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Category: Світ

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to a single felony charge for publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that secures his freedom and concludes a drawn-out legal saga that raised divisive questions about press freedom and national security. 

The plea was entered Wednesday morning in federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific. He arrived at court shortly before the hearing was to begin and did not take questions. 

Though the deal with prosecutors required him to admit guilt to a single felony count, it would also permit him to return to his native Australia without spending any time in an American prison. He had been jailed in the United Kingdom for the last five years, fighting extradition to the United States on an Espionage Act indictment that could have carried a lengthy prison sentence in the event of a conviction. 

The abrupt conclusion enables both sides to claim a degree of victory, with the Justice Department able to resolve without trial a case that raised thorny legal issues and that might never have reached a jury at all given the plodding pace of the extradition process.  

WikiLeaks, the secret-spilling website that Assange founded in 2006, applauded the announcement of the deal, saying it was grateful for “all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom.” 

The deal, disclosed Monday night in a sparsely detailed Justice Department letter, represents the latest and presumably final chapter in a court fight involving the eccentric Australian computer expert who has been celebrated by supporters as a transparency crusader but lambasted by national security hawks who insist that his disdain for government secrecy put lives at risks, and strayed far beyond the bounds of traditional journalism duties. 

The U.S. Justice Department agreed to hold the hearing on the remote island because Assange opposed coming to the continental U.S. and because it’s near Australia, where he will return. 

The guilty plea resolves a criminal case brought by the Trump administration Justice Department in connection with the receipt and publication of war logs and diplomatic cables that detailed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prosecutors alleged that he conspired with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain the records and published them without regard to American national security, including by releasing the names of human sources who provided information to U.S. forces. 

But his activities drew an outpouring of support from press freedom advocates who heralded his role in bringing to light military conduct that might otherwise have been concealed from view. Among the files published by WikiLeaks was a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists. 

The indictment was unsealed in 2019, but Assange’s legal woes long predated the criminal case and continued well past it. 

Weeks after the release of the largest document cache in 2010, a Swedish prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Assange based on one woman’s allegation of rape and another’s allegation of molestation. Assange has long maintained his innocence, and the investigation was later dropped. 

He presented himself in 2012 to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he claimed asylum on the grounds of political persecution, and spent the following seven years in self-exile there, hosting a parade of celebrity visitors and making periodic appearances from the building’s balcony to address supporters. 

In 2019, his hosts revoked his asylum, allowing British police to arrest him. He remained locked up for the last five years while the Justice Department sought to extradite him, in a process that encountered skepticism from British judges who worried about how Assange would be treated by the American criminal justice system. 

Ultimately, though, the resolution sparing Assange prison time in the U.S. is a repudiation of sorts of years of ominous warnings by Assange and his supporters that the American criminal justice system would expose him to unduly harsh treatment, including potentially the death penalty — something prosecutors never sought. 

Tbilisi, Georgia — Campaigners in Georgia are seeking to highlight atrocities committed by invading Russian troops and allied militias during the early 1990s, which they say should have been a warning of the dangers posed by Russia long before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

Their campaign, “Before Bucha Was Abkhazia,” is touring U.S. and European cities and includes documentary screenings, photography exhibitions and presentations.

Russian atrocities

As the Soviet Union was collapsing, Georgia declared independence in 1991. There were tensions between Georgians and ethnic minority groups in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions bordering Russia. Many Georgians say Moscow exploited those tensions to stoke conflict. 

Tamar Chergoleishvili, manager of the “Before Bucha Was Abkhazia” campaign, says Russia was to blame for the conflict.

“Wars broke out in Georgia that were branded as ethnic conflicts and civil war. But, in fact, it was Russia that was organizing all the turmoil, wars and bloodshed in order to dismember Georgia and not to allow a newly independent state to become truly independent, truly sovereign, and to become the member of the Western democratic world,” she told VOA.

Russia disputes that history and insists it sent troops into Abkhazia and South Ossetia as peacekeepers. 

