08 Mar 24 | Colombia, Iran, Lebanon, Mexico, News and features, Opinion, Ruth's blog, Sudan, Sudan, Syria
Today is International Women’s Day. It’s a day that inspires huge optimism in me. A day that reminds me of the extraordinary ability of women to lead, to challenge and to win – in spite of the odds, which in some countries can seem insurmountable.
But is it also important that we recognise a stark reality on IWD – this day cannot be truly marked without acknowledging the suffering and sacrifice endured by female dissidents worldwide in their relentless pursuit of freedom of expression.
While International Women’s Day traditionally serves as a platform to honour the achievements and progress of women, there is a responsibility on us to shine a spotlight on those whose voices have been silenced, whose courage has been met with oppression, and whose sacrifices have been monumental in the fight for justice and equality.
The stories of these brave women, from every corner of the globe, are not just anecdotes – they are testaments to the enduring struggle for fundamental human rights.
In the past twelve months alone, we have witnessed a staggering number of brave women who dared to challenge the status quo, only to meet untimely and tragic ends. Their names may not echo through the halls of power, but their legacies will forever reverberate in the annals of history.
Halima Idris Salim, Mossamat Sahara, Farah Omar, Vivian Silver, Ángela León, Olga Nazarenko, Maria Bernadete Pacífico, Armita Geravand, Tinashe Chitsunge, Samantha Gómez Fonseca, Rose Mugarurirwe, Heba Suhaib Haj Arif, Ludivia Galindez, Bahjaa Abdelaa Abdelaa, Teresa Magueyal – these are not just names on a list. They are beacons of courage, symbols of resistance in the face of tyranny and oppression.
From Sudan to Bangladesh, Lebanon to Canada, these women hailed from different corners of the globe, united by a common cause: the pursuit of justice. Whether they were journalists, activists, or ordinary citizens, they refused to be silenced. They refused to cower in the face of adversity.
In authoritarian regimes, the price of dissent is often paid in blood. Every day, countless women are harassed, detained, and murdered for daring to speak out against injustice.
Their names may never make headlines, but their sacrifices will not be forgotten. On International Women’s Day, let us heed the theme of Inspire Inclusion and draw inspiration from these courageous women. Let us honour their memory by continuing their fight for a world where freedom of expression is not just a privilege, but a fundamental human right.
We need to remember that the courage and sacrifice of women dissidents cannot be relegated to a single day of recognition. Their stories must remain forefront in our minds every day. We must commit to amplifying their voices, advocating for their rights, and standing in solidarity with them against oppression. Their fight is ongoing, and it is our responsibility to ensure that they are never forgotten.
28 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.
[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”14 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Kostroma photographer detained and asked to admit to terrorism
28 September – Alexey Molotorenko, photographer with the regional media outlet 7×7, was detained by the National Guard of the Russian Federation (Rosgvardia), when he was taking photos outside the Rosgvardia building, 7×7 reported.
Molotorenko was approached by a several Rosgvardia officers, who demanded that he delete the photos. When he refused to do so, they reportedly grabbed him and took him into the headquarters, where they confiscated his phone and searched his bag.
Four officers, including one from anti-extremism section of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, questioned the reporter for four hours, demanding that he admit involvement in terrorist activities. According to Molotorenko, they threatened to “cause problems” for his family if he didn’t plead guilty. The journalist was taken to a local police department and subsequently released without charge. 7×7 called the incident unacceptable obstruction of journalistic activities and sent complaints to the police and Rosgvardia.
Links:
https://7×7-journal.ru/articles/2019/09/28/v-kostrome-fotokorrespondenta-7h7-alekseya-molotorenko-zaderzhali-za-semku-vorot-chasti-rosgvardii?fbclid=IwAR1vX3xFjnngwgWi708AxOehxzrV_KcvlPh_mkNBjZ8530HDEjgwxpKYQIM
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation, Intimidation
Source(s) of violation: Police/State security
Associated Press reporter threatened after interview with the head of the Central Election Committee
26 September – Natalia Vasilieva, a reporter with international news agency Associated Press, said she received threats from the Central Election Committee after interviewing its head Ella Pamfilova about the Moscow city parliament election that took place in August, which were met with mass protests against the disqualification of independent candidates, news agency Zakon reported.
