 1999.

[9] “Can Serbia Survive the War in Ukraine? What the West is Threatening Us With?” B92, March 2, 2022.

[10] Александар Вучић за РТС: Незамисливе размере безобразлука оних који прете Србији, биће много тешко, Radio Television Serbia, April 7, 2022.

[11] “US Urges Serbia to Join Sanctions Against its Ally Russia,” Associated Press, April 19, 2022.

“Вучић: Србиjа плаћа велику цену због неувођења санкциjа Русиjи,” Tanjug, April 21, 2022.

[12] “НАТО ловац пратио лет ‘Ер Србије’ у руском ваздушном простору,” Politika, April 7, 2022.

“NATO Warplanes Follow Air Serbia Jet Flying from Russia,” Tanjug, April 8, 2022.

[13] “Покажите Мало Поштовања Према Земљи у Којој Је Убијено 82 Деце!Овако је Вучић одговорио на провокативно питање новинара Дојче велеа!,” Večernje Novosti, May 5, 2022.

[14] “Вучић Поручио Грађанима: ‘Огромни су притисци на нашу земљу, наставићемо да се боримо’,” Večernje Novosti, May 6, 2022.

[15] Katy Dartford and AP, “For First Time, a Majority of Serbs Are Against Joining the EU – Poll,” Euronews, April 22, 2022.

[16] http://www.mup.gov.rs/wps/portal/sr/aktuelno/aktivnosti/03c82eeb-80b9-4650-8ad4-18d2383d72dd

[17] Sideris, Spiros, “Minister: Those Who Bombed Serbia Cannot Ask it to Join Russia Sanctions,” Euractiv, May 6, 2022.

[18] Jurica Kerbler, “Милановић у Вуковару: Нисам ултранационалиста, желим мир између Срба и Хрвата,” Večernje Novosti, May 6, 2022.

[19] https://www.predsednik.rs/en/press-center/press-releases/congratulations-of-the-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-on-the-serbian-statehood-day

[20] Cvetkovic, Sandra and Baliu, Doruntina, “Kosovo Applies for Council of Europe in Move Sure to Anger Serbia,” Radio Free Europe, May 12, 2022.

[21] “Kosovo PM Albin Kurti Expresses Willingness to Join NATO and European Union,” First Channel News, May 18, 2022.

[22] “Четири државе повукле признање КиМ, две велике земље помажу Приштини,” Politika, May 13, 2022.

[23] “Нема повлачења пред уценама и ултиматумима,” Politika, May 13, 2022.

[24] https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/news/-/2531266

[25] D. Milinković, “Три Срамне Уцене Г7 Пред Србијом: Отели нам Косово, а траже да поштујемо украјинске границе,” Večernje Novosti, May 16, 2022.

[26] Brnabic: The Main Task is to Preserve Peace and Stability in the Region,” Telegraf, April 20, 2022.

[27] https://vucic.rs/Vesti/Najnovije/a49913-Vucic-Svi-zajedno-moramo-da-radimo-na-istoj-politici-vucic.rs.html

[28] “Vučić for RV Prva: ‘I Won’t Give Territorial Integrity of Serbia at Any Cost, Period,” B92, May 15, 2022.

[29] “Више од 80 одсто грађана Србије против санкција Русији и уласка у НАТО,” Politika, May 20, 2022.

[30] “Vučić for RV Prva: ‘I Won’t Give Territorial Integrity of Serbia at Any Cost, Period,” B92, May 15, 2022.

[31] “Вучић Са Патријархом: Притисци ће бити све већи, ја ово никада нисам видео – наше је да сачувамо мир,” Večernje Novosti, May 18, 2022.

“Vučić with the Patriarch: ‘Unprecedented Hysteria, Diplomacy No Longer Exists,” B92, May 18, 2022.


Gregory Elich is a Korea Policy Institute associate and on the Board of Directors of the Jasenovac Research Institute. He is a member of the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea, a columnist for Voice of the People, and one of the co-authors of Killing Democracy: CIA and Pentagon Operations in the Post-Soviet Period, published in the Russian language. He is also a member of the Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea and Militarism in Asia and the Pacific. His website is https://gregoryelich.org Follow him on Twitter at @GregoryElich.

Japan Wants to See More Filipino Workers — Ambassador

In a courtesy call, presumptive Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa discussed their countries’ trade, investment, and security ties.

