28 Nov 19 | Ukraine, Ukraine Incident Reports
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Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
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Online news outlet Bykvu reported pressure from Servant of the People politician
31 October 2019 – The editorial board of Bykvu online news outlet expressed concern at a statement from Servant of the People’s deputy chairman, Alexander Kornienko, who insinuated that parliamentary photojournalists could face lawsuits if they’re not “careful”, Zmina news outlet reported.
Servant of the People
In a statement, Bykvu’s editorial board said that they regard Kornienko’s statement that “parliamentary photojournalists should be more careful” or “it could provoke a response”, as well as his allusion to the Criminal Code and possible lawsuits against photojournalists, as a request for journalists to self-censor. This, they believe, was an attempt to put pressure on independent media.
Bykvu believed that Kornienko’s statement sought to intimidate them for having published screenshots of correspondences between Servant of the People parliamentarian, Bogdan Yaremenko, and a sex worker. The story, which had been published the day before Kornienko made his statement, spread widely in the Ukrainian media.
Link(s): https://bykvu.com/ru/bukvy/obrashhenie-redakcii-internet-izdanija-bukvy-k-prezidentu-ukrainy-i-rukovodstvu-frakcii-partii-sluga-naroda-o-nedopustimosti-davlenija-na-smi/
https://zmina.info/news/vydannya-yake-vykrylo-perepysku-slugy-narodu-z-seks-praczivnyczeyu-zayavylo-pro-tysk-z-boku-yaremenka/
https://lb.ua/news/2019/10/31/441063_yaremenko_isklyuchat_fraktsii_izza.html
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-launches-probe-into-ex-lawmaker-who-threatened-released-data-on-rfe-staff/30257921.html
Categories: Intimidation, Censorship
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Investigative crew’s personal data leaked by former government official
31 October 2019 – Andriy Portnov, former MP and ex-Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of former President Viktor Yanukovych, published personal information about the driver who works for Schemes, RFE/RL reported.
Andriy Portnov published some of Schemes staff’s personal information on his Telegram channel
Portnov, who has recently risen to prominence and has a significant following on his Telegram channel, posted the personal data of Schemes’ driver, including his passport information, home address, and car number plates.
According to RFE/RL, Schemes had been conducting an investigation into the nature of Portnov’s connections with the new Ukrainian authorities. Schemes’ editorial board told Radio Liberty that it regards the publication of the personal data as an attempt to pressure and influence the Schemes team. According to reports, it said that it considers the investigation into Portnov’s to be in the public interest. The editorial board said that it does not intend to stop the investigation.
According to reports, Lyudmila Pankratova, a lawyer from the Regional Press Development Institute, said that the dissemination of the Schemes’ driver’s information was a threat and is in contravention of Article 6 of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data, which defines the instances in which such personal data may be disseminated.
Updates:
5 November 2019 – In the days after 31 October, Portnov continued to disclose, via his Telegram channel, the registration number plate details of 16 vehicles used by Schemes’ staff. According to RFE/RL, on 5 November he reportedly invited anyone who came across these vehicles to “give a stiff rebuff” to the drivers.
7 November 2019 — Police launched criminal proceedings related to the threats against Schemes’ staff, RFE/RL reported. According to the National Police, criminal proceedings against Portnov were opened under the articles relating to the obstruction of the legitimate professional activity of journalists and threats or violence against journalists.
According to RFE/RL, Portnov responded on his Telegram channel saying that he would file a “symmetrical” police report on RFE/RL for the same offenses. He reportedly says that, since he is an employee of 112 Ukraine television, he should enjoy the same level of journalistic protection as Schemes staff. Portnov’s complaint was reportedly filed with police.
On 5 November Portnov posted on his Telegram channel that he was a special correspondent and presenter of the PortnovNow program on 112 Ukraine TV channel. The ex-official wrote that his editorial assignment from the program was to “inform the audience about people who engage in illegal activities.” This was reportedly interpreted as a reference to Schemes’ journalists.
Link(s): https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-schemes-portnov-dani/30248189.html
https://imi.org.ua/news/portnov-oprylyudnyv-personalni-dani-vodiya-shem-cherez-te-shho-redaktsiya-gotuye-pro-nogo-i30273
https://t.me/PortnovUA/1316
https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/Informacziya/policziya-rozpochala-kriminalne-provadzhennya-za-faktom-pogroz-zhurnalistam-radio-svoboda/
https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/Informacziya/slidchi-naczpolicziji-rozpochali-kriminalne-provadzhennya-za-zayavoyu-advokata-andriya-portnova/
https://imi.org.ua/news/politsiya-vidkryla-spravu-za-zayavoyu-portnova-pro-pereshkodzhannya-zhurnalistamy-shem-i30361
https://t.me/PortnovUA/1339
Categories: DDoS/Hacking/Doxing, Online Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse, Intimidation
Source of violation: Known private individual(s)
Female journalist threatened when filming accident scene
27 October 2019 – Olga Dvoynos, a correspondent for UA:Chernihiv TV channel, was threatened by an unknown person while she was filming a scene of a car accident in Chernihiv, Detector Media reported.
While Dvoynos was filming, an unknown man approached her, threatened to break her phone, and stopped her from filming, even after she had shown him her press identification.
According to the chief news editor of UA:Chernihiv, Andriy Titok, the car that crashed allegedly belonged to a company owned by the mayor of Chernihiv, Vladislav Atroshenko. UA:Chernihiv is working on identifying the man, and intends to file a complaint to the police on obstruction of the journalist’s professional activity.
Link(s): https://cn.suspilne.media/news/44423
https://stv.detector.media/reformuvannya/regional_movnyky/zhurnalisttsi_kanalu_ua_chernigiv_pogrozhuvali_rozbiti_telefon_pid_chas_zyomki_na_mistsi_dtp/
Categories: Intimidation
Source of violation: Other/Unknown
Online news outlet editor assaulted by local deputy
23 October 2019 – Victor Goloborodko, online editor for Texts.Alexandriya, was assaulted by Hennady Lotsman, the Head of the Housing, Urban Planning and Architecture Department of Alexandria City Council, the Institute for Mass Information reported.
The journalist was filming a conflict near a landfill, between local residents and employees of a municipal utility that managed the landfill.