The ensuing conflicts between Georgians, Russians and their allied ethnic minority militias from 1989 to 1994 killed an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 people. More than 200,000 were forced to flee their homes. Many have never been able to return.

Survivors of the conflict say multiple atrocities were committed by armed separatists and their Russian allies. In one notorious incident, witnesses say 300 women and girls were held in a school and systematically raped. There are hundreds of other testimonies recounting killings and torture.

Taliko Zarandia recalled the killing of her neighbor’s son in Abkhazia.

“The militants arrived and charged at us like wolves,” she said. “They rushed towards the boy and asked how old he was. He replied that he was 15. ‘You deserve 15 bullets then,’ they replied. Then, they shot him 15 times in the head,” Zarandia said.

Ethnic cleansing

Russia denies its forces committed war crimes. However, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe describes what happened in Abkhazia as ethnic cleansing.

The harrowing testimony of survivors is reminiscent of the accounts from Ukrainians following Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion.

In Ukrainian cities Bucha and Irpin, survivors describe similar killings, rapes and torture carried out by Moscow’s forces, which Russia also denies, despite widespread evidence and the uncovering of mass graves. The International Criminal Court in The Hague is investigating possible war crimes by Russian forces.

Chergoleishvili, who founded the independent news agency Tabula Media, said she was inspired to launch the campaign after Ukrainian television journalists contacted her for information on what had happened in Abkhazia.

“We all knew that something horrible had happened in Abkhazia, but it was so dusty. No one wanted to go through it ever again. But Ukrainians made me to go through the material before giving [it to] them, and I had goosebumps, and I felt so shameful,” she said, adding that Moscow’s war in Ukraine has alerted the world to the threat from Russia.

Warning to West

“Now we think that it is a good time — when there is the readiness to receive that information on the Western side — to remind the world, and ourselves, about the forgotten victims from Georgia that suffered the same aggression that Russia is using now against Ukraine. Just to warn the West that if they don’t stop Russia in Ukraine now, they will have to spend 100 times more in another 30 years,” Chergoleishvili told VOA.

Russia invaded Georgia again in 2008. It still occupies 20% of Georgian territory, including Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Many Georgians say their experiences should have provided the West with ample warning of the dangers posed by Russia, long before its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

london — Britain’s King Charles welcomed Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and his wife to London at a Buckingham Palace banquet on Tuesday, celebrating economic, diplomatic and cultural ties on the first day of a three-day state visit.  

“Our governments are working together to provide a stable world for future generations,” said Charles, flanked by Queen Camilla on one side and Naruhito on the other. 

“Supporting all these shared endeavors are the enduring ties between our people that transcend geography — and that does not just mean how much we enjoy tea and talking about the weather.”  

The emperor’s trip, postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, seeks to deepen the military, cultural and scientific links between the two countries.  

Naruhito paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth, who was on the throne when the invitation was first issued, highlighted Charles’ work on environmental projects and spoke of the strength of diplomatic ties. 

“The multi-layered collaboration and exchange between our two countries is accelerating in various areas, including politics and diplomacy, the economy, culture and the arts, science and technology, as well as education,” he said. “Our bilateral relations have never been more robust.”  

Charles’ son and heir to the throne, Prince William, had earlier traveled to the hotel where the 64-year-old emperor and Empress Masako were staying, before the trio arrived for a ceremonial welcome at Horse Guards Parade on Tuesday. 

The two heads of state — Charles wearing a top hat — then inspected the Guard of Honor as the rows of soldiers in their traditional scarlet uniforms and black bearskin hats stood in the summer heat.  

They then traveled to Buckingham Palace in a gold-edged horse-driven carriage.  

The visit is taking place in the run-up to an election in Britain on July 4, meaning that some of the usual political elements will be missing.  

There will be no meeting at Downing Street between the emperor and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, although Sunak and opposition leader Kier Starmer both attended the banquet. 

The visit comes at a difficult time for the British monarchy, after Charles, 75, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, and as William’s wife, Catherine, undergoes preventative chemotherapy treatment for cancer. 