After the interview was published at the end of August, the Central Election Committee accused Vasilieva of twisting Pamfilova’s words and called the article “propaganda”. According to Vasilieva, the deputy head of the Central Election Committee told her boss that Natalia would never have a career and would not be allowed back to Central Election Committee, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or the Kremlin.
Links:
https://twitter.com/zakon_agency/status/1177143388354879488
https://ovdinfo.org/express-news/2019/09/26/korrespondent-associated-press-rasskazala-ob-ugrozah-ot-cik-posle-intervyu-s?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=share&fbclid=IwAR24ysh4BEtIc976NA5aoyg31I2tWed-nuUz8rBWnVcoLaDULIY5XVxUqkA
Categories: Intimidation
Source(s) of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Head of Petrozavodsk prison threatened to sue Zona.Media over an article about the torture of detainees
26 September – Ivan Savelev, head of Petrozavodak jail №9, threatened to sue Zona.Media over a piece they published about detainees being tortured, Zona.Media reported.
The article, which was published on 24 September, contained interviews with former detainees about torture they endured at the hands of Ivan Savelev.
Savelev says that he plans to sue the website, the journalist, and the former detainees that were cited for defamation. Savelev says he sent a complaint to the Investigative Committee regarding damage to his professional reputation.
Links:
https://zona.media/news/2019/09/26/nine?fbclid=IwAR2e7u0UDUZcFUo3D5tOsaBQlUj1vfycdY_ShVaT9-3K60fr55roHQmlSvI
Categories: Intimidation
Source(s) of violation: Police/State security, Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
“Young Journalists of Altai region” fined for 20-year old hyperlink
25 September – Justice of the Peace of Zheleznodorozhny district court fined the Young Journalists of Altai Region 50,000 rubles ($778) for a 1999 hyperlink to the Open Society Foundation website, Zona.Media reported. George Soros’ OSF was deemed “an undesirable organization” by the Russian government in 2017.
“We forgot that we had it [the link] among the volume of information. But vigilant officials found it,” Sergey Kanarev the head of Young Journalists of Altai Region said.
Links:
https://zona.media/news/2019/09/25/srs1999?fbclid=IwAR17oT7kLDt0ttM69DMuqpDi9FJoJ0VxPrCnqPVEyfsIf29QZUpVrixm85c
https://www.facebook.com/skanarev/posts/10212743590503246
https://tayga.info/149030
Categories: Legal Measures
Source(s) of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Izvestia newspaper removed article criticizing Defence Minister
24 September – A daily newspaper Izvestia, which belongs to the state-owned National Media Group, removed from its website the op-ed “The achievements of Sergey Shoigu as Defense Minister” by the military reporter Ilya Kramnik, who described the incident in a Facebook post.
Referring to an interview by the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets with the Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, Kramnik wrote that it’s unlikely to be correct that the recovery of the Russian army was due to the appointment of Shoigu, since its reform was initiated by the previous minister. Kramnik also wrote that the defence ministry has taken more of a propagandist line since Shoigu’s appointment.
Kramnik reportedly said that he didn’t know the specific reasons behind the removal of the article but that some kind of administrative pressure was involved. The newspaper’s press service allegedly accused Kramnik of violating corporate standards and said that the article was deleted because it didn’t align with editorial standards. The newspaper said that the decision was made by the editorial board, which considered the material to be insufficiently developed with too many of Kramnik’s views rather than facts. Kramnik said that he didn’t receive any comments about the article until it was published. Kramnik is reportedly no longer working for the publication.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/i.kramnik/posts/2371375439597846
https://www.svoboda.org/a/30183529.html
https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-49838990
Categories: Censorship
Source(s) of violation: Employer/Publisher/Colleague(s)
Pskov journalist Svetlana Prokopeva officially charged with justifying terrorism
20 September – Radio Svoboda reported that Svetlana Prokopeva, a Pskov-based independent journalist, was officially charged with justifying terrorism for discussing whether the planting of a bomb by a 17-year-old student at a Federal Security Service headquarters last year was provoked by a repressive political regime. The journalist pleads not guilty. Her lawyers called the charges absurd.