Goloborodko told IMI’s representative in Kirovograd Region that he had been called by local residents to report on the situation around the landfill. Employees of the municipal utility that managed the landfill company blocked the entry for residents (who were reportedly outraged by the presence of landfills in the vicinity of their homes). He said that he arrived at the venue around midnight and began filming the incident. Footage of Hennady Lotsman’s car was reportedly in the video. He said that the deputy tried to knock the camera out of his hands and pushed him.
Immediately after the incident, the journalist filed a complaint to the police, reporting an injury to the hand. He reportedly said that he intends to pursue the matter.
Link(s):https://imi.org.ua/news/v-oleksandriyi-deputat-napav-na-mistsevogo-zhurnalista-i30125
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Separatists sentenced Ukrainian journalist to 15 years in prison
22 October 2019 – Ukrainian journalist and blogger Stanyslav Aseev was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the so-called “Supreme Court” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Hromadske reported. He was also deprived of the right to engage in journalistic activities for 2.5 years.
According to online media outlets of Donetsk People’s Republic, Aseev conducted a visual reconnaissance of the locations of the units of the People’s Police of Donetsk People’s Republic, and transmitted the data to representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine. In the case file it is alleged that the blogger has recruited pro-Ukrainian users in social media to collect and transmit military and other information.
The so-called “court” found Aseev guilty of organising an extremist community, espionage and incitement to espionage, public calls for extremist activities, and public calls for actions aimed at violating territorial integrity. Aseev will serve time in a maximum-security jail.
Ukrainian journalist Stanyslav Aseev went missing in the Donbass region on 3 June 2017. That day he was reportedly expected to send material to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which showed life in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Aseev has been working under the pen name of Stanyslav Vasin since 2014, and reported from Donetsk for Radio Svoboda, Dzerkalo Tyzhnya, Ukrayinska Pravda and Ukrainian Week.
Link(s): https://hromadske.ua/ru/posts/v-dnr-osudili-plennogo-zhurnalista-aseeva-do-15-let-tyurmy
http://dnr-live.ru/ukrainskiy-zhurnalist-aseev-prigovoren-v-dnr-k-15-godam-kolonii/
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation, Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences
Source of violation: Other/Unknown
TV presenter received letter containing death threats
21 October 2019 – Mykhailo Beizerman, political talk show host at the First City TV channel in Odessa, received a letter containing death threats. Beizerman posted the letter on his Facebook page.
The letter said that the representatives of a patriotic organization were gathering information about the journalist and decided that he would be a “showcase victim.” A photograph depicting Beizerman as a shooting target was included in the letter. Beizerman linked the threats to his journalistic activities.
The name of the patriotic organization was not specified in the letter. The police launched an investigation into the threats.
Link(s): https://www.facebook.com/mic.beyzerman/posts/241702263470920
https://www.infoport.live/news/odessa-news/odesskij-zhurnalist-poluchil-neobychnoe-pismo-s-ugrozami/
Categories: Intimidation
Source of violation: Other/Unknown
Court grants investigators access to journalists‘ internal communication
17 October 2017 – Kyiv’s Pechersk District Court granted the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) permission to temporarily access editorial communication of the journalists of Schemes, an investigative program of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and public broadcaster UA:Pershyi, RFE/RL reported. SBI investigators also were granted access to a range of other in-house editorial data – the work hours of journalists, cameramen and drivers, and data on their salaries. The information is to be provided within a month.
According to the court, if the editorial board does not provide the SBI with the above information, the court, at the request of the investigators of the SBI, “has the right to issue a search permit for the purpose of finding and seizing the items and documents.”
In January 2018, Schemes authors Mykhailo Tkach and Nataliya Sedletska did a story titled “Mr. Petro Incognito: President Poroshenko’s Secret Vacation”. They found proof that Ukraine’s ex-president went on a secret vacation to the Maldives that cost around $500,000, and suggested that he used a fake passport and avoided customs. A police investigation was launched on 6 August, which includes charges such as an alleged “unlawful transfer of persons” – in particular, Poroshenko – across Ukrainian state border “using knowingly forged documents.”
The list of data that the journalists are required to submit to the SBI, includes all the footage they took, information requests and responses during the preparation of the investigation, any documents confirming the presence of involved journalists and other staff during the filming.
Schemes editorial board published an official statement, saying that documents requested by the ruling was “excessive”, and expressed concern that providing them would compromise their sources. They noted that Schemes had provided all the documents that had previously been requested.
Kyiv’s Pechersk District Court decision cannot be appealed. Schemes are consulting lawyers to establish the best course of action.
Link(s): https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-schemes-sud-dbr-dostup/30232159.html
https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/schemes/30232185.html
https://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/court-in-kiev-granted-access-to-the-correspondence-of-journalists/5137310.html
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
TV crew blocked by unidentified persons
15 October 2019 – Avers TV channel’s crew was blocked by unidentified persons near Volodymyr-Volyn poultry factory in the Volyn region, the Institute for Mass Information reported.
The journalists were reportedly filming a report about the poultry factory’s open-air warehouses (used to hold waste) and the pollution they produced. During filming, two cars of unknown men arrived at the scene and blocked the TV crew’s car.
Avers TV journalist Natalia Polishchuk reported that the unidentified men refused to identify themselves. Polishchuk said that the men prevented them from filming, saying that it was private property. She reportedly said that because their vehicle was blocked, they locked themselves into the car as a means of protection. She said that the men did not react to their signals to clear their path. From the car, they called the police who arrived within 40 minutes. The journalists filed a complaint to the police regarding the incident.
According to IMI, the police are investigating the case and deciding whether to open criminal proceedings under the article “impeding the legitimate professional activity of journalists.”
Link(s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jv0Ncfz5lc
https://imi.org.ua/news/zhurnalistiv-aversu-zablokuvaly-pid-chas-zjomok-vidstijnykiv-volodymyr-volynskoyi-ptahofabryky-i30029
Categories: Blocked Access
Source of violation: Unknown
National Council requested court to revoke TV channel’s license
2 October 2019 – The National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting has requested that the District Administrative Court of Kyiv revoke the broadcasting license issued to the LLC Novyny 24 hours (which uses the NewsOne logo), the Institute for Mass Information reported. The court is currently deciding whether to institute proceedings in this administrative case.
On 5 September, the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting sued the NewsOne TV channel due to what they said was the systematic incitement of hostility.