In another setback, Princess Anne, Charles’ younger sister, suffered a head injury on Sunday after an incident believed to have involved a horse. While she is expected to make a full recovery, she pulled out of attending the state banquet. 

Naruhito came to London in 2022 to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and is fond of Britain, having studied here in the early 1980s.  

He has spoken of the kindness the British royals showed him at that time, including a visit to the royal family at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where Charles took him fly fishing.  

The pair took lunch at Buckingham Palace and then viewed Japanese-related items from the royal collection before a tour of Westminster Abbey.  

moscow — Russia said on Tuesday it was banning access inside Russia to the broadcasts of 81 different media outlets from the European Union — including Agence France-Presse and Politico — in retaliation for a similar EU ban on several Russian media outlets. 

The European Union said in May it was suspending the distribution of what it described as four “Kremlin-linked propaganda networks,” stripping them of their broadcasting rights in the bloc. 

It said at the time that the ban applied to Voice of Europe, to the RIA news agency, and to the Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspapers. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry hit back on Tuesday, releasing a list of 81 media outlets from 25 EU member states, as well as pan-European outlets, whose broadcasts it said would no longer be available on Russian territory. 

It accused the outlets of “systematically distributing inaccurate information” about what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine.  

France’s Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency, Austria’s ORF state TV company, Ireland’s RTE broadcaster, digital outlet Politico and Spain’s EFE news agency were among the outlets affected by the move, along with many other national broadcasters and newspapers.  

“The Russian Federation has repeatedly warned at various levels that politically motivated harassment of domestic journalists and unjustified bans on Russian media in the EU will not go unanswered,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. 

“In spite of this, Brussels and the capitals of the bloc’s countries preferred to follow the path of escalation, forcing Moscow to adopt mirror and proportional countermeasures.” 

It said it would review its ban if the EU lifted its restrictions on RIA, Izvestia and the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, all of which it described as Russian media outlets.  

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma lower house of parliament, said in May that the EU move had shown that the West refused to accept any alternative point of view and was destroying freedom of speech. 

‘Unjustified measure’ 

Italy’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday condemned the Russian decision to ban access to outlets including Italian broadcasters Rai and La7 and newspapers La Repubblica and La Stampa. 

“We regret the unjustified measure taken against these Italian broadcasters and newspapers, which have always provided objective and unbiased information on the conflict in Ukraine,” the ministry said. 

AFP declined to comment, and RTE did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the measures, announced a day before the Russian trial of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges is due to begin.  

Jamil Anderlini, Politico’s editor-in-chief for Europe, described the measures as “completely unacceptable” and said in a statement that it was “not the first time press freedoms have been restricted through politically motivated attacks.” 

“We call for the immediate lifting of these restrictions and continue to call for Evan’s immediate release,” he wrote. 

The first American journalist to be detained on spy charges in Russia since the Cold War more than three decades ago, Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has denied he is a Central Intelligence Agency spy. The Journal says Gershkovich was doing his job and denies he is a spy. 

Many Western news organizations pulled staff out of Russia after it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and passed laws soon afterwards that set long prison sentences for “discrediting” the armed forces. 

Russian officials say large parts of the Western media spread false, unbalanced stories about Russia, and that Western media organizations are waging an information war. 

У Генштабі додають, що російські війська не відмовляються від намірів просунутися в районі Часового Яру. Ситуація під контролем українських захисників

UNITED NATIONS — The United States and its key European allies clashed with Iran and Russia over Tehran’s expanding nuclear program, with the U.S. vowing “to use all means necessary to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran” in a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday.

The U.S., France, Britain and Germany accused Iran of escalating its nuclear activities far beyond limits it agreed to in a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, and of failing to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran and Russia accused the U.S. and its allies of continuing to apply economic sanctions that were supposed to be lifted under the deal and insisted that Tehran’s nuclear program remains under constant oversight by the IAEA.

The clashes came at a semi-annual meeting on implementation of the nuclear deal between Iran and six major countries — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Under the accord, Tehran agreed to limit enrichment of uranium to levels necessary for the peaceful use of nuclear power in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2018. Trump said he would negotiate a stronger deal, but that didn’t happen.

