Siberian journalist accused of extremism
Igor Kuznetsov allegedly facilitated mass unrest. His Telegram chats targeted. Several arrests nationwide on the same charges. Historian Yuri Dmitriev, head of the opposition association Memorial in Karelia, also arrested. Group close to Putin buys the well-known social network VKontakte.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - The authorities have indicted Siberian journalist Igor Kuznetsov of RusNews. The native of Tomsk was arrested on September 16 in the capital on charges of "fomenting mass disorder", one of the new definitions of the banned opposition in Russia. The reporter was jailed for posting "What to do!" messages on his Telegram channel, which were considered "extremist in nature," his lawyer Sergei Badamšin revealed to the Pravozaščita ('Defence of Rights') website.
The charges against him were brought by the Moscow security services, based on Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code, which carries penalties of 6 to 10 years. The investigators tried to obtain recordings of the journalist's voice in order to associate him with the incriminated videos, but Kuznetsov refused to submit to this procedure.
The indictment concerns certain "chat conferences", during which "psychological pressure activities are systematically proposed in order to arouse the desire and decision to participate in mass unrest in certain circles of people, always attracting new participants to such actions".
These accusations have become systematic in recent times, starting with the parliamentary elections on 16 September. Despite the blocking of almost all social channels, several Telegram chats have been targeted for their allegedly 'subversive purposes', aimed at stirring up tempers during the election campaign and on voting days themselves.
Recently, the police have already arrested several people on these charges, such as high school student Maria Platonova, Krasnoyarsk activist Aleksej Janočkin, Voronež residents Nikita Kreščuk and Dmitry Čebanov with his wife Žanna Černova, and St Petersburg resident Vjačeslav Abramov.
A Moscow citizen, Kirill Suslov, was arrested on 3 December by officers in the Lefortovo district and charged with treason against the state, without any details of the facts that led to this very serious accusation.
The further clampdown on the opposition is confirmed by the prosecutor's request at the trial in Petrozavodsk, in northern Russia, to increase the sentence from 13 to 15 years in prison for the head of the Karelia branch of the 'Memorial' association, the historian Yuri Dmitriev. The prosecutor specified that the request concerns detention in a special regime lager.
Dmitriev is accused of sexual abuse of a minor, his adopted daughter, dissemination of child pornography and illegal possession of a firearm. More than 400 professors and artists from Europe and the United States have signed an appeal calling for the academic's release, believing the charges to be specious. Memorial was also awarded a prize by the Moscow Helsinki Group for his historic contribution to the defence of human rights and the humanitarian movement in Russia.
Another sensational initiative aimed at controlling information is the purchase of one of the most popular Russian social media channels, VKontakte, by the Sogaz group owned by Putin's nephew, Mikhail Šelomov. The acquisition was completed with the support of Uzbek billionaire Ališer Usmanov, who is also very close to the Russian president. The purchase will also allow the control of another Russian social channel, Odnoklassnik, born before Facebook itself, together with other information and social communication sites.
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01/10/2020 16:41
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