NewsOne claimed that it considered National Council’s decision to sue them as part of a crackdown on freedom of speech in Ukraine and an attempt to oust all independent media from the Ukrainian media landscape.
In August, National Council member Serhiy Kostinsky said that the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting would ask the judges to revoke the license of NewsOne TV channel.
Link(s): https://imi.org.ua/news/natsrada-podala-pozov-do-sudu-z-prohannyam-anulyuvaty-litsenziyu-newsone-i29856
http://oask.gov.ua/node/4119?fbclid=IwAR3ckT3Qe51dd4wf0pT9sDgnUDqV-llkkIWtjJmXeQhRCGpLnjieKkL25Ao
https://112.international/ukraine-top-news/international-editorial-council-demands-ukrainian-authorities-to-prevent-newsone-tv-channel-license-cancellation-43012.html
Categories: Legal Measures
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1574858033039-46c1676b-ec83-1″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
17 Oct 19 | News and features, Student Reading Lists
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship was established in 1972 in a febrile period: Idi Amin had taken power in Uganda, the Vietnam war continued, direct rule was imposed in Northern Ireland, there was a coup in Bolivia and Congo was renamed Zaire by its dictator president. As writer Robert McCrum said in our 40th anniversary issue: “The abuses of freedom worldwide in the 1970s were so appalling and so widespread that the magazine rapidly found itself in the frontline of campaigns. Index became a clarion voice in the cause of free expression.” The right to protest and freedom of expression are now being sought in Hong Kong and elsewhere, and Index is still to the forefront in reporting abuses. Here are just some of the conflicts between freedom and dictatorship we have reported on in the past 47 years.
The first issue of Index on Censorship magazine, in March 1972
The Clockwork Show vol 1, issue 1, March 1972
In an anonymous article about life in Greece under the regime of the Colonels’ junta, the writer considered the psychology of the situation; the feelings and attitudes, the long-ranging impact of this harrowing experience. “There is nothing more demoralizing than to be bound to a public body, an administration, a government with which one can never for a moment identify, which is the exact opposite of everything one believes in. One cannot live side by side with Philistinism, chauvinism, bigotry, blatant hypocrisy, crass ignorance, injustice, violence and brutality and not be affected by them, even if one manages—only just—to keep them out of one’s own life. Under this regime there is no relief; no exception: the regime has penetrated every single aspect of public life.”
Read the full article
March 1974: TV, politics and Chile Index on Censorship magazine
Book burning and brutality vol 3, issue 1, March 1974
A fascinating insight into life in Chile six months after a coup ended the tyranny of President Salvador Allende: worse was to come under a military dictatorship, reported Michael Sanders, an Englishman in Santiago. “When Allende left Chile to address the UN in December 1972, a leading opposition newspaper had as its front-page a photo depicting the president flushing himself down a lavatory, with the caption ‘ good riddance’. The contrast in December 1973 is gloomy indeed. Not so much, or not only because of the drab uniformity of censored newspapers that, for all they may be censored, willingly reflect the views of the Military Junta. But for the fact that 43.6% of the population have been deprived of all means of expression, of all normal communication, and live in daily fear of their lives and jobs.”
Read the full article
Russia, East Germany, South Africa: May 1979 Index on Censorship magazine
Black journalists under apartheid volume 8, issue 3, May 1979
William A Hachten reports: Black journalists came to the fore in the Soweto riots of 1976 when they reported from the ghetto for a white press without access. Yet black journalists still faced daily harassment under apartheid, which worsened with the death of Steve Biko in 1977. Vusi Radebe, a black stringer for the Rand Daily Mail, said: “The situation is worse since the 1976 riots. Police will beat up reporters on the slightest provocation for what they consider obstruction of justice.” While whites had 23 newspapers, there were none for non-whites to express their political frustration. Black journalist Pearl Luthuli said: “The black journalist can’t be objective. We try to tell it like it is but the white editors won’t print it.” Another said: “We are black people first, journalists second. If it comes to a conflict between the struggle and the job, the struggle comes first.”
Read the full article
Beckett and Havel: Index on Censorship magazine, February 1984
Iran under the party of God, volume 13, issue 1, February 1984
“Censorship was planned by the regime of the Islamic Republic even before the February 1979 revolution brought Ayatollah Khomeini’s theocratic oligarchy to power. This particular kind of censorship may not be without precedent in history, but it must certainly be rare. There were attacks on coffee-houses, restaurants and other public places by men armed with clubs and stones; unveiled women were harassed; slogans of the opposition were cleaned from the walls; banks, cinemas and theatres were burned” – a personal account of the first years of the revolution and its attack on culture, by one of Iran’s leading writers Gholam Hoseyn Sa’edi. “And it keeps on happening. The Islamic regime of today has gone a step beyond censoring the creations of science, culture and art, beyond censoring life itself: it has rendered life vain and all but unliveable.”
Read the full article
Romania, Albania, USSR: Index on Censorship magazine January 1991
A sense of solidarity, volume 20, issue 1, January 1991
Romania’s celebrated poet, Ana Blandiana, on censorship under Ceausescu and how she fought back. Her work was completely banned three times. “In my case, the form of censorship progressed from the banning of a word to that of a line, then of a poem, then of a book, to the total erasure of my signature as author: an eradication of identity. My inner freedom was assured by a decision I took in 1980, a personal one rather than as a writer. I decided to be outspoken and say what I thought at the risk of becoming a victim myself, rather than suspect a possibly honest person. At first it kept me sane, and then it helped me to be a normal writer, relatively free of self-censorship. This was the strongest form of censorship under Communism in the last 10 or 15 years, and was much more refined and subtle than the official censorship.”
Read the full article
How free is the Russian media? Index on Censorship, Spring 2007
The Big Squeeze, volume 37, issue 1, Spring 2008
“The fact remains that since the departure of the oligarchs, Russian media freedom has gone from the imperfect and beleaguered to the moribund. At national television, which 90 per cent of Russians say is their main source of news, editors receive weekly or even daily instructions from the Kremlin on the ‘line to take’ on important stories; around half of Russian viewers think that what they watch is objective, a 2007 poll said. Foreign coverage is polemical and outrageously politicised. The message of all this is ‘be quiet’. If you annoy the rich and powerful you face threats, beatings or death. Even when the Kremlin is not directly involved, its reaction to the persecution of journalists sends a clear message: if you offend the powerful, don’t expect the law to protect you.” Edward Lucas gave an early taste of what freedom of expression meant under Putin.
