Amnesty International no longer considers jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny a “prisoner of conscience” due to past comments he made that qualify as advocacy of hatred, the group said. “Amnesty International took an internal decision to stop referring to … Navalny as a prisoner of conscience in relation to comments he made in the past,” the group said in a statement sent to Reuters on Wednesday. “Some of these comments, which Navalny has not publicly denounced, reach the threshold of advocacy of hatred, and this is at odds with Amnesty’s definition of a prisoner of conscience,” it added. Source Reuters
Poland’s justice minister said on Wednesday it was not possible to comply with a ruling by the top European Union court that the country’s new system for disciplining judges broke EU law and should be suspended. Source Reuters
Taliban spokesperson and Commander Moulana Yousaf Ahmadi in Kandahar spoke to India Today exclusively and said the group has taken over 85 per cent of Afghanistan and will gain control of the remaining parts soon. Source India Today
Syria’s air defences have intercepted an Israeli attack on al-Safirah area of southern Aleppo, Syrian state media reported, a location where Israel has repeatedly hit a growing Iranian presence. Source Al Jazeera
