AS/Jur (2023) 17 Borders (RSF) has called for the last attempt to murder Mirzali on French territory (12 June 2022) to be addressed by the French and Azerbaijani governments at the highest level.67 48. Incidents of transnational repression by foreign states have also been reported in Azerbaijan. Apart from renditions to Türkiye (see paragraph above), there have been murders or attempted murders of Azerbaijani journalists and politicians with suspected involvement of Iran. In 2011, journalist Rafiq Tagiyev (against whom Iran had issued a fatwa) was murdered. In March 2023, politician Fazil Mustafa, known for his anti-Iranian statements, was shot and wounded in Baku.68 3.4. Belarus 49. The last example in this context is Belarus, known for notoriously egregious methods of transnational repression, such as using crime gangs. Pavel Latushka, a Belarusian opposition leader living in Warsaw, claimed that Belarusian secret services employed organised crime gangs to terrorise Belarusian exiles settled in EU states. In August 2021, Vitaly Shishov, a Belarusian political activist and dissident who co-founded the Kyiv-based Belarusian House in Ukraine, was found dead in Kyiv, hanging from a tree in a park near the place where he lived. His suspicious and unexpected death raised public concerns about his possible assassination by Belarusian agents.69 EUobserver also reported that President Lukashenko had planned the assassination of three Belarusian dissidents in Germany, according to a leaked recording of the then-leader of the Belarus KGB.70 50. The “hijacking” of Ryanair Flight 4978 was another extreme example of transnational repression. On 23 May 2021, the Belarusian government diverted this regularly scheduled international passenger flight (travelling from Athens to Vilnius) to Minsk airport, where Roman Protasevich, an opposition activist and journalist, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, were arrested by the authorities. The Belarusian authorities reported an alleged bomb on board, yet Ryanair called it “a case of state-sponsored hijacking”,71 suspecting three passengers of that flight of being Belarusian agents. An attorney in the United States charged four senior Belarusian officials with conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy, for using a false bomb threat to unlawfully divert the flight in order to arrest the Belarusian dissident.72 51. According to Freedom House, Belarus was responsible for 31 percent of the transnational repression incidents recorded in 2021. Following Lukashenka’s fraudulent re-election in August 2020, many opposition leaders and protesters fled the country and sought asylum in Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. Those who fled to Russia were deported to Belarus. For example, Alyaksey Kudzin, a mixed martial arts fighter who had allegedly been beaten and shot with rubber bullets while in police custody in Belarus, was unlawfully deported from Russia after the ECtHR had indicated an interim measure against the extradition having regard to the risk of torture.73 4. The relevant Council of Europe standards 52. None of the Council of Europe bodies have addressed transnational repression specifically. The present report is the first to compile legal standards relevant to these practices. Freedom House, Gorokhovskaia and Linzer, 2022, op. cit, p. 12; see also the introductory memorandum “Threats to life and safety of journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan” prepared by Ms Hannah Bardell at https://rm.coe.int/threats-to-life-and-safety-of-journalists-and-hr-defenders-in-azerbaij/1680aaafa3. 68 Assassination Attempt Made on Member of Azerbaijani Parliament - Caspian News. 69 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58065313, 3 August 2021; https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-investigatingbelarusian-activists-death-as-possible-murder/a-58771083, 70 https://euobserver.com/world/150486, 4 January 2021. Belarus exiles in EU fear regime-linked murderers (euobserver.com) 26 October 2021. 71 Ryanair CEO Calls Belarus Flight Diversion a ‘Premeditated Hijacking’ - WSJ, 27 May 2021. 72 Belarusian Government Officials Charged With Aircraft Piracy For Diverting Ryanair Flight 4978 To Arrest Dissident Journalist In May 2021 | USAO-SDNY | Department of Justice, 20 January 2022. See also: https://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/ICAO-Council-discusses-Fact-Finding-Report-into-Ryanair-FR4978.aspx, 31 January 2022. 73 Freedom House, Gorokhovskaia and Linzer, 2022, op. cit, p. 4. Russian Court Allows Kickboxer's Extradition To Belarus Despite Torture Concerns (rferl.org). 67 16