Read the full article
40 years of Index on Censorship March 2012
Grit in the engine, volume 41, issue 1, Spring 2012
Robert McCrum on the 40th anniversary of Index on Censorship. “The success of Index was not a foregone conclusion. Stephen Spender, its founder, was fully alert to the potential for windbaggery and failure. There was, he wrote, ‘the risk that the magazine will become simply a bulletin of frustration’. Actually, the opposite came to pass. Index became a clarion voice in the cause of free expression. The abuses of freedom worldwide in the 1970s were so appalling and so widespread that the magazine rapidly found itself in the frontline of campaigns. Perhaps the most important thing Index did, from the beginning, was to universalise an issue in peril of becoming a special interest: freedom was not ‘a luxury enjoyed by bourgeois individualists’. Along with self-expression, it was a human right, and an instrument of human consciousness.
Read the full article
The big squeeze: Index on Censorship magazine Spring 2017
Freedom of expression under pressure, volume 46, issue 1, Spring 2017
The spring 2017 issue of Index on Censorship magazine looks at how pressures on free speech are currently coming from many different angles, not just one. Special features on how to spot fake news, articles from former BBC World Service director Richard Sambrook and former UK attorney general Dominic Grieve, an exclusive interview with the Spanish puppeteer arrested last year, and fiction from award-winning writer Karim Miské.
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11 Sep 19 | Russia, Russia Incident Reports
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Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
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Senator’s security assaulted Ren TV filming crew
31 August 2019 – Ren TV reporter Evgeniya Mogilevskaya filed a complaint with the police against Irkutsk senator Vyacheslav Markhaev accusing him of an assault, Ren TV reported.
According to the reporter, she was interviewing the senator and asked him about his alleged ties with gambling businesses when an aide of the official started to push her and cameraman Klimkin away, trying to prevent them from filming.
At the same time the private security of the senator started twisting arms of Klimkin and tried to grab his camera. Mogilevskaya tried to film it with her phone, when Markhaev himself grabbed and twisted her arm and released the reporter only after she pointed out that they were being filmed by security cameras.
Links:
http://ren.tv/novosti/2019-08-31/zhurnalist-ren-tv-obratilas-v-sk-posle-napadeniya-senatora-marhaeva?fbclid=IwAR0ZhB-R_gF4CIpMYR8vVxFwGPNojixmXL-3PFraApwCi61nbQ-i6b-ZWVA
Category: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of Violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Editor-in-chief of “MK in Peter” accused of pushing policeman with a baby pram
29 August 2019 – Maxim Kuzahkmetov, the editor-in-chief of “MK in Peter”, was visited by child protection officers after a state-run local newspaper published a defamatory article accusing him of “pushing a policeman with a baby pram”, Lenizdat reported.
Kuzakhmetov said he was amused by the speed with which the guardianship officers reacted to the fake article published on 21 August 2019 in the Ekateringofskiy Vestnik, while a more serious journalistic publication can’t get government attention that fast.
Links:
https://lenizdat.ru/articles/1156178/?fbclid=IwAR0N5LShj393p1y4h7-4yrkI9V4seaq7ZIK0VieRJr77Pc2H3L-Kuk_73dI
Category: Intimidation; Offline Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse
Source of violation: Police/State security; Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party; Another media
Roskomnadzor blocks Krot website because of interview with stoic
29 August 2019 – Roskomnadzor, the Russian state media regulator, blocked the Krot website because it published an interview with stoic philosophy professor Massimo Pigliucci, Krot reported in its Telegram channel.
The page containing the interview with Pigliucci, of City College of New York, was included on Roskomnadzor’s “black list” on 30 July on the basis of the law “About Information”. It is thought that the block occured because Pigliucci made comments on suicide: he mentioned that ancient stoics approved suicide and gave some examples of it.
Krot said that they did not receive any warnings before the blocking and due to its use of https protocol, the whole website was blocked, not just one page.
“We received no warnings, of course, but even if we did, there is no sense in talking to those who harass Russian people for love to Epictetus and Seneca. Due to this, we declare that we are not going to delete anything”, editorial team of Krot said.
Links:
https://zona.media/news/2019/08/29/krtstk?fbclid=IwAR25rA-i_7pjmF0wyr-8VvqRHYYQM83-W2UUfL9Sun8GZwp9PDfgyqZp6Es
https://t.me/breakonthrough/543
Category: Legal Measures
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Anti-LGBT group threatens St Petersburg journalist with murder
27 August 2019 – Anti-LGBT group Pila sent an email with murder threats to Vitaly Bespalov, a St Petersburg-based journalist, who is the editor of LGBT website Parni PLUS, Bespalov said in a Facebook post.
Pila demanded Bespalov kill photographer Maxim Lapunov, who published the information about the tortures of gay men in Chechnya or pay 1 million rubles ($15,000); otherwise Pila threatened to kill Bespalov by the end of the year.
The email also said that the murder of LGBT-activist Elena Grigorieva, who was killed in St Petersburg on 22 July 2019, was also ordered by Pila.
Bespalov said that he tried to file a complaint about the email through a police website, but couldn’t do it due to system errors.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/vit.bespalov/posts/1345337482283845
https://lenizdat.ru/articles/1156166/?fbclid=IwAR2BA4CA_dd4NzVlm3YHKxkgOjW5p-m-ifAnk9KPXYXacByUJRNP52jA9wY
https://www.facebook.com/vit.bespalov/posts/1345337482283845
Category: Intimidation
Source of violation: Criminal organisation
Courts in Moscow barred journalists from covering trial on mass protests
27 August 2019 – Journalists were barred from reporting at the Tverskoy district court in Moscow for two days while trials of people arrested during mass protests against the disqualification of independent candidates for Moscow city parliament were taking place, MBH Media reported.
The journalists were not allowed to enter the floor where the trial was going, instead they were forced to go down to the ground floor. An MBH Media reporter was told that the journalists can not enter the floor because of a “court decision”.
The journalists were barred from covering the trial on the mass protests in the same way at the Meschansky and Presnensky district courts also in Moscow.
