Month: November 2020

The Gomel region of southern Belarus – once a part of the former Soviet Union – suffered the biggest radioactive blow from the 1986 Chernobyl accident. In this story narrated by Jonathan Spier, Ricardo Marquina reports from the region on inhabitants who are living with both rural poverty and the contaminated soil.Camera by: Ricardo Marquina         Produced by: Ricardo Marquina and Jonathan Spier 
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The ruling party in the former Soviet republic of Georgia is claiming victory following Saturday’s closely contested parliamentary election.  But the opposition alleges the vote was rigged and staged a rally outside parliament on Sunday in protest.Preliminary results show the ruling Georgian Dream, or GD, led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, garnered about 48% of the vote, according to election officials.The opposition United National Movement, or UNM, of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, was second with 27%. Trailing with roughly 4% was European Georgia, a party that split from the UNM in 2017. Altogether, there are eight opposition parties, including pro-Russia Patriot’s Alliance, which is perceived as an ally to the Georgian Dream.  The ruling party declared victory soon after initial projections were announced. It said the elections were a step forward and that it will single-handedly form a government.  “This is a big win,” said Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgian Dream’s executive secretary. “Free and fair elections are main achievement of Georgian Dream,” he told reporters at a press conference.
 
With the final votes still being counted, the opposition is discussing the possibility of boycotting parliament. They have argued that Ivanishvili has undermined Georgian democracy through shadow governance, control over the judiciary and pressuring the business sector.   The opposition leaders have pledged unity, maintaining that they won’t recognize Saturday’s elections.   “Ivanishvili destroyed democracy in our country last night,” said UNM member Salome Samadashvili ahead of announcing an opposition rally. “We demand new and legitimate elections,” she added.   “The results that were established through fear tactics, violence, bribery, use of administrative resources, manipulations at voting stations, do not reflect the will of the people,” said Giga Bokeria, leader of European Georgia.Ruling Party in Ex-Soviet Georgia Leads in Parliament Vote; Opposition ProtestsThe opposition said preliminary results did not correspond with realityObservers from the OSCE — the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe — have said the vote was competitive and that overall, fundamental freedoms were respected. The OSCE, however, said allegations of pressure on voters and blurring of the line between party and state reduced public confidence in parts of the process.  Georgian Dream says the OSCE assessment proves that the elections reflected the popular choice. “The assessment is much more positive than in the case of previous elections,” said Archil Talakvadze, the chairman of parliament.  A statement from the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi echoed the assessment of the OSCE, while calling for transparency in resolving the complaints.“These efforts to corrupt the electoral process through voter intimidation, vote buying, interfering with ballot secrecy, blurring of party and official activities, and violence against election observers and journalists, while not sufficient to invalidate the results, continue to mar Georgia’s electoral process and are unacceptable,” the statement said.Elections in the nation of nearly 4 million people were held with a hard-won, new electoral system, a concession the ruling party made after a series of demonstrations last year and continued pressure from the U.S. government and Congress. Of the legislature’s 150 seats, 120 are decided by a proportional system. The remaining seats would be decided through what are called single-mandate. There will be run-offs in 16 out of 30 districts.  The elections also took place amid the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, a struggling economy and increased poverty. Observers note the national currency, the lari, has lost half of its value against the U.S dollar and unemployment remains the main concern of the population.  The pandemic has hit Georgia hard with its economy expected to shrink by 4% this year. Coronavirus cases are sharply rising, straining the health care sector. According to the Johns Hopkins University, the former Soviet republic has close to 39,000 confirmed cases and 307 deaths. The government took steps to curb the outbreak by declaring a state of emergency earlier this year, closing schools and some businesses and restricting travel.The election followed a highly polarized campaign in which Georgian Dream and the United National Movement traded personal attacks.  Georgian Dream’s chief tactic was to target Saakashvili, who served as president from 2004 through 2013. Saakashvili left the country after a series of criminal charges against him, which he argues are politically motivated. He currently resides in Ukraine and holds an official position in the government.  “If the opposition decides that I should come, I will jump on the next plane,” he said after the election results were announced.Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s, came to power in 2012, ousting President Saakashvili’s government. He served as a prime minister for a year, before abruptly resigning. He is widely believed to run the government behind the scenes.  Over the years, Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream has come under harsh criticism from local and international observers, who have voiced concerns over targeting of media freedoms, and political opponents and the use of excessive force during anti-Russia protests last summer.