May 24, 2022
By JAPAN Forward


MANILA, Philippines — Japan’s ambassador to Manila, Kazuhiko Koshikawa, paid a courtesy call on the Philippines’ presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, May 23, discussing infrastructure assistance and job opportunities in Japan for more Filipinos.

Koshikawa came to Marcos’s campaign headquarters- turned- transition office with two other ambassadors — those of South Korea and India — and the chargé d’affaires of the United States embassy.

In a press briefing after the meeting, Marcos said that, in his individual discussions with the envoys, they agreed that “the survival and stability of the global economy, even just the regional economy, is going to depend on the partnerships we make with the other countries.”

He added, “We have to open as much of the economy as we can to trade.”

Koshikawa, he said, spoke about projects that could be pursued via official development assistance through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“He showed us many possibilities in terms of…transportation infrastructure…and also employment,” Marcos said. “Japan would like to see an increase in the employment of Filipinos in Japan. So we will pursue those opportunities.”

Philippines and Japan

Later on Monday, Marcos tweeted about his “fruitful discussion” with Koshikawa:

Marcos, son of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos who was deposed through a people power revolt 36 years ago, won by a landslide in the recently concluded presidential election. His running mate Sara, daughter of the outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, also won with an overwhelming lead.

The presumptive president, once officially proclaimed in the coming days, will assume office midday on June 30 for a six-year term.

He inherits from the outgoing government the enormous task of rebuilding the economy, with debts having piled up as a means to finance pandemic response in the past two years. At the media briefing Monday, he mentioned that his administration could only have a better handle of the finances for projects once the national budget for 2023 is passed.

On May 20, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke on the telephone with Marcos to congratulate him – the third head of government to do so after United States President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Prime Minister Kishida expressed his resolve to continue cooperation on the economic front, such as infrastructure development…as well as in the security and coast guard law enforcement fields…among others,” a statement from the Japanese embassy said.

“In response, President-elect Marcos stated that the relations with Japan are of utmost importance to the Philippines, and communicated his intention to deepen cooperation with Prime Minister Kishida in a wide range of areas,” it continued.

The two leaders agreed to hold an in-person meeting as soon as possible.

The presumptive president-elect of the Philippines met with the Ambassador of Japan and others on May 23, 2022, in Manila (Provided by the media office of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.)

Japanese Aid

As of December 2020, JICA has 79 ongoing projects across the Philippines, 

grouped into eight types: Governance
Economic infrastructure
Investment promotion and industrial development
Disaster risk reduction and management
Agriculture and agribusiness development
Environment and energy
Health and social development
Peace and development in Mindanao

After the Marcoses and their cronies were ousted in 1986, official documents surfaced, revealing that during the dictatorship of the father Marcos, he and his associates had received commissions from loans that were meant to fund Japanese projects in the Philippines. Lessons from the scandal became a factor in the passage of Japan’s ODA Charter in 1992.


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Japan Beefs Up Philippine Emergency Response Through Self-Defense Forces Assistance

SINGAPORE
High Court rules against work injury compensation over man's fatal heart attack

The High Court ruled it was insufficient to say the heart attack was an "injury by accident". 

PHOTO: ST FILE

Selina Lum
Senior Law Correspondent
PUBLISHED
MAY 24, 2022

SINGAPORE - An operations supervisor at a laundry factory who decided to go to work after experiencing chest pains earlier that morning died of a heart attack hours later in hospital.

Last year, his employer and its insurer were ordered by an assistant commissioner at the Ministry of Manpower to pay his family $204,000 in work injury compensation for his death on Oct 20, 2018.

On Monday (May 23), the High Court overturned this decision and ruled that the family of Mr Tay Tuan Yong, 56, was not entitled to be compensated under the Work Injury Compensation Act.

Mr Tay's employer SM Laundry & Linen and its insurer Sompo Insurance, which were both represented by Mr Mahendra Prasad Rai, had appealed against the compensation order.

Under the Act, an employer is liable to compensate an employee for any "injury by accident" that occurred in the course of employment.

In a written judgment, Justice Ang Cheng Hock said the assistant commissioner was wrong to conclude that there was an "injury by accident" because Mr Tay had high cholesterol, which caused him to suffer an unexpected heart attack while he was at work.