Links:
https://mbk-news.appspot.com/news/perekrili/
https://zona.media/news/2019/08/27/again?fbclid=IwAR1bQGr6yOq-gfXgNZGAygTIcJaCrpNmuXufhQGhcrEKo2-A4eXLSX9AszI
https://meduza.io/news/2019/08/26/moskovskie-sudy-blokirovali-etazhi-gde-rassmatrivayut-moskovskoe-delo-ne-puskayut-ni-pressu-ni-rodstvennikov?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=share_fb&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR2YTvROqlmScqql0i0PNPRLvbXNxvKuF3cSubNntr8YVHaleffLuftuKoQ
Category: Blocked Access
Source of violation: Court/Judicial
Journalist summoned for questioning for video parody on Krasnoyarsk governor
27 August 2019 – Journalist Dmitry Polushin was summoned to the investigative committee because of a video parody of Alexandr Uss, the governor of the Krasnoyarsk region, in which Uss’ speech was matched with video from Bunker movie about Adolf Hitler, Polushin said in a Facebook post.
According to the journalist, the Investigative Committee summoned for questioning not only him, but other people who reposted his video parody on the governor. The video titled “Movie and the Germans. Planning meeting at the governor Uss’s office” was made by Polushin and first published on 18 July on the YouTube channel KrasNews. The video, in which Hitler was scolding his generals, was matched with the speech of Uss scolding his aids because of the recent scandal with the region’s Accounts Chamber’s head Tatyana Davydenko, who was fired after the interview in which she revealed that Krasnoyarsk officials are not capable of tackling wildfires in the region. In 2018 fires caused damage of 4 billion rubles (over $60 million) in the region.
Links:
https://zona.media/news/2019/08/27/hitler?fbclid=IwAR23GXhYMPJJdSdAFQx1qMpC1j9-dw5NG5HLluQDfA0_L4Ep_L5GdD2wMlU
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2528584507206686&set=a.738879889510499&type=3&theater
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM6PhMIcbbs&feature=youtu.be
Category: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source of violation: Police/State security
Kisilevsk mayor accused local journalist of talking to the city residents “without permission”
26 August 2019 – Maxim Shkarabeynikov, the mayor of Kisilevsk in the Kemerovo region, accused Nataliya Zubkova, a reporter working for local online media outlet Novosti Kiselevska, of interviewing city’s residents without permission, Tayga.Info reported.
“Recently, the gatherings of the residents happened more often, which were organised by an editor of online media outlet Natalya Zubkova…In violation of the federal law, she doesn’t notify the local government about public gatherings, therefore putting herself and the residents to a danger”, Shkarabeynikov said in his letter to the city prosecutor Alexey Trefilov.
Zubkova was reporting on the city’s communal problems and interviewing residents of different districts. She was the first one who reported on such problems as an underground fire near residential buildings.
In February, around 200 residents of Afonino village came to meet her to tell her about charcoal dust in potable water. Police and ambulances were present at that meeting, which Zubkova believed was organised by the city government to show “the preparation for the public gathering”.
Zubkova believes that the mayor’s demands are unlawful.
Links:
https://tayga.info/148410?fbclid=IwAR3HZSgzPWr1J3E-zDeGVyEQEEJ6nem9uEA9gFMjlMMIrsjPJ8Raebsw_X4
Category: Intimidation; Blocked Access
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Mediazona reporter David Frenkel detained in St Petersburg
24 August 2019 – David Frenkel, a reporter and photographer with Mediazona, was detained in St Petersburg while covering a protests against the silencing of homophobic crimes, Mediazona reported.
According to Frenkel, police initially told him that he was detained for jaywalking, but later in told that he was detained “for the propaganda of untraditional sexual relations”. Once at the police station, the journalist was formally charged with disobeying police, allegedly because he refused to go to a police van.
Links:
https://zona.media/news/2019/08/24/david
https://meduza.io/news/2019/08/24/v-peterburge-zaderzhan-korrespondent-mediazony-david-frenkel?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=share_fb&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR3aLJgjVUlUrjesP13N6T7ZGfVgvX6EK0G2Mz2sF1o0sbexlb4yYdk0tlE
Category: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source of violations: Police/State security
Orenburg Election Committee files a complaint with police over a journalist’s phone call
23 August 2019 – The Orenburg Election Committee filed a complaint with police over a journalist call, Echo Moskvy in Orenburg reported.
A reporter for Echo Moskvy in Orenburg called Oxana Karnashenkova, deputy of the village parliament of Svetlisnkoye, introduced himself and told the deputy he would be recording the telephone conversation. At the end of the discussion, Karnashenkova asked the reporter to call her back to confirm some information.
Karnashenkova said that she didn’t know who was calling her and said that the journalist said that he was a member of the election committee. She filed a complaint to the police. The election committee also asked the police to check the complaint.
Links:
http://echo-oren.ru/2019/08/23/78978?fbclid=IwAR17Y0viLp3_jP5tNfdFd8nsnOH3Bagg9FDiMSgRmE7UMrJtQS-8BNpDAmQ
Category: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violations: Police/State security; Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Chita.ru editor-in-chief was questioned by police after the complaint from local deputy
22 August 2019 – Ekaterina Shaitanova, the editor-in-chief of local news agency Chita.ru, was questioned by police because of a defamation complaint from a local deputy Yana Shpak.
That same day, Chita.ru published the second part of the investigation on redistribution of signatures between candidates for the post of head of the region, providing evidence that signatures for another candidate were illegally assigned to Shpak and her registration was therefore unlawful.
“I explained [to the police] that I don’t see any signs of defamation, but see an excellent journalistic work”, Shaitanova said.
Links: https://www.chita.ru/news/134310/?fbclid=IwAR2P7ZzbtadBnWTzYJAqmbhDw9LuGgOyb9UCqA8PnmRnxTX8yWcuiZR0vds
Category: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source of violation: Police/State security; Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
FSB colonel files third complaint against newspaper
21 August 2019 – Sergey Sorokin, a colonel with the State Security Service (FSB) filed a complaint against local newspaper Yakutsk Vecherny for the third time, Mediazona reported.
Last year Sorokin twice filed a complaint against the newspaper to Roskomnadzor, the Russian state media regulator, about the disclosure of his personal data: First, when the newspaper published a news article about Sorokin beating a pensioner; Second, when the newspaper published a news article on winning a lawsuit filed against the media outlet by Sorokin.
