Weekend Reports

Thousands of people turned out on October 31 to pay their respects to the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, who died at the age of 82 after being hospitalized following a positive test for the coronavirus. People gathered in Podgorica as the remains of Metropolitan Amfilohije were transferred from the Cetinje Monastery to the Cathedral of Christ’s Resurrection in Podgorica. Amfilohije is to be buried in the crypt of the cathedral in Podgorica at his request. The Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro urged those paying their respects to comply with measures to control the spread of the coronavirus. However, few in the large crowd were wearing masks while standing in close proximity to one another. The funeral is scheduled to take place on November 1.

Around 300 people took part in a sanctioned rally on October 31 in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s second-largest city. The protest was held to demand political reforms and an end to politically motivated persecutions. Demonstrators read out the names of 200 people, who they say are political prisoners, and also called for freedom of speech. Prominent human right activists Bakhytzhan Toreghozhina and Ghalym Ageleuov said that permission to hold the protest was obtained after two previous attempts to do so were unsuccessful. No reason was given for why authorities eventually decided to allow the rally. Requests to hold similar events in other cities to coincide with the Almaty demonstration were declined.RFE/RL

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