The judge said it was insufficient to say that there was an "accident" simply because the injury - in this case, a heart attack - had occurred unexpectedly.

"Something external must have happened in the course of employment that triggered the heart attack suffered by Mr Tay, even if one accepts that he had pre-existing medical conditions that predisposed him to having a heart attack," he said.

Justice Ang added that Mr Tay's family have not proved that there was anything that occurred in the course of work that caused him to suffer a heart attack.

The judge said the evidence suggests that the events that led to Mr Tay's death were set in motion at 7am on the date of incident, or possibly even earlier.

Mr Tay had a medical history of high cholesterol and hypothyroidism, and smoked about 20 cigarettes a day.

In the three to four days prior to the incident, he suffered intermittent episodes of chest pains and breathlessness.

At about 7am on Oct 20, 2018, Mr Tay experienced an onset of chest pains but arrived at his workplace at about 9am.

He left work at about 10am to go to a clinic. He was referred to Changi General Hospital, where he died at close to 2pm.

Mr Tay's son testified that his father had mentioned that he was tired from working long hours and clocked more than 100 hours of overtime each month.

Mr Tay's boss, Mr Lim Chuan Aik, said Mr Tay could go home at 5pm each day but chose to stay late to wait for a female employee.

Mr Lim said he formed the view that Mr Tay was not doing work in the one hour he spent at the workplace that day.

Mr Lim said Mr Tay later phoned him from the clinic to tell him about a mistake in a work-related delivery matter.

Dr Baldev Singh, who testified for Mr Tay's family, opined that the worry that Mr Tay must have felt in making the phone call "sealed his fate".

Dr Wong Cheok Keng, who testified for SM Laundry and Sompo Insurance, was of the view that, bearing in mind Mr Tay's existing condition and risk factors, he was "already a ticking time bomb" and heading towards a heart attack.

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Russia Consumed by More Mysterious Fires as Huge Blazes Rage

BY BRENDAN COLE 

ON 5/24/22 

Two people were reportedly killed in an apartment block fire in a Russian city only days after a fatal blaze at a residential building in the same region.

Elsewhere, a landfill site in Siberia was engulfed in flames at a time when authorities are dealing with a record number of fires in Russia, which have included unexplained blazes believed to be linked to the war in Ukraine.

In the first incident, around 100 people were evacuated from a building at around 5.30 a.m. Tuesday in the city of Kemerovo, located around 1800 miles southeast of Moscow.

Three dozen responders were at the building on Voroshilov Street in the Leninsky district of the city and the fire was extinguished within around half an hour.

Responders tackled a blaze at a landfill site on the outskirts of the Russian city of Yakutsk, around 3,000 miles east of Moscow on Tuesday. A still from video footage shows a cloud of thick smoke on the outskirts of the city on May 24, 2022.TWITTER

The regional department of Russia's emergency situations ministry, which Newsweek has contacted for comment, said that there was smoke coming from the window of an apartment on the seventh floor which also spread across two floors above it.

Of those who fled the building, around a quarter had to be helped by emergency responders.

A resident told local news outlet NGS42.RU that the bodies of two people were found in the apartment, a man and a woman, although this has not been confirmed.

On May 20, a woman and two men died after a fire in an apartment block in the same region. Local media reported that neighbors said the three had been drinking for days and called firefighters when they detected smoke in the building located in the city of Mezhdurechensk, around 200 miles south of Kemerovo.

In the far-flung city of Yakutsk, firefighters tackled a blaze on Tuesday which threatened a nearby forest. Video footage on social media shows smoke billowing from a landfill on the outskirts of the city, around 3000 miles east of Moscow in the Sakha Republic, south of the Arctic Circle.

A local news outlet tweeted that around 5,300 square feet was on fire, which 25 responders were trying to put out.



Earlier this month, Russia's Emergencies Ministry reported more than 4,000 wildfires in the country so far this year. Fires in Russia during the spring and summer months are common, but a number of unusual blazes and explosions have occurred since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which have not been formally explained.

These include fires at fuel depots in Belgorod and Bryansk near the Ukrainian border, a gunpowder factory in the Urals city of Perm and an aerospace research institute in Tver. The incidents have sparked speculation that they were acts of sabotage by Ukraine.

Military enlistment offices in Russia have also been hit by arson attacks since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, according to media outlets.

