Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned a growing crackdown on journalists covering protests in Khabarovsk, in Russia’s far east, calling for an “independent investigation” into the abuses to which media is being subjected to in the region.
The protests, which began in July 2020, were sparked by the arrest of the region’s former governor Sergei Furgal. His detention is widely believed to have been politically motivated, with Furgal having won a landslide victory against the Kremlin’s candidate in the gubernatorial elections of September 2018.
“Independent and opposition media are now being singled out by the authorities in their efforts to curb demonstrations” – RSF
Some of the most high-profile journalists persecuted for their coverage of the Khabarovsk protests include:
Tatiana Khlyestunova
A correspondent for the Belogorsk regional newspaper Prosto Gazeta, Khlysestunova was rearrested on 1 December 2020 following her release from prison, where she had been serving a four-day sentence for allegedly participating in an illegal demonstration.
Andrey Solomakhin
A reporter for the Newsader news agency, he was also a victim of persecution at the hands of Russian authorities. He was throttled with a baton, paralysed with a taser, denied food and water for 24 hours, and fined 10,000 roubles. Solomakhin then served 13 days in prison despite having been hospitalised with concussion and multiple injuries.
Sergey Plotnikov
A journalist working for RusNews, Plotnikov was abducted, tortured and threatened by men wearing green hoods like those used by the special services following his coverage of a demonstration on 15 October. Since his release, he has been permanently followed by two officials from Khabarovsk’s Centre for Combatting Extremism, even in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
At least three other journalists have also experienced this “arrest merry-go-round”, with Dmitri Khetagurov, Boris Zhirnov, and Ekaterina Biyak all arrested while covering a Khabaravosk protest on 12 November, subsequently receiving jail sentences for “participating in an illegal demonstration”.
Despite the Russian constitution’s provision of freedom of speech and press, the government’s application of the law has forced the press to exercise self-censorship with regard to certain sensitive issues, resulting in infringements of these rights.
The number of such infringements has only increased in 2020; with the arbitrary detention of 45 journalists in July – for protesting outside of the Federal Security Service building in Moscow – further indicating the scope of the issue.
Damelya Aitkhozhina, Russia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that:
“Independent reporters in Russia have been under attack for years, with the recent criminal prosecutions taking the repression to a new level. People have every reason to peacefully protest repression, and the authorities have an obligation to allow them to do so safely. Instead they’ve detained peaceful protesters under the abusive and restrictive rules on public assembly”
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in 2020, 14 journalists have either gone missing or been imprisoned, with Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, stating that:
“Journalists in Russia should be able to cover crucial political events freely, without being intimidated, fined, harassed, and silenced by the state.”
The recent increase in attacks on independent and opposition media, both in Khabarovsk Krai and throughout the Russian Federation, could potentially be a sign of things to come. The international community must do more to ensure that this oppressive and destructive approach to the press comes to an end.