Links:
https://www.svoboda.org/a/30175507.html
https://ifex.org/russia-journalist-svetlana-prokopyeva-faces-seven-years-in-jail-on-justifying-terrorism-charge/
Categories: Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences
Source(s) of violation: Police/State security, Court/Judicial
Local journalist detained ahead of president visit to Izhevsk
19 September – Dariya Komarova, a reporter from Idel Real was detained in Izhevsk ahead of President Putin’s visit to the city, Idel Real reported. Policemen detained the journalist while she was taking photos of residents passing through security check-point to get to the main square. Komarova was released shortly afterwards, but was told that the police would be watching and checking her.
Links:
https://www.idelreal.org/a/30173086.html
https://zona.media/news/2019/09/19/zaderzhali?fbclid=IwAR2u6lx_dXM5RcV4OVSxlgn0GiTm0LkcIBW2GpeaCTRtfBm5OTyQbCUb5zM
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation, Intimidation
Source(s) of violation: Police/State security
Senator accused Proekt.Media’s founder of graduating from “CIA school”
16 September – According to the media outlet Lenizdat, Andrey Klimov, the head of Federation Council’s Commission on Sovereignty Protection, accused the founder and editor-in-chief of investigative online outlet Proekt.Media, Roman Badanin, of studying in a “private intelligence school”, that prepares “anti-Russian journalists”. Klimov called Stanford University, where Badanin studied in 2017, a “CIA school”.
Links:
https://lenizdat.ru/articles/1156256/?fbclid=IwAR0_R7Ul8Wp22kMrPnAFdXWwuA_M3A-IbYsJ53dhIdkYBvddgEpceWLF9nc
Categories: Online Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse
Source(s) of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Student media reporter detained in Moscow at rally in support of political prisoner
Prior to his arrest in August, Yegor Zhukov had urged people not to be cowed into silence. He had been participating in the protests.
14 September – Tatyana Kolobakina, reporter with the student media outlet DOXA, was detained in Moscow at a student rally in support of political prisoner and fellow student, Zona.Media reported. Kolobakina was detained alongside two rally participants, who were dressed in T-shirts with slogans “Freedom to Zhukov”. Kolobakina has a similar sticker on her bag. All the detainees were released briefly without any charges and were told that they had been mistakenly detained while police were checking “info about some organization”.
Links:
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4094194
https://ovdinfo.org/express-news/2019/09/14/na-parade-moskovskogo-studenchestva-zaderzhali-dvuh-studentov-i?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=share&fbclid=IwAR0Amm0Ai9DarRmc8-pqVgqvSrZ5FQVP-p40vlUsJhWU2HSY20GdbJ4RDuA
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source(s) of violation: Police/State security
St-Petersburg journalist targeted by media outlets allegedly tied to “troll factory”
12 September – Mariya Karpenko, a former Fontanka reporter who was fired in March because of her personal Telegram-account on Saint Petersburg politics, became a target of several defamation articles, Lenizdat reported.
According to reports, the articles may be linked to Evgeny Prigozhin’s “media factory”, which publishes almost identical pro-government articles and targets independents journalists and opposition activists.
Links:
https://lenizdat.ru/articles/1156242/?fbclid=IwAR1N60ZuAzpTBNth5ynq_ctmCv1PL6K94RWCvfry99GJnqMYuqMkU1kZCU4
https://www.svoboda.org/a/29830046.html
https://primechaniya.ru/sankt-peterburg/novosti/avtora-rassledovaniya-o-finansirovanii-vybornoj-kampanii-beglova-nachali-travit-v-smi
Categories: Online Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse
Source(s) of violation: Another media
Dozhd CEO Natalia Sindeeva was summoned for questioning in September.