This year Yakutsk Vecherny published an article about the pressure on the newspaper from law enforcement, mentioning Sorokin’s actions as one of the examples. Sorokin filed a complaint on the disclosure of his personal data again. After that, Vitaly Obedin, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, was summoned for questioning to Roskomnadzor. He called the incident “pure bullying” from the law enforcement authorities.
Links:
https://zona.media/news/2019/08/21/plkvnksrkn?fbclid=IwAR3dVoEMe2OfeA_ezTpdYBbkjVcM29Fwif0-BFmxnWKETloW1p_L9py1N
Category: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Known Private Individual; Police/State security; Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
The death of Togliatti journalist investigated under “Incitement to Suicide” article
16 August 2019 – Police opened a criminal case under the article 110 of the criminal code of Russia (“Incitement to Suicide”) to investigate the death of Togliatti journalist Mikhail Kurakin, Volga.News reported.
Kurakin, died on 17 July, leaving a note “I don’t know why, but seems like I have serious problems”.
Kurakin was believed to be the author of Telegram-channel “Komitet”, which was publishing critical comments on the local authorities, business and law enforcement.
Links:
https://volga.news/article/513340.html?fbclid=IwAR1YFKDJDEEL9qDRqL5arlkSkHEP06Bpyas2vFPT1x06uzNRuDXCoL5dt98
Category: Death/Killing
Source of violation: Unknown
Novaya Gazeta reporter barred from reporting on Great Terror mass grave
14 August 2019 – Employees of the state run Russian Military History Society attempted to expel Irina Tumakova, a reporter with independent Novaya Gazeta, from Sandarmoh forrest, where a mass grave containing victims of 1936–1938 Soviet purges were uncovered, on the grounds that the journalist may have American citizenship, Novaya Gazeta reported.
Later the same day, when Tumakova was reporting from the scene, two men approached her, introducing themselves as a district policeman and a migration service officer. They said that they received a call about an American citizen being in the grave zone and asked Tumakova to show her passport.
The journalist showed her Russian passport and was asked if she had a second citizenship. Tumakova answered that she had not and asked what would be wrong if she had. The men said there would be nothing wrong, however, they stayed at the scene and kept preventing Tumakova and two other journalists from the independent website 7×7 from doing their work, particularly barring them from taking photos of the graves.
Earlier this summer, Russian Military History Society has started a new excavation in Sandarmokh, trying to prove that the mass graves were not of the victims of the Soviet political repressions of 1937-1938, as independent historians say, but Soviet prisoners of war who were shot by the invading Finns in 1941-1944.
Links:
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2019/08/14/154331-korrespondenta-novoy-popytalis-udalit-s-mesta-raskopok-v-sandarmohe-pod-predlogom-amerikanskogo-grazhdanstva
https://www.newsru.com/russia/15aug2019/sandarmoha.html?utm_source=share&fbclid=IwAR3d_XE3_BJwJz54P7uIVWXIRrCZPJzljRBldwgUXZBGERR-kn35n9kcvJo
Category: Blocked Access
Source of violation: Police/State security; Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Deputy governor of Khakasia sues media outlets for reporting on his conflict with his driver
13 August 2019 – Konstantin Kharisov, the deputy governor of the Khakasia region, said that he filed a defamation lawsuit against media outlets that reported on a conflict with his own driver, Leninzdat reported.
Kharisov didn’t specify what media outlets he sued.
News agency Agentstvo Informatsionnykh Soobshcheniy (AIS) published an article saying that Kharisov’s driver kicked him of the state-owned car because of the official’s rudeness. Later the article was republished by other local media outlets.
The mentioned driver at first said that media exaggerated the circumstances of the conflict. But later the government of Khakasia published a press release, saying there was no conflict at all.
The head of AIS, Alexandr Bortnikov said that he is confident about the truth of the information about the conflict that the agency published.
Link: https://lenizdat.ru/articles/1156109/?fbclid=IwAR0WE9juky0McAPvSaiC7BwTbOCV6V-m6aLRWzHCDkM38bPHy4CZdMVPBr8
Category: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Dozhd ordered to remove article alleging state deputy had ties with criminal
13 August 2019 – Independent broadcaster Dozhd was ordered by a court to remove an article from its website.
The Belgorod court ordered the removal of the piece, which alleged that state deputy Andrey Skoch had connections to criminal kingpin Shakro Molodoy.
Links:
https://meduza.io/news/2019/08/13/dozhd-po-resheniyu-suda-udalil-statyu-gde-deputat-andrey-skoch-upominalsya-v-svyazi-s-delom-shakro-molodogo
https://tvrain.ru/teleshow/vechernee_shou/skoch-457141/?fbclid=IwAR3vqF1wRMzaCSDhNQdKB0AstG7NmsnAl4rOTyjincEt9nLKHT-YBmpQrlI
Category: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Court/Judicial
Roskomnadzor falsely accused Ekaterinburg local media of lacking age-restriction mark
12 August 2019 – The Russian state media regulator, Roskomnadzor demanded Ekatrinburg local media outlet It’s My City mark their articles with an age restriction marker, proving the lack of such markers with screenshots, in which the marker was obscured by Windows calendar, TJ reported.
The founder of the media outlet, journalist Dmitry Kolezev said he is going to sue Roskomnadzor.
Links:
https://tjournal.ru/news/110976-rkn-chtoby-dokazat-otsutstvie-na-sayte-it-s-my-city-vozrastnogo-cenza-perekryl-ego-na-skrinshotah-kalendarem-windows
https://t.me/kolezev/5138
Category: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Chelyabinsk journalist was shot in the head from air gun
12 August 2019 – Yuliya Zyabrina, journalist with Cheyabinsk local newspaper Obshchestveniy Zashchitnik (Public Defender) was shot in the head with an air gun outside her house late in the evening of 8 August, Interfax reported.
The journalist was hospitalised with the head injury. Zyabrina believes that the attack was connected to her professional activity.
Links:
https://www.interfax.ru/russia/672445
Category: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Unknown
State sponsored hackers organised a phishing attack on independent journalists
12 August 2019 – Journalists working for investigative media outlets The Insider and Bellingcat became targets of sophisticated phishing attack allegedly organised by the hackers with the Russian state security service, Roskomsvoboda reported.
The attack with the use of ProtonMail service was confirmed by the administration of this Swiss protected email service.
ProtonMail said the attack was unsuccessful. ProtonMail and Bellingcat believe that the hackers behind the attack belong to GRU, Russian state security service that was reported to have a special hackers division.