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Security forces in the Belarusian capital have detained more than 200 people in the latest anti-government protest fueled by a disputed presidential election 12 weeks ago.Thousands of demonstrators took part Sunday November 1 in marches in Minsk as part of almost daily protests demanding Alyaksandr Lukashenko’s resignation and a new vote.According to a list published by the human rights group Vyasna, nearly all the people detained were taken into custody in Minsk.People argue with policemen during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Nov. 1, 2020.Armored vehicles equipped with machine guns were seen in Minsk along with water cannons and other anti-riot equipment, according to AP.It was the 12th consecutive Sunday of marches in Minsk held to keep the pressure on Lukashenko, who has orchestrated a massive crackdown and arrested thousands since authorities declared him the winner of an August 9 election to give him a sixth consecutive term.Most of the country’s opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, including presidential candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has said the vote was rigged in Lukashenko’s favor and considers herself the rightful winner. She left Belarus for Lithuania after the vote amid threats to her and her family.Tsikhanouskaya has urged a “national strike” since October 26 that has been met with security sweeps and more brutal moves against dissenters.The opposition had set a deadline of midnight on October 25 for Lukashenko — who has been president for 26 years — to leave.Lukashenko responded with another show of power, and later met with his new security chiefs on October 30 and threatened “harsh measures” against protesters.Vyashna said about 40 people were detained in Minsk, Hrodna, and other Belarusian cities on October 31.The November 1 rallies coincide with an annual march that commemorates victims of Soviet-era killings with victims buried at Kurapaty, on the outskirts of Minsk.Cell phone coverage was said to be cut off in many areas as estimates suggested dual marches had attracted tens of thousands of people.Belarus partially closed all its land borders to foreigners overnight on October 31-November 1 in a move that prompted speculation the restrictions are politically motivated.The country’s State Border Committee said the border restrictions were to “prevent the spread of infection caused by COVID-19.”Lukashenko has repeatedly accused the opposition and critics of being foreign-backed puppets.He has bolstered forces at Belarus’s western borders, and accused Poland and the Baltic states of trying to destabilize Belarus.
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The United States is among 14 countries whose human rights records will be examined under the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review.  The two-week session, which opens Monday, will be held both in-person and remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Universal Periodic Review, or UPR, is a unique process in that the human rights records of all 193 U.N. member states, regardless of how weak or powerful they are, come under scrutiny. All states have participated at least twice since the process began in 2008. They now are in the midst of having their records reviewed for a third time.   One of the successes of the UPR is that it has a 100 percent participation rate. Human Rights Council spokesman Rolando Gomez says the UPR is an opportunity for states to highlight advances they have made in the area of human rights. He agrees some countries may be particularly notorious human rights violators but adds none has a stellar record. All have issues that can stand improvement. He tells VOA it is the prerogative of a state whether it chooses to address these issues in a genuine manner. “If by chance they do not address their own issues in a genuine manner, there are states who are taking part in this who will certainly shed light on those issues,” he said. “They would not miss that opportunity through the UPR… But they certainly cannot conceal the violations that they are committing… the alleged violations they are committing. And, with membership, I should point out that they certainly cannot escape any form of scrutiny either.”  Gomez says many good things have emerged from this process. He notes people have benefited from the implementation by states of recommendations made at the UPR.  For example, he says literacy rates have increased in some countries, minority religions have been approved by constitutional orders in others and prison conditions have been improved. Gomez says the United States has been actively involved in the UPR process, despite having relinquished its seat as a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council. He says the U.S. will come under review on November 9. “I can tell you that from the reports, which are already in the public domain on this review the situations of people of African descent, racism, discrimination, police brutality — these are some of the issues, which will be addressed during this review,”  he said.Gomez says other issues, such as the situation of migrants in the U.S. also will come up. Because of the coronavirus, he says most of the participants will testify remotely from Washington. He says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to make a statement. 