Dozhd CEO questioned over funding received during the July protests
10 September – CEO of independent broadcaster Dozhd, Natalia Sindeeva, was summoned for questioning related to funding Dozhd received during the July protests, Sindeeva said in Facebook post. During the protests in late July the broadcaster lifted the paywall and encouraged viewers to donate money.
Links:
https://www.newsru.com/russia/10sep2019/sind_dopros.html?utm_source=share&fbclid=IwAR1264qd3E9ksE4Prq3_7dw9fSRCP0hvF5UqMs9W8HEKngaX5LAF6BvXu_c
https://zona.media/news/2019/09/09/sindeeva?fbclid=IwAR2cA7MskqAUB5vuVXgWRKrtx6DA4FHmnLwY6hSVySzYm6EIpOXmVo10PEs
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source(s) of violation: Police/State security
Bus with journalists attacked in Tuva
7 September – A bus with journalists and observers, that were going to monitor and report on the local elections, was attacked with a gun fire at the border of Krasnoyarsk region and Tuva republic, local deputy Sergey Natarov said in his Facebook.
Witnesses say the bus was attacked by a group of around 10 gunned men.
The police said that nobody was injured and said that only the front wheels of the bus were damaged.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1369336403228476&set=a.405289099633216&type=3
https://www.svoboda.org/a/30152508.html?fbclid=IwAR0LyiXDB0NzNxtrvL1TZXlcaYqO1pToUXTSVOBbOwGkr9dUXY2RbZyfwt8
https://www.sibreal.org/a/30152426.html
https://t.me/pdmnews/20352
Categories: Intimidation
Source(s) of violation: Unknown
At least 3 journalists detained in Moscow before rally in support of political prisoners
8 September – Journalists Ilya Azar and Natalia Ivleva were detained in the centre of Moscow before the rally in support of political prisoners, MBH Media reported. Later MBH Media reported that journalist Maxim Kondratyev was also detained.
Links:
https://tvrain.ru/news/v_moskve_zaderzhali_zhurnalista_ilju_azara-493121/?fbclid=IwAR3kKIRLIm87drmSxftigXAff_sB0wrcuT6ap0tyoHuvRI6u3LCZOCr5frY
https://t.me/mbkhmedia/13378
https://www.mk.ru/politics/2019/09/08/v-moskve-zaderzhany-aktivisty-zhurnalisty-sredi-nikh-ilya-azar.html
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source(s) of violation: Police/State security
Fly Auto sues Dozhd for 1 billion roubles
5 September – A car rental firm Fly Auto filed a 1 billion roubles ($15,300 millions) lawsuit against independent broadcaster Dozhd, Navalny said in his Twitter.
According to court documents, the lawsuit was registered on 5 September. Fly Auto accuse Dozhd of organising mass protest against the disqualification of independent candidates for local elections, that as the company claims, resulted in billion damage due to cancelled orders for car rentals, disrupted services and protesters damaging cars.
Update:
15 November – Arbitration court of Moscow dismissed the lawsuit against Dozhd TV channel, quoting lack of proof in the documents provided by the company.