Links:
https://roskomsvoboda.org/48832/?fbclid=IwAR3RbSbnOSIMKRAJ7OTomo5TvlAxG7xIf-vFYNZD_YQFKFe9Sz131ivlM2k&_utl_t=fb
Category: DDoS/Hacking/Doxing
Source of violation: Police/State security; Unknown
At least 24 journalists detained during mass protests in Moscow and St Petersburg
10 August 2019 – Ahead of the mass rally against the disqualification of independent candidates for local election, police broke into the headquarters of opposition leader Lyubov Sobol in Moscow and started a search, detaining all the journalists who were present in the offices.
Alexey Korostelev, a reporter with the independent broadcaster Dozhd, said that police pushed him down to the floor and then made him and three other journalists stand next to a wall for about 2 hours. Among the detained journalists were Maxim Kardopoltsev and Ernest Arutyunov, who also work for Dozhd; Timur Olevsky and Sergey Korsakov, a reporter and a cameraman working for Current Time TV (a project of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty) and Anastasiya Olshanskaya, a reporter of MBH Media. All the journalists presented their press-cards and editorial assignments, but the police ignored them, taking away the journalists’ mobile phones and taking photos of their documents.
Police also raided the studio of YouTube-channel Navalny Live, forcing 10 media professionals to lay face down on the floor. Among the detainees were Alexey Shuplyakov, Egor Albitskiy, Alexey and Oleg Yaovlev, Alexandr Lukyanenko, Dmitry Nikolenko, Pavel Zelensky, Polina Arkatova and Olga Klyuchnikova. All of them were detained in the studio for 5.5 hours. Police seized their mobile phones and laptops, bank cards and documents.
According to Navalny Live, Alexey Shuplyakov and the Yakovlev brothers were dragged across the floor, with one of them suffering an injury to their eye; Pavel Zelenskiy was taken ill during the interrogation. All of the detained Navalny Live employees were taken to a police station for interrogation and later released without charges.
Anton Baev, a journalist with independent online media outlet The Bell, was detained for about an hour while covering protests in the center of Moscow and released after his documents were checked. Alexandra Sivtsova, a reporter with Meduza, said she was brutally pushed by a policeman while covering the protests.
Ekaterina Maximova,the head of the international desk at local broadcaster 360 Podmoskovie, was also detained at the protest and taken to a police department, despite her saying that she was not participating in the rally or covering it as a journalist, but happened to be there by chance. Maximova was asked whether she knows many foreign journalists working in Moscow and who of them support or criticise president Putin. After that, police offered to let her talk to a representative of Agora, a human rights organisation, but she said she was questioned again by some suspicious people in plain clothes. The head of Agora ater denied that the organisation’s representatives participated in the questioning.
In St Petersburg, Ekaterina Khabidulina, a reporter with ZAKS.Ru and Novaya Gazeta, was detained while covering the mass rally, despite having a big armband saying “Press” and a visible press-card hanging from her neck. She was taken away from the protest to a police van, where policemen checked her documents and later released her.
According to the Professional Union of Journalists and Media Workers, Lilit Sarkisyan, reporter with Novaya Gazeta and unnamed reporter with Kommersant were also briefly detained for a documents check and taken to a police van for a “prophylactic talk”.
Polina Antonova, reporter of Forpost, was also detained while covering the protests.
Category: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source of violation: Police/State security
St Petersburg journalist assaulted, pepper sprayed
9 August 2019 – An unknown individual assaulted photojournalist Georgiy Markov, hitting him in the head and using pepper spraying against him.
Markov said he believes that the goal of the person who assaulted him was to intimidate him. Markov said the main told him: “‘So what would you do to me, f***ing journalist; we will find you all’”.
The journalist said he decided not to file a report to the police, noting that he receives a lot of negative comments on social media, but no direct threats. The assault happened on the night before a Saint-Petersburg rally against the disqualification of independent candidates for local parliament.
Links:
https://lenizdat.ru/articles/1156105/
Category: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Unknown
Factory director accuses local newspaper editor of extremism
9 August 2019 – Natalia Kuznetsova, editor-in-chief of newspaper Vestnik Goroda Otradnogo, told a state deputy that Andrey Kichaev, general director of local factory Remetall-C, was making allegations of extremism against her in retaliation for her paper’s coverage, Zasekin.ru reported.
The paper had previously published a series of articles on environmental problems, allegedly caused by Remetall-C.
Kuznetsova was told by police that Kichaev filed a complaint against her, accusing her of transferring money “to terrorists somewhere abroad”. Kuznetsova was summoned for questioning. Kuznetsova also said that the similar defamatory rumours were published by the local government-run newspaper Rabochaya Tribuna.
Links:
https://zasekin.ru/edition/obshhestvo/27151?fbclid=IwAR217fLXct_ZpcQDQNAfoXbjHc4ZFP-aWR6XYfDHyTeKVkpzTiHecXX13qE
Category: Intimidation
Source of violation: Known private individual(s)
Rosneft security service allegedly spied on Baza journalists
8 August 2019 – Independent media outlet Baza said it learned from its sources that the state oil and gas corporation Rosneft’s security service was allegedly spying on Baza journalists, checking information on their computers daily and surveilling their phone calls and texts with the help of the latest technology provided by the state security services.
Baza says its journalists have also noticed that their batteries were draining much faster than normal, experienced connection issues, and their VPN services started turning off randomly. Their sources mentioned that the surveillance intended to find out whether anyone had ordered a Baza investigation into head of Rosneft Igor Sechin’s latest real estate deals.
In July, Baza published an investigation revealing that Sechin was building two new houses worth $270 million in the luxury village of Barvikha near Moscow. In a statement published on their website, Baza noted that no defamation lawsuit came from Sechin. “Their tool is provocations, but we’re ready for them”, the editorial board wrote.
The press service of Rosneft refused to comment on the accusations.
Links:
https://baza.io/posts/4bd338c2-0920-46cb-b3ab-68277a7dfadd
https://tvrain.ru/news/baza_zajavila_o_slezhke_sluzhby_bezopasnosti_rosnefti_za_zhurnalistami-491178/?fbclid=IwAR1ld6cYjkkbQV4yFfQGotqyfhHK0i8VLIJHusr7t8xkS-XMDyNKMOs5fOc
Categories: DDoS/Hacking/Doxing
Source of violation: Corporation/Company
St Petersburg media outlet Fontanka significantly amended report on campaign
7 August 2019 – Local website Fontanka significantly amended a report on a candidate’s campaign for governor, Porebrik.Media reported.