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Security forces in the Belarusian capital have fired warning shots and begun detaining participants on Sunday in the latest anti-government protest fueled by a disputed presidential election 12 weeks ago. Thousands of demonstrators were taking part in parallel Minsk marches on November 1 as part of almost daily protests and ongoing demands for Alyaksandr Lukashenko’s resignation and a new vote. Columns of security trucks and buses to hold detainees could be seen around the city as the columns marched toward a well-known monument to Soviet-era repression victims outside the capital. But soon, law enforcement were targeting groups of protesters with flash-bang grenades, warning shots fired into the air, and with tear gas and batons while trying to disperse the crowds. Belarusian law enforcement officers block opposition supporters during their rally to reject the presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Nov. 1, 2020.Some motorists appeared to be trying to block the movement of vehicles intended to carry off detainees. One day earlier, police arrested dozens as hundreds of women marched through Minsk to keep the pressure on Lukashenko, who has orchestrated a massive crackdown and arrested thousands since authorities declared him the winner of an August 9 election to give him a sixth consecutive term. FILE – Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya speaks during a news conference in Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 21, 2020.Most of the country’s opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, including presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has said the vote was rigged in Lukashenk’s favor and considers herself the rightful winner. She left Belarus for Lithuania after the vote amid threats to her and her family. Tsikhanouskaya has urged a “national strike” since October 26 that has been met with security sweeps and more brutal moves against dissenters. The opposition had set a deadline of midnight on October 25 for Lukashenko — who has been president for 26 years — to leave. Lukashenko responded with another show of power, and later met with his new security chiefs on October 30 and threatened “harsh measures” against protesters. The Vyashna rights organization said about 40 people were detained in Minsk, Hrodna, and other Belarusian cities on October 31. The November 1 rallies coincide with an annual march that commemorates victims of Soviet-era killings with victims buried at Kurapaty, on the outskirts of Minsk. Cell phone coverage was said to be cut off in many areas as estimates suggested dual marches had attracted tens of thousands of people. Belarus partially closed all its land borders to foreigners overnight on October 31-November 1 in a move that prompted speculation the restrictions are politically motivated. The country’s State Border Committee said the border restrictions were to “prevent the spread of infection caused by COVID-19.” FILE – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a meeting with the country’s political activists in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 16, 2020.Lukashenko has repeatedly accused the opposition and critics of being foreign-backed puppets. He has bolstered forces at Belarus’s western borders, and accused Poland and the Baltic states of trying to destabilize Belarus. Belarus has also expelled or turned away many foreign correspondents, in addition to jailing some journalists. Lukashenko has repeatedly turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he has sometimes clashed over the implementation of a two-decade-old agreement on a joint state, for support since the latest unrest began.  
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AstraZeneca Plc said on Sunday Britain’s health regulator had started an accelerated review of its potential coronavirus vaccine.”We confirm the MHRA’s (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) rolling review of our potential COVID-19 vaccine,” an AstraZeneca spokesman said.In rolling reviews, regulators are able to see clinical data in real time and have dialogue with drug makers on manufacturing processes and trials to accelerate the approval process.The approach is designed to speed up evaluations of promising drugs or vaccines during a public health emergency.AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is being developed along with the University of Oxford. Bloomberg reported on Friday that MHRA had also begun an accelerated review for the COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Pfizer Inc.AstraZeneca and Pfizer are among the frontrunners in the race to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus, with the race also including Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc. Their vaccine candidates are in late-stage trials, interim data from which are expected in the coming weeks.The British drug maker said on Monday its COVID-19 experimental vaccine produces an immune response in both old and young adults. The vaccine also triggers lower adverse responses among the elderly, it said.The novel coronavirus has killed more than 1.19 million people globally, damaged the world economy and turned normal life upside down for billions of people.Work began on the Oxford vaccine in January. Called AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, the viral vector vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus that causes infections in chimpanzees. 
