The HRC demanded to terminate the criminal case against Svetlana Prokopyeva

The Human Rights Council under the President of Russia filed a statement addressed to the prosecutor of the Pskov region Sergey Belov, in which he demanded to terminate the criminal case against journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva. It is reported by RBC.

The HRC refers to the conclusion of the guild of expert linguists on documentation and information disputes, which states that Prokopyeva’s statements on Echo of Moscow do not contain signs of justification of terrorism. According to the HRC, the journalist discusses