An independent publication is being closed in Kaliningrad under pressure from security forces

And about. The editor-in-chief of the independent Kaliningrad newspaper Novye Kolesa complained on his Facebook that the FSB "under threat of dismissal" forbids sellers to distribute the publication. In this connection, the media stops its work.

from sale was withdrawn Earlier in Kaliningrad , a newspaper issue , which tells about the torture by security forces of Kaliningrader Alexander Zakamsky, who died in the city's pre-trial detention center No. 1. The circulation of the issue was 7,000 copies.

“The newspaper, which was published for 23 years, and on the ideals of which a whole generation grew up, is leaving our life. And along with it, a whole era that declared itself after the collapse of the USSR and the proclamation of the principles of the free development of society and independent media, ”emphasizes its interim head Yuri Grozmani.

The Mediazona website emphasizes that the founder and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Igor Rudnikov, has been in a pre-trial detention center since the beginning of November 2017. The security forces accuse him of extorting money from the head of the Investigative Committee in Kaliningrad, Viktor Ledenev (clause “b”, part 3, article 163 of the Criminal Code). The journalist himself considers the case against him a provocation.

In March 2016, Rudnikov was attacked when a man was stabbed in the thigh and side at the entrance to the Solyanka cafe.

In early February 2018, the Memorial human rights center recognized Rudnikov as a political prisoner.