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French authorities have announced new arrests related to an apparent Islamist terrorist attack at a church in Nice last week, even as they continue to investigate a separate church attack in another city shortly after. A man carries flowers in a cemetery in Strasbourg, eastern France on Nov. 1, 2020, during All Saint’s day festivities.Sunday marks the Christian holiday of All Saints Day. France is a traditionally Catholic country and while many French today are not very religious, they are still reeling from back-to-back attacks targeting churches — first a knife attack in Nice that left three people dead, and a separate shooting attack Saturday targeting a Greek Orthodox priest at his church in the city of Lyon.  Police secures a street after a Greek Orthodox priest was shot and injured at a church in the center of Lyon, France, Oct. 31, 2020.French media report authorities have arrested more people related to the Nice attack, which President Emmanuel Macron has described as an act of terrorism. The main suspect, Tunisian immigrant Brahim Issaoui, remains hospitalized after police shot him multiple times.  Tunisian and French investigators are trying to piece together Issaoui’s motivations and who might have helped him carry out the brutal knifings at Nice’s Notre Dame Basilica Thursday morning. He seems to have arrived in France only days before. Meanwhile a suspect has been arrested in the Lyon attack, but his motive was not immediately clear.  These are the latest of several attacks to hit France in recent weeks, most apparently related to the republication of cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed. Last month, schoolteacher Samuel Paty was decapitated by an Islamist extremist, apparently for showing the caricatures in a class on free speech.  Muslims find the cartoons deeply offensive, and their republication — along with President Macron’s defense of the right to publish them in the name of free expression — has led to protests and boycotts in several Muslim countries.  In an interview with broadcaster Al-Jazeera, President Macron said he understood people could be shocked by the cartoons, but that did not justify physical violence. He said he would always defend free expression in France.  France has weathered multiple Islamist terrorist attacks in recent years, including the 2015 Paris attacks, along a 2016 strike in Nice. Once again, France’s national security alert is at its highest level. The country is also in lockdown, in response to a separate crisis in the coronavirus pandemic. In Nice, where flowers are piled up in front of the Notre Dame Basilica, residents told French radio they did not feel secure.  Portrait of a deadly knife attack victim is seen among flowers in front of the Notre Dame church in Nice, France, Oct. 31, 2020.The attacks have also sparked debate about France’s staunch defense of secularism and just how far free speech should go. And the country’s Muslim community fears it will be stigmatized.  On Monday, children return to class after a two-week vacation. Schools nationwide are to hold a minute of silence to commemorate slain teacher Paty.   
 
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French authorities said that a person suspected of firing a hunting gun and seriously wounding a Greek Orthodox priest outside a church in the city of Lyon, France, Saturday, is in police custody.Nikolaos Kakavelaki was closing his church when he was shot twice in the chest at point-blank range and is currently in a serious condition in the hospital, police sources said.The motive for the attack is still unclear, but it comes after a young Tunisian killed three people inside the Notre Dame Basilica in the southern French city of Nice on Thursday and the beheading of a history teacher near Paris earlier last month.Security throughout France remains high after the deadly stabbings at the basilica, while President Emmanuel Macron tried to ease tensions with Muslims in the country.French leaders have termed the incident an Islamist terrorist attack after the perpetrator shouted “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is great,” as he decapitated a woman and killed two other people.Thursday’s attack followed the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty earlier in October after the republication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by the Paris-based satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.Macron triggered protests in the Muslim world after the murder of Paty, who showed a cartoon of Muhammad to his class, by saying France would never renounce its right to caricature.On Saturday, though, Macron sounded a more empathetic tone in an interview with Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera.“I can understand that people could be shocked by the caricatures, but I will never accept that violence can be justified,” Macron said.Meanwhile, French authorities detained a third man for questioning Saturday in connection with the Islamist knife attack at the basilica in Nice.The man was present during a police search Friday at the home of a second young Tunisian man suspected of being in contact with the attacker.The main suspect, Ibrahim Issaoui, 21, who went through Italy last month en route to France, remains in critical condition in a French hospital after being wounded by police as they arrested him.France, Tunisia and Italy are jointly investigating to determine the motive for his attack, whether he acted alone and whether his act was premeditated.Issaoui was not on Tunisia’s list of suspected militants and was not known to French intelligence services.Tunisian authorities are reportedly investigating whether a group called the Mahdi Organization carried out the Nice attack. The state news agency TAP reported Friday investigators were also trying to determine whether the group exists and said that the probe is based on claims of responsibility on social media. 
