The journalist spoke about the threat to deprive her of accreditation to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg because of the issue of denial of accreditation to her colleague

Press secretary of the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Vyacheslav Makarov, Elena Timoshenko, threatened to deprive Kommersant correspondent Maria Karpenko of her accreditation. Karpenko herself told Mediazona about this.

During the weekly briefing, Karpenko asked Makarov why Echo of Moscow in St. Petersburg journalist Sergei Kagermazov was not given accreditation to visit the Legislative Assembly, citing a lack of seats in the hall for journalists, which, in fact, is always half empty.

Makarov, in response to the journalist’s question, again mentioned that Kagermazov did not serve in the army. “Is this the same Kagermazov who escaped from alternative service? Dear journalists, this is what you need to write about! How can you be so afraid of the army? And not just be afraid, but refuse to fulfill your military duty? Is this worthy of a real man? How will the girls react after this if they abandoned the army and fled abroad?” — Karpenko quoted Makarov’s words in her Telegram channel.

In turn, Tymoshenko responded that the accreditation of journalists is carried out in “full compliance with the accreditation procedure and the law on the media.” When Karpenko asked to answer a question about empty seats, Tymoshenko made her a “remark.”

“When I left the hall, we met in the corridor. I asked: “What should I do with your remark? I am not your subordinate.” She replied: “You will lose your accreditation.” I asked: "Is this an official statement?" She replied: “No, not official yet.” I said, “You are no longer the chief information officer.” She answered: “So what,” the correspondent told Mediazona.

Makarov repeatedly reproached a journalist who criticized the city authorities and the official personally for evading service, and publicly promised to send him to the army. A year ago, the journalist was no longer allowed into parliament and was taken from there to the Investigative Committee for questioning on the case of evasion from service. Mediazona wrote about this story in detail.