The initiative is punishable

Journalist of RBC Alexander Sokolov was sentenced to 3.5 years in a colony in the case of extremism

The Tver court of Moscow passed a guilty verdict to the special correspondent of RBC Alexander Sokolov, who was accused of organizing the activities of the extremist community. The journalist received three and a half years of a colony of general regime, his associates - activists of Valery Parfenov and Kirill Barabash - were sentenced to four years in colony, and the former chief editor of Duel magazine Yuri Mukhin received a conditional term.

Alexander Sokolov was detained in 2015 after he registered the website of the initiative group for the referendum “For responsible power” (IGPR Call). The state prosecution believes that he and other defendants under the pretext of organizing and conducting a referendum were going to continue the activities of the “Army of the will of the people” created by Mukhin, which in 2010 was recognized as extremist and prohibited in Russia. During the reading of the verdict, judge Alexei Krivoruchko said that the purpose of IGPR is to disseminate extremist materials and inciting hatred of the president, the Federation Council and other officials, and the referendum is only a “plausible excuse” for conspiracy purposes.

In turn, lawyers claimed that their clients were not engaged in extremist activities. The main goal of the initiative group, as the defendants in the case noted, was to hold a referendum for the adoption of the Law “For responsible power”, which would allow citizens to evaluate the work of all officials and hold them accountable for improper performance of duties.

“I congratulate you on the fact that the idea of ​​a referendum in Russia is recognized as extremism,” Sokolov said after the announcement of the sentence.

Sokolov himself believes that criminal prosecution is associated with his journalistic activity. Working on RBC, he was engaged in journalistic investigations, including wrote about theft at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, about the earnings of Russian officials and the recruitment of Russians to the Donbass. The editors of RBC asked President Vladimir Putin to pay attention to Sokolov. “If he sits for some revelations about the“ eastern ”, if only this is, of course, I will help your publication,” Putin said.

However, a year later, when the editors reminded of its request, the head of state replied that if nothing has changed, "it means that not everything is so simple there."

In support of the journalist, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia Tatyana Moskalkova and her predecessor Ella Pamfilova, the Presidential Council of Human Rights (HRC) and the International Organization “Reporters Without Borders” were performed.

The Human Rights Center “Memorial” recognized Alexander Sokolov and other defendants in the case of the initiative group for the referendum by political prisoners.