"Reporters without borders" require the release of the publisher of "new wheels"

The International Organization “Reporters Without Borders” appealed to the working group for arbitrary detention of the UN in connection with the case of the Kaliningrad journalist Igor Rudnikov. The authors of the appeal urge the Human Rights Council to demand from the Russian authorities the immediate liberation of the publisher of the newspaper New Wheels.

The persecution of Rudnikov and his colleagues is a “vivid example of how control over an independent press is established in Russia,” said Johann Bir, head of the Department of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Johann Bir.

The publisher of the Independent Kaliningrad newspaper New Wheels, the deputy of the Kaliningrad Regional Duma, Igor Rudnikov was detained on November 1, 2017 on suspicion of extortion. According to investigators, he demanded 50 thousand dollars from the head of the regional department of the Investigative Committee of Russia Viktor Ledenyov for the termination of the publications in the newspaper.

The publication "New Wheels" repeatedly published resonance materials, including investigations of expensive real estate, presumably belonging to Ledenyov. Rudnikov also made a deputy appeal in the name of the Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika.

Together with Rudnikov, in the criminal case, the ex-deputy plenipotentiary of the President in the North-Western Administrative District Alexander Datsyshin is being held. He is imprisoned. According to investigators, Rudnikov and Datsyshin developed a criminal plan for extorting money from Ledenyov.

After the detention, Igor Rudnikov was deprived of the deputy mandate. On September 26, 2018, its maintenance was extended for another six months.

“Reporters without borders” recall that two attempts were made on Rudnikov over the years of his work, and numerous judicial persecutions were also taken. The case of extortion in the organization is called completely fabricated.