Links:
https://zona.media/news/2019/09/05/flaj_avto?fbclid=IwAR1ye8yqjas57ArvgRe1uUhVF8XXX5Gd3voBuNOyfdRaV-empq0YV2VcZp0
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2019/09/05/155024-kompaniya-po-prokatu-avtomobiley-podala-isk-k-fbk-i-dozhdyu-na-milliard-rubleyhttps://
www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5DCEA674AD5BE
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source(s) of violation: Corporation/Company[/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:1574958188379-c9ec03b6-f725-9″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
20 Jun 19 | Europe and Central Asia, Media Freedom, media freedom featured, Monitoring and Advocating Coverage, News and features, Russia
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]This article is part of an ongoing series exploring the issues raised by Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]
On 6 June 2019 investigative journalist Ivan Golunov was arrested for drug possession and trafficking. His colleagues at Meduza — a news source which reports on corruption within Russia but is based in Latvia to maintain independence–had never so much as seen him consume alcohol. Golunov is an accomplished journalist: he has covered topics ranging from the loan shark business, the earnings of the family of Moscow’s deputy mayor, and the unusually high cost of public works in the Russian capital. At the time of his arrest, Golunov had been working on a new story. He had received several threats in conjunction with the article and was finally arrested by Russian police at Tsvetnoy Bulvar metro station in Moscow on his way to meet a source. Police searched his backpack, claiming to find a small bag of mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant, which Golunov vehemently denied carrying.
Over the next few hours, Golunov was taken back to the police station and interrogated. Though he requested forensic examinations of his hands and backpack to prove his innocence, police refused to conduct them. Eventual reports said that police had discovered more drugs and scales in subsequent investigations of Golunov’s apartment, meaning a maximum sentence for Golunov of twenty years in prison. Golunov was denied his right to contact legal council, and was physically assaulted during his interrogation. The day after his arrest, journalists began protesting Golunov’s arrest in Moscow, and on 8 June, the Nikulino district court in Moscow ordered Golunov under house arrest until his trial in August.
“Using trumped-up drug charges to silence critics is nothing new for Russian authorities, but Golunov’s case is an encouraging example of what can happen when civic-minded individuals and organisations come together to publicly and resolutely denounce despotism,” Jessica Ní Mhainín, policy research and advocacy officer at Index on Censorship, said.
“The easiest way to put anyone in prison in Russia is to plant drugs in his bag,” said Ivan Kolpakov, editor in chief of Meduza. “It means that he immediately goes to prison. It means that his reputation is immediately destroyed. It means it’s going to be a dirty case.” This is hardly the first time such tactics have been used to silence investigative journalism. In the summer of 2014, a Chechnyan activist and journalist, Ruslan Kutaev, was sentenced to four years in prison on drug charges. Throughout his trial and incarceration, he maintained that he had been framed by Chechnyan authorities. In 2016, journalist Zhalaudi Guriev was arrested and sentenced to three years for drug possession after criticizing the Chechnyan government. He, too, maintained his innocence. Both Kutaev and Guriev served their full time and have since been released from prison.
Oyub Titiev, a prominent Russian human rights activist, was tried and convicted of drug charges in 2018. In a surprising turn of events, his sentence was lightened at trial, though Chechnyan authorities declined to drop the charges against him. Titiev had served in a penal colony for nearly a year and a half when he received parole on 10 June — just three days after the first protests for Golunov’s release.
Golunov was released on 12 July. The three largest Russian newspapers–Kommersant, Vedomosti and RBK–which are often in lockstep with Russian authorities, published headlines in support of Golunov, and there had been international media attention and protests for Golunov’s release both within Russia and internationally. Finally, a spokesperson for the Kremlin admitted that Golunov’s arrest was a mistake, and all charges against him were dropped.
While a few high-profile anecdotes may induce optimism, the state of journalistic freedom in Russia is still less than ideal. From February through April of this year, there were eighteen instances of arrests, interrogation, or detention of journalists; eighteen instances of criminal charges, fines or sentences; and twelve subpoenas, court orders or lawsuits. Twenty-three acts of harassment against journalists were committed by a government official, state agency, or political party; nineteen by courts or other judicial bodies; and twenty-eight by police or state security. Even at a protest staged shortly after Golunov’s release, police claimed that only 200 arrests had taken place, while an independent reporter put the number at over 400. Among those arrested were several journalists, including a key organizer of the protest, and opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Gennady Rudkevich, a professor of international relations at Georgia College, cautioned against reading Golunov’s exoneration as a de facto victory for freedom of the press. “Russia is less centralized than many realize,” he wrote. “Most decisions aren’t ex ante approved by Putin, though he usually accepts them ex post facto to maintain illusion of full control… the original arrest wasn’t ordered by Putin, but Putin was willing to accept it. The public and international outrage at the arrest meant that Putin was going to take the ‘side of the people’ against ‘corrupt officials.’” While Ivan Golunov is now free to continue his journalistic career, many Russian journalists will remain incarcerated. At present, more journalists are imprisoned in Russia than at any time since the fall of the Soviet Union. [/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:1561033844330-0caf4696-b1c4-2″ taxonomies=”35195″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
08 Jul 16 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, Mapping Media Freedom, News and features, Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom
Click on the dots for more information on the incidents.