The council meeting followed an IAEA report in late May that Iran has more than 142 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60% purity, a technical step away from weapons-grade level of 90%. The IAEA said this was an increase of over 20 kilograms from February.

The IAEA also reported on June 13 that its inspectors verified that Iran has started up new cascades of advanced centrifuges more quickly enrich uranium and planned to install more.

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the council that the IAEA reports “show that Iran is determined to expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible civilian purpose.”

Wood said the U.S. is prepared to use all means to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, but said it remains “fully committed to resolving international concerns surrounding Iran’s nuclear program through diplomacy.”

The three Western countries that remain in the JCPOA — France, Germany and the United Kingdom — issued a joint statement after the council meeting also leaving the door open for diplomatic efforts “that ensure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon.”

They said Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium is now 30 times the JCPOA limit and stressed that Iran committed not to install or operate any centrifuges for enrichment under the JCPOA.

Their joint statement also noted that “Iranian officials have issued statements about its capacity to assemble a nuclear weapon.”

Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani blamed “the unilateral and unlawful U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA” and the failure of the three European parties to the deal “to honor their commitments,” saying it is “crystal clear” they are responsible for the current non-functioning of the agreement.

In the face of U.S. and European sanctions, he said, Iran has the right to halt its commitments under the JCPOA.

Iravani reiterated Iran’s rejection of nuclear weapons, and insisted its nuclear activities including enrichment are “for peaceful purposes” and are subject to “robust verification and monitoring” by the IAEA.

The Iranian ambassador strongly endorsed the JCPOA, calling it a hard-won diplomatic achievement “that effectively averted an undue crisis.”

“It remains the best option, has no alternative, and its revival is indeed in the interest of all of its participants,” he said. “Our remedial measures are reversible if all sanctions are lifted fully and verifiably.”

But France, Germany and the UK said some of Iran’s nuclear advances are irreversible.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said U.S. promises “to abandon the policy of maximum pressure on Tehran and to return to the nuclear deal remained empty words.”

He accused some other JCPOA parties, which he didn’t name, of “doing everything possible to continuously rock the boat, jettisoning opportunities for the implementation of the nuclear deal.”

Nebenzia urged the European parties to the agreement and the United States to return to the negotiating table in Vienna and “demonstrate their commitment to the objective of restoration of the nuclear deal.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the coordinator of the JCPOA, said the compromise text he put forward two years ago for the U.S. to return to the JCPOA and for Iran to resume full implementation of the agreement remains on the table.

«Справа стосується звинувачень України щодо систематичних порушень Російською Федерацією Європейської конвенції з прав людини в Криму, починаючи з лютого 2014 року»

Pentagon — The U.S. is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine valued at up to $150 million as soon as Tuesday, two U.S. officials tell VOA.

The package is being provided to Kyiv under the presidential drawdown authority (PDA), which pulls weapons, ammunition and equipment from U.S. military stockpiles to fulfill Ukraine’s short-term needs. 

One of the officials — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the package ahead of its planned announcement — said the latest round of aid would include munitions for HIMARS and other critical munitions. It does not include cluster munitions, according to the official.

Asked whether the aid package includes long-range missiles known as ATACMS, the official replied, “For operational security reasons, we aren’t going into further details.”

ATACMS have a range of up to 300 kilometers (about 185 miles) and nearly double the striking distance of Ukraine’s missiles. 

When asked by VOA on June 12 if the United States had provided Ukraine with more ATACMS since mid-March, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown said, “We’re working through the ATACMS piece, and we continue to provide that capability through our PDAs.” 

Russia has accused Ukraine of using some of the U.S.-provided ATACMS in deadly strikes this week inside Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and in Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine.

Russia summoned the U.S. ambassador in Moscow on Monday to protest the use of the missiles.

This week’s aid package for Kyiv will dip into the $61 billion in Ukraine funding signed into law by President Joe Biden in April.