The initial text was published on 6 August, describing the experience of reporter Maria Karpenko, who had worked as a promoter handing out leaflets on the streets about the campaign, which is backed by the deputy governor Alexandr Beglov. On 7 August, the text was amended to remove mention of payments to “volunteers” for leafleting, as well as a direct quote from Beglov’s headquarters on state funds provided for the campaign.
In the initial text, Fontanka said that it had obtained the document called “instructions” for promoters with explanations how to respond to residents’ questions, saying that two sources in Beglov’s office confirmed the document was original. In the later text, Fontanka said that the reporter did not have such a document and removed several quotes from those instructions, for example, the mentioning of opposition politician who was criticising Beglov and the mentioning of the road collapse due to heavy snow last winter and who the administration should be blamed for it.
The name of the reporter also was removed from the text, which Porebrik.Media explains as a possible wish of the author herself as the result of the editorial changes she disagreed with.
Links:
https://porebrik.media/2019/08/07/fontanka-beglov/?fbclid=IwAR3OxwAr5XVMxJxPMNyFLJywzw1wFPTCnYFEThRqPHI-4Sbcuq73syNzNsY
https://zona.media/news/2019/08/07/fontanka-cut-cut-cut?fbclid=IwAR3e_HgT6aXqfyScuBEglwTr8mAHMgOr-_okr9lFieNqYjrlUKwJagepwpk
Category: Censorship
Source of violation: Employer/Publisher/Colleague(s)
At least eight journalists detained at mass protests in Moscow
3 August 2019 – Vladimir Romensky, reporter with independent broadcaster Dozhd, was detained at Pushkinskaya Square in the center of Moscow while covering a mass protest against the disqualification of independent candidates to Moscow city parliament, Dozhd reported.
According to Romensky, he was detained when he gave a branded microphone to his colleague. Police searched the reporter’s backpack and found his accreditation and editorial assignment. Romensky, who had been taken to a police van, was released, but soon after he was detained again and taken to a police station. He was later released without any charges.
Elena Vanina, a reporter with independent business newspaper Vedomosti, was also detained at Pushkinskaya Square and taken to a police van. She and other detainees were taken to a police station and later released without any charges.
Snob reported that its reporter Nikita Pavlyuk-Pavlyuchenko was also detained while covering the protests, he was released after showing his press credentials multiple times. Mediazona reporter Anastasia Yasenitskaya also said she was briefly detained despite showing a press-card.
Among other detainees were Dutch journalist Joost Bosman,MBH-Media reporters Alexandra Semenova and Alexey Stepanov, Baza reporter Petr Koronaev.
Links:
https://meduza.io/news/2019/08/03/na-aktsii-protesta-v-moskve-politsiya-zaderzhala-zhurnalistov-dozhdya-vedomostey-i-snoba
https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/online/2019/08/03/807992-protesti-v-moskve-iz-za-viborov-mosgordumu-onlain-translyatsiyai
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source of violation: Police/State security
Tax inspection began after Dozhd conducted live coverage of mass protests
1 August 2019 – The tax inspectorate requested that independent broadcaster Dozhd provide income and expense statements, as well as documents confirming payment of income tax in 2016-2018.
A photo of the request was posted on Facebook by Natalya Sindeeva, the general director of Dozhd, a broadcaster.
Sindeeva suggested in an interview with Mediazona that the check was not planned and may be connected to the live coverage of mass protests in Moscow. The protests were against the disqualification of independent candidates to Moscow city parliament on 27 July. During that live coverage, policemen came to Dozhd studio to summon the broadcaster’s editor-in-chief for questioning.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/sindeeva/posts/10211568644051099
https://zona.media/news/2019/08/01/rain-proverka
https://meduza.io/news/2019/08/01/telekanal-dozhd-soobschil-o-nalogovoy-proverke?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=share_fb&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR2aYvdib1423lSPQflSCos1pUNBurGYbcW2kTfVtXTPT86Rpygsygu465Q
Categories: Legal Measures
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Police search home of administrator of popular Mordovian social groups
1 August 2019 – Police searched the home of Roman Toder, the administrator of popular Mordovian Vkontakte public groups “Podsluchano v Saranske” and “Podslushano v Ruzaevke”, Idel.Realii reported
According to Toder, the police did not show any documents and seized all his equipment. Toder believes that the extremism department of Federal Security Service (FSB) may have targeted him because of his professional activity on his Telegram-channels, where he also published articles by Otkrytaya Rossia (Open Russia) which is considered an “undesirable organisation” by the Russian authorities.
“In those public groups, we write about everything, as we are not going to be patient. Just yesterday there was a post about the need to obtain permission to hold a rally in Saransk on pension reform. We write what will not be shown on TV and what will be kept silent otherwise. We also understand that this is pressure from the law enforcement. I was more indignant at the way they seized the equipment, in which there was also personal information, Toder was reported as saying.
Links:
https://www.idelreal.org/a/30086912.html
https://ovdinfo.org/express-news/2019/08/01/u-administratora-podslushano-saransk-proshel-obysk-eto-mozhet-byt-svyazano-s?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=share&fbclid=IwAR2B3rF0sNpEd1hr2WQS9N5iri1bYggtRjdCmsnwXe7GHPUtlAGxPSB7Or0
Categories: Intimidation
Source of violation: Police/State security
Moscow court barred journalists from covering open trial on Civil Union
1 August 2019 – A Zamoskvoretsky district court in Moscow barred journalists from covering an open trial on illegal inclusion of the charity fund Civil Union into the list of foreign agents, 7×7 reported.
The judge’s aide approached journalists and said there there would be no hearing today, but only “preliminary talk, during which attendees and journalists” are not needed.
Links:
https://7×7-journal.ru/articles/2019/08/01/otkrytyj-process-za-zakrytymi-dveryami-sud-v-penze-ne-stal-rassmatrivat-isk-grazhdanskogo-soyuza-o-neobosnovannom-vklyuchenii-ego-v-reestr-inostrannyh-agentov
Categories: Blocked Access
Source of violation: Court/Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1567606474292-90c13e2e-e1fd-2″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