Each week, Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom project verifies threats, violations and limitations faced by the media throughout the European Union and neighbouring countries. Here are five recent reports that give us cause for concern.
Turkey: DIHA reporter arrested in Batman
4 July 2016: Dicle News Agency reporter Serife Oruc was sent to court on the charges of being “member of an illegal organisation”, news website Bianet reported. Oruc was arrested with two other men who were in the same car with Oruc, Emrullah Oruc and Muzaffar Tunc.
All three were transferred to a prison in Batman.
UK: Journalist claims Telegraph censored article critical of Theresa May
2 July 2016: The Daily Telegraph pulled a comment piece critical of Theresa May as May fought to become the leader of the Conservatives.
The piece was published on 1 July in the news section of the Telegraph but was subsequently taken down from the website. It was entitled “Theresa May is a great self-promoter but a terrible Home Secretary”.
“Daily Telegraph pulled my comment piece on Theresa May ministerial record after contact from her people #censorship”, journalist Jonathan Foreman tweeted on 2 July.
The journalist authorised Media Guido to republish the piece and it can be read on their website.
Russia: Free Word NGO declared a “foreign agent”
1 July 2016: The Pskov office of the Russian justice ministry declared Svobodnoye Slovo (Free Word), an NGO which publishes the independent newspaper Pskovskaya gubernia, a “foreign agent”.
The decision was made after an assessment of the organisation was conducted by the Pskov regional justice ministry department. It established that the organisation “receives money and property from another NGO which receives money and property from foreign sources”.
In addition, the statement said the NGO is running “political activities” because the newspaper is covering political issues.
Independent regional Pskovskaya Gubernia became well-known after a series of articles revealing Russian casualties in eastern Ukraine in the beginning of the Donbass conflict in the summer of 2014.
Azerbaijan: Editor sentenced to three months in jail for extortion
1 July 2016: Fikrat Faramazoglu, editor-in-chief of jam.az, a website that documents cases and arrests related to the ministry of national security, was arrested last Friday. He has been given a three-month sentence after being accused of extorting money by threats.
Faramazoglu’s wife said a group of three unidentified men showed up at their home, confiscating his laptop. Documents and even CDs from his children’s weddings were confiscated without any warrant. The three men informed Faramazoglu’s wife that her husband had been arrested.
Russia: Police detains Meduza freelancer covering death of children in Karelia
30 June 2016: Police detained Danil Alexandrov, a freelance journalist for Meduza news website working in Republic of Karelia reporting on the death of 14 children in a boating accident on Syamozero Lake. He was accused of working “without a license“.
Alexandrov was detained on his way out of the Essoilsky village administration building, where he spoke to the head of the town. The police reportedly approached Alexandrov and threatened to confiscate all his equipment unless he signed aan administrative offence report. He signed the document.
“They hinted that it might be necessary to confiscate ‘evidence of my journalistic activities’,” Alexandrov told Meduza, adding that the police insisted the publication was a foreign media outlet and had to be accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Foreign Ministry’s rules on accreditation discuss full-time staff members of foreign media outlets but do not comment on freelancers. Alexandrov’s court case is scheduled for 6 July. He faces a maximum penalty of 1,000 rubles (€14) for working “without a license”.
