MOSCOW: Russia’s prosecutor general on Monday said it had banned a foundation started by US film star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal.
“The activities of The Clooney Foundation for Justice are declared undesirable on the territory of our country,” it said in a statement.
The organization “conducts extensive work aimed at discrediting Russia, actively supports false patriots and members of banned terrorist and extremist groups.”
“Under the guise of humanitarian ideas, these ‘warriors for justice’... advance initiatives of criminal probes against the highest Russian authorities,” it said in the statement entitled “The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office Appreciates Hollywood Activists’ Acting Talent.”
After Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities have upped repression of dissent to levels not seen since the Soviet Union.
In July, the Clooney Foundation, along with several other non-governmental organizations, filed a case with the UN Human Rights Committee, accusing Russia of violating the human rights of Ukrainians killed in a 2022 missile attack on Vinnytsia.
In early August, Russia’s prosecutor general banned as “undesirable” German pro-democracy foundation Konrad Adenauer and in July did the same with the Moscow Times news outlet.
The “undesirable” status forces organizations to shut down in Russia and means Russians that work for, fund or collaborate with them can also be liable to prosecution.
Russia bans Clooney Foundation
https://arab.news/22wvb
Russia bans Clooney Foundation
- The organization ‘conducts extensive work aimed at discrediting Russia, actively supports false patriots and members of banned terrorist and extremist groups’
Afghan Taliban says Pakistan bombs Kabul in fresh escalation
KABUL: The Afghan government said on Friday that Pakistan had carried out fresh strikes on Kabul and several other provinces.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X that Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Paktika, and some other areas, were targeted.
Pakistan has killed at least 641 Afghan Taliban operatives and injured more than 855 in the ongoing conflict between the two sides since last month, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday.
Islamabad has said its airstrikes, which have at times directly targeted the Afghan Taliban government, are aimed at ending Kabul’s support for militants carrying out attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban has denied aiding militant groups.
Fresh clashes between the two neighbors began on Feb. 26 after Afghanistan’s border forces launched attacks against Pakistani military installations. Kabul said the attack was in retaliation for Islamabad’s airstrikes earlier in February. Both forces have since then engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained strained since the Afghan Taliban seized power in August 2021. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks across the country in recent months that it blames on militants it alleges are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegations and insists that its soil is not used by militant groups for attacks against other countries.
While Afghanistan has voiced the desire for dialogue, Pakistan has repeatedly ruled out talks, saying it will continue targeting militant hideouts through “Operation Ghazab lil Haq” until Kabul desists from supporting militants.