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Moldovans started to vote in a presidential election Sunday in which the pro-Russian incumbent Igor Dodon is bidding for a second term against former prime minister Maia Sandu, who wants to pull the country closer to the European Union.The election in the nation of 3.5 million, where the West and Russia vie for influence, takes place in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic that has pushed one of Europe’s poorest countries into a sharp economic downturn.Dodon took power in 2016 after pro-Western political forces became mired in scandals. He has led opinion polls against seven other candidates going into Sunday’s vote but may not win outright, which would lead to a run-off.Sandu, a Harvard-educated former World Bank economist known for her tough stance on corruption, led a short-lived coalition government last year that was brought down by a no-confidence vote within months.If elected, she has promised to secure more financial support from Brussels, while Dodon has pledged to roll out a settlement next year for the breakaway Russian-speaking region of Transdniestria.The EU in 2014 forged a deal on closer trade and political ties with the ex-Soviet republic, which is squeezed between EU member Romania and Ukraine, but became increasingly critical of Chisinau’s track record on reforms.Sandu has received messages of support from German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former European Council President Donald Tusk.A group of Dodon’s supporters denounced such support as an attempt to destabilize the country. Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, last week accused the United States of plotting to instigate mass protests against Dodon as punishment for him fostering good relations with Moscow.Naryshkin similarly accused Washington of fomenting revolution in Belarus, where the Moscow-backed President Alexander Lukashenko has battled months of protests following a contested election.
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At least 51 people have been killed and nearly 900 injured by the earthquake that toppled buildings in the Turkish city of İzmir and created sea surges on at least two Greek islands.Rescue teams in Turkey early Sunday morning pulled a man alive from the rubble of a collapsed building. The man, identified as Ahmet Citim, survived for 33 hours under the debris of a residential building that was flattened during the earthquake.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Izmir on Saturday evening and promised the government would help victims who lost their homes with temporary housing and rent, and start construction of new buildings.The deadly 7.0 earthquake originated from a 250-kilometer fault line off the coast of the Greek island of Samos, streaming across the Aegean Sea that divides Turkey and Greece. Hundreds of aftershocks followed.Just hours after the quake, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis placed a rare telephone call to Turkish president to offer his condolences.“Whatever our differences, these are times when people need to stand together,” Mitsotakis posted on Twitter.Erdogan replied in a twin tweet: “That two neighbors show solidarity and support in difficult times is more valuable than many things in life.”The United States has saluted the Greek-Turkish earthquake diplomacy and expressed readiness to help the two NATO countries.”It’s great to see both countries putting their differences aside to help each other during a time of need. The United States also stands ready to assist,” said U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien.France also offered assistance to the countries, extending “full solidarity to both Greece and Turkey.”Although Greece and Turkey are both members of NATO, there are perhaps no two allied, neighboring nations whose dealings have been marked with so much conflict and mistrust. Most recently, both sides have been embroiled in a heated energy standoff in the eastern Mediterranean, bringing them to the brink of war during the summer.The European Union and the United States have been working for months in hope of sitting both sides down to negotiate their differences, but to no avail.It remains unclear whether the deadly earthquake can strengthen ties. 
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At least 39 people have been killed and nearly 900 injured by the earthquake that toppled buildings in the Turkish city of İzmir and created sea surges on at least two Greek islands.Rescue teams in Turkey early Sunday morning pulled a man alive from the rubble of a collapsed building. The man, identified as Ahmet Citim, survived for 33 hours under the debris of a residential building that was flattened during the earthquake.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Izmir on Saturday evening and promised the government would help victims who lost their homes with temporary housing and rent, and start construction of new buildings.The deadly 7.0 earthquake originated from a 250-kilometer fault line off the coast of the Greek island of Samos, streaming across the Aegean Sea that divides Turkey and Greece. Hundreds of aftershocks followed.Just hours after the quake, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis placed a rare telephone call to Turkish president to offer his condolences.“Whatever our differences, these are times when people need to stand together,” Mitsotakis posted on Twitter.Erdogan replied in a twin tweet: “That two neighbors show solidarity and support in difficult times is more valuable than many things in life.”The United States has saluted the Greek-Turkish earthquake diplomacy and expressed readiness to help the two NATO countries.”It’s great to see both countries putting their differences aside to help each other during a time of need. The United States also stands ready to assist,” said U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien.France also offered assistance to the countries, extending “full solidarity to both Greece and Turkey.”Although Greece and Turkey are both members of NATO, there are perhaps no two allied, neighboring nations whose dealings have been marked with so much conflict and mistrust. Most recently, both sides have been embroiled in a heated energy standoff in the eastern Mediterranean, bringing them to the brink of war during the summer.The European Union and the United States have been working for months in hope of sitting both sides down to negotiate their differences, but to no avail.It remains unclear whether the deadly earthquake can strengthen ties. 
