Russia

Fair Trials International argues that international police work is improperly influenced by political motives, The Washington Post reports. Fair Trials International said that Interpol is used by members, including Russia, Belarus, Turkey, Iran and Venezuela, to pursue political ends. FTI cites a case in which a Russian environmental activist was arrested in Spain even though he was accepted as a political refugee in Finland; Pyotr Silaev spent six months in a Spanish jail until a Spanish court ruled that his arrest was politically motivated, The Washington Post further reports.

The Washington Post has a piece that begins: "Courts from Moscow to Murmansk sent out a broad and uncompromising message Tuesday: Russian authorities will not tolerate protest, not from the weak or the powerful, not on land or at sea." A photojournalist and Greenpeace activists detained after a protest of Arctic drilling were denied bail in one case. In another case, a man with disabilities was confined to indefinite psychiatric treatment after being arrested at a protest when Vladimir Putin was inaugurated.