The FSB tapped the phone and read the correspondence of the arrested BlogSochi editor

The FSB tapped the phone and read the e-mail of BlogSochi editor Alexander Valov, accused of extorting 300,000 rubles from a local official. about this after receiving the case materials . , spoke Alexander Popkov, one of his lawyers and an employee of the Agora international human rights group

On July 26, 2016, the Central District Court of Sochi allowed the Federal Security Service of the Krasnodar Territory to listen to the phone, read Valov's email, and monitor him. According to the court ruling, the reason for this was his “involvement in a group of opposition-minded citizens whose activities are aimed at organizing civil disobedience actions using extremist methods.” In addition, according to the court, Valov posted on his website information “aimed at a negative public perception of the internal political situation in the state.”

• Valov was detained on January 19 after a search in his apartment on suspicion of extortion (Article 163 of the Criminal Code). The investigation believes that the blogger demanded 300 thousand from the State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party Yuri Napso. Napso filed this application on 19 January. The defense believes that the investigation did not provide evidence of Valov's guilt.
• On January 21, Judge Ruslan Taygibov of the Central District Court of Sochi arrested the blogger. Valov demanded the removal of the judge, as he wrote critical material about him and doubted the impartiality of Taigibov. The judge stated that he did not read this text.