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Armenia and Azerbaijan once more accused each other of bombing residential areas on Saturday, in defiance of a pact to avoid the deliberate targeting of civilians in and around the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.   Shelling was reported by both sides within hours of the latest agreement to defuse the conflict, reached after talks in Geneva between the two countries’ foreign ministers and envoys from France, Russia and the United States.   The agreement with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group fell short of what would have been a fourth ceasefire since fighting began on Sept. 27. The death toll in the worst fighting in the South Caucasus for more than 25 years has surpassed 1,000 and is possibly much higher.   Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians. About 30,000 people were killed in a 1991-94 war in the region.   The Nagorno-Karabakh Emergency and Rescue Service said the central market in Stepanakert, the enclave’s largest city, had come under fire and that large parts of it had been burned.   Armenia’s defense ministry said several civilians had been wounded in attacks on the city of Shushi, 15 km (9 miles) to the south, while the human rights ombudsman in Nagorno-Karabakh said a civilian in Martuni region had died when a shell hit his home.   Azerbaijan’s defense ministry denied these accusations. It said that the regions of Terter, Aghdam and Aghjabedi had come under artillery fire, as had Gubadli, a town between the enclave and the Iranian border that was taken by Azeri troops this week. Azerbaijan’s recent advances on the battlefield, which also extends to seven surrounding regions, have reduced its incentive to strike a lasting peace deal and complicated international efforts to broker a truce.   The conflict has also brought into sharp focus the increased influence of Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, in a former Soviet region considered by Russia to be within its sphere of influence. Russia also has a security alliance with Armenia.  In response to a request by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to outline the extent of Moscow’s support, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it would provide “all assistance required” should the conflict spill onto “the territory of Armenia” — land that is outside the current conflict zone.   Nagorno-Karabakh’s army says 1,166 of its soldiers have been killed since Sept. 27. Azerbaijan, which does not disclose its military casualties, updated its civilian death toll to 91. Russia has estimated as many as 5,000 deaths on both sides.  
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A Greek Orthodox priest was shot and injured Saturday at a church in the center of the French city of Lyon by an assailant who then fled, a police source and witnesses said.The priest was fired on twice around 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) as he was closing the church, and he was being treated for life-threatening injuries, the source said.Witnesses said the church was Greek Orthodox. Another police source said the priest was of Greek nationality and had been able to tell emergency services as they arrived that he had not recognized his assailant.A Greek government official identified the priest as Nikolaos Kakavelakis.There was no indication from French officials that the attack was related to terrorism. The French anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office had not been brought in, as is normal when law enforcement officials suspect a terrorism link, France’s BFMTV broadcaster said.Other attacksThe incident came two days after a man shouting “Allahu Akbar!” (God is greatest) beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in Nice.Two weeks ago, a schoolteacher in a Paris suburb was beheaded by an 18-year-old attacker who was apparently incensed by the teacher’s showing of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad during a class.Police search for clues after a priest was shot, Oct.31, 2020, in Lyon, France. A Greek Orthodox priest was shot while he was closing his church.While the motive for Saturday’s attack was not known, government ministers had warned that there could be other Islamist militant attacks. President Emmanuel Macron has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect sites such as places of worship and schools.Prime Minister Jean Castex, who was visiting Rouen, said he was heading back to Paris to assess the situation.The Nice attack took place on the day Muslims celebrate the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. Many Muslims around the world have been angered about France’s defense of the right to publish cartoons depicting the Prophet.A third person has been taken into police custody in connection with that attack, a police source said Saturday. The suspected assailant was shot by police and remained in critical condition in hospital.Macron: Violence unjustifiedMacron took to Arabic language airwaves on Saturday, saying he understood the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad might shock some people but that there was no justification for acts of violence.In an interview with Al Jazeera released Saturday, Macron said his position had been misconstrued. He said he had never supported publication of cartoons seen as insulting by Muslims but had defended the right of free expression.”I understand and I respect the fact that people might be shocked by these caricatures, but I will never accept any justification for acts of violence over these caricatures,” Macron said.The teacher killed on October 16, Samuel Paty, had shown cartoons in class to prompt discussion about free speech.
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