wiretapping of private communications and Blaga Theoretical High School, the only for placing criminal suspects in pretrial Romanian-language school in the regional detention was insufficiently probing, and capital, Tiraspol, and suspended its resulted in near-total approval. Safeguards operations for at least three months. The envisaged in national law, such as the reasons were not reported. The de facto persons being wiretapped being compulsorily authorities reversed the decision to suspend informed, were not observed. the school in the same month, after At a press conference on 4 October, the intervention by the OSCE and other Prosecutor General accused a former international partners. colleague and several NGOs of plotting to unseat him, and claimed he had seen the content of their mobile communications. He MONGOLIA was arrested the following day on several charges, including abuse of authority. Mongolia GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE Head of state: Ukhnaa Khurelsukh (replaced Khaltmaa Battulga in June) On 14 October parliament approved Head of government: Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating Covid-19 restrictions were used to repress violence against women and domestic the rights to freedom of expression and violence (Istanbul Convention), which peaceful assembly. Health workers were Moldova signed in 2017. Little tangible threatened and assaulted for protesting progress was made, however, in addressing against poor working conditions. Authorities domestic violence, which predominantly failed to adequately address allegations of affected women. torture. TRANSDNIESTRIA REGION BACKGROUND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Over 200 protests took place during the year, Critics of the de facto authorities faced mainly against the negative impact on criminal prosecution. people’s livelihoods caused by government In July, pensioner Mikhail Yermuraki was measures in response to the Covid-19 convicted of “insulting the President” and pandemic. fined the equivalent of US$600. Two other FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND charges against him, “denying the positive ASSEMBLY role of Russian peacekeepers” and “inciting national, racial, religious hatred”, were Restrictions introduced to control the spread dropped. of Covid-19 that prohibited demonstrations In the same month, activist Gennadiy were used to as a pretext to arbitrarily and Chorba was sentenced to three years and sometimes forcibly disperse peaceful three months’ imprisonment, for the same protests. Some protest organizers were 1 offence of insulting the President as well as arrested, detained and fined. on charges of “extremism” in connection with a peaceful picket a year earlier which he had WORKERS’ RIGHTS attended. The de facto authorities accused The Covid-19 pandemic exposed long- him of inciting people to protest, as well as of standing weaknesses in the healthcare making derogatory comments about medical system. Frontline health workers were personnel during the pandemic. subjected to harassment by the authorities RIGHT TO EDUCATION and physical assaults by frustrated and In August, the de facto Transdniestrian desperate patients. Protests about health authorities refused to reregister the Lucian workers' treatment, including poor working Amnesty International Report 2021/22 255