READ MORE

Mysterious Factory Fire in Russia as Blaze Engulfs Building

Fire Erupts at Russia Aviation Institute Near Moscow as Ukraine War Rages

Gunpowder Explosion in Russia Leaves 1 Dead, 7 Injured

Russia Issues Arrest Warrant For Self-Exiled Journalist Naki

Maikl Naki

A court in Moscow has issued an arrest warrant for well-known journalist Maikl Naki, who is currently outside of Russia, accusing him of distributing false information about the Russian military as Moscow's war against Ukraine continues.

Naki reacted to the Basmanny district court's May 24 decision by saying on Twitter that the judge who announced the ruling, along with state investigators, "will face trials before me, I have no doubt about that."

Naki is a former journalist at the radio station Ekho Moskvy, which halted operations in March after the Prosecutor-General's Office said the broadcaster, known to be critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was distributing what authorities called information "calling for extremist activities, violence, and premeditated false information" about Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Media across the country have been instructed by the government that Russia's actions in Ukraine cannot be called a "war" or an "invasion," and should instead be referred to as a "special military operation."

Naki has his own YouTube channel with 726,000 subscribers. He uses it to regularly report about the war in Ukraine.

The founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team, Ruslan Leviyev, is a suspect in the same case. The Basmanny district court issued an arrest warrant for Leviyev on May 18.

Leviyev's team investigates armed conflicts in Ukraine and other parts of the world. Leviyev is a frequent guest on Naki's YouTube channel.

Sun, Sand, Surf, Sea—and Russian Rockets: Wartime in Odesa

Ukraine’s historic Black Sea resort turns to the war effort.

By Leif Reigstad
MAY 24, 2022

The Grande Pettine Hotel in Odesa, destroyed by a rocket on May 8. 

(Leif Reigstad)

ODESA, UKRAINE—On a hot and sunny summer day along the Black Sea beachfront, Igor cast his fishing line over the edge of a long pier. Wearing nothing but a blue Speedo and the faded red beach towel wrapped around his neck, the leathery-skinned Odessan was at a different spot from his preferred place for finding Gobi fish and mussels, where he’d been fishing for 10 years. His usual place had been wrecked by a recent rocket attack.

An engineer by trade, Igor was out of work because of the war, and he’d been coming here to fish all day to keep busy. He didn’t seem to care that Russian ships were just out of sight somewhere off the coast, training their armaments on this picturesque and historic city. The evidence of their destructive might was visible just a short walk down the shoreline, where the charred remains of a ritzy waterfront hotel sat in a massive pile of rubble a week after being struck by a Russian missile. As Igor fished, the soft booms of defensive artillery sounded in the background. “I don’t even consider going to a shelter,” he told me. “If it hits, it hits.”

Odesa had been considered an early target of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose efforts on the southern front were stalled at Mariupol and, so far, have been largely stopped at Mykolaiv, preventing ground forces from reaching this crown jewel on the Black Sea. Odesa has since become a symbol of Ukraine’s stubborn resistance. It was roughly 75 miles along the coast from here that Russia’s warship Moskva was famously sunk, and while a curfew remains in effect and city officials still warn that Russian attempts at a marine landing remain possible, it seems extremely improbable that the war will reach Odesa anytime soon in the way that it’s reached the Donbas region or the villages surrounding Kyiv.

Still, rockets continue to strike, and every so often mines wash in with the tide. A few days after I met Igor, a beach bathroom was destroyed by rocket. But none of this seemed to bother beachgoers bathing on the white sands. Their easy-going enjoyment of the waterfront seemed emblematic of the Odessan spirit.

As in most of the cities that sit far from the front lines, life here has continued amid the war. At the city’s Privoz Market, a maze of shops selling everything from seafood to showerheads, shoppers bought cheese and fresh bread from Georgians, dried fruit and nuts from Uzbeks, and fresh fruit and wine from Moldovans, including bushels of the brightest-red strawberries I’ve ever seen. One woman selling hunks of salty cheese told me the market never closed, not even on February 24, when the recent invasion began.

While the market remained open, it wasn’t quite as busy as usual, according to my fixer, Olga Pariieva. The streets of Odesa were similarly busy, yet missing the hordes of tourists and cars typical for this time of year. It felt peaceful, particularly given the surrounding context of a country at war. Locals were out enjoying the green parks and cobblestone streets, lined by ornate buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries, crumbling masterpieces in shades of pastel pink and sea-green. At the Odesa City Garden, the proverbial heart of the city, a street violinist played Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” over the distant sounds of air raid sirens. “Odesa never gives up,” Pariieva told me. “You cannot do this to Odesa.”

But much of the historic downtown is blocked by checkpoints, and some landmarks, like the National Opera, are completely shut off from the public. And while Odesa traditionally moves at a more relaxed pace than the typical big city, civilians here have been mobilizing to support the war effort in parts of Ukraine that have been more directly impacted.

In a four-star hotel in the city’s equivalent of Miami’s South Beach—a cluster of glass skyscrapers and night clubs—volunteers were unpacking and sorting packages of combat medical kits, thermal tactical optics, and camo uniforms. The hotel’s restaurant was converted into a donation center at the beginning of the war, and since then volunteers have been sorting donations and cooking meals for soldiers in the kitchen. Piles of potatoes and onions lay atop red velvet couches where once wealthy socialites sat popping bottles of champagne.

In an atrium beneath a gold chandelier, lead organizer Victoria Krotova showed me a photo on her phone of a brand-new silver pickup truck that they’d arranged to be delivered to the front. Swiping to the next image on her phone, she showed me the same truck, several days after it reached the front, turned into a useless piece of scrap by Russian artillery.

“The day the war began, I woke up and immediately understood that part of my life before the war was finished,” she said, wearing a white sweatshirt that read “There’s always hope,” and standing near a table on which sat a package of Pampers next to a pair of thermal vision goggles. “People will never be the same. It will never be the same as it used to be.”

Right now, Krotova said they desperately need uniforms—specifically, MARPAT camo, the pattern type used by the US Marines—and more cars.

The apartment complex in Odesa where a 3-month-old was killed on Easter weekend. 

(Leif Reigstad)

Despite the hotel’s plush setting, the horrors of war were close. Another volunteer knew a woman who was killed, along with her mother and her 3-month-old baby, when a rocket struck an apartment complex on Easter weekend. When I visited the site in late May, there was still a gaping hole in the building, and a red toy airplane and two roses lay on a stairwell nearby. According to the City of Odesa’s Telegram channel, 30 apartments there were completely destroyed, and 62 more were damaged.

Abulfat Aliev, the owner of a Turkish imports business on the apartment complex’s ground floor, was on his way to work when the rocket struck. He got a security alert saying that his front door had been forced open, and arrived to see the smoldering remains of apartments and a line of charred cars piled on the street in front. “There were flames and smoke, everything was on fire,” he said. “It was horrible. People died, people lost their homes, their memories, things that can’t be replaced.”

At another apartment complex in Odesa, near a large mall that was struck by a rocket, broken windows peered out over an empty playground in the courtyard. Few people remained here. One resident, Lena Sukhotskaya, told me her daughter and grandson were playing here one day when they saw rockets whizzing overhead. They left shortly after that. When a rocket struck the mall nearby, another resident, Natalia, told me she was inside the hallway, clutching her elderly mother so tightly that she nearly suffocated her; they tried to run down to the basement, but the electricity went out and it was too dark; people were falling down. She told me that one small child was screaming so loudly that they thought he’d been hurt; but he was just terrified, and refused to let anyone touch him to look for injuries.

During my week in Odesa, several more rockets struck: a fertilizer plant was destroyed in one attack, and a 4-year-old girl lost her leg when a residential area was hit in Zatoka, a resort town just south of the city.

Amid the constant threat from above, some places in the city can feel like a ghost town. At an amusement park near the waterfront, attendants sat bored next to their rides. There was a tangled mass of stationary bumper cars, and carnival music echoed eerily throughout the nearly empty grounds. A double-decker carousel twirled around a few times for their painted horses’ only riders: a 2-year-boy and his mother, Katya.

“We come here for the distraction,” Katya told me. “I still haven’t gotten used to the rockets. I’m afraid it might come for us next time, hit our house.” She said she hasn’t left Odesa because her mother lives here, and she won’t leave her behind. Then she began to cry. In English, she said, “Stop the war. Stop killing children.”

Olga Pariieva contributed reporting and translation from Odesa.

Leif Reigstad is a journalist based in Austin, Tex. He has previously worked for Texas Monthly and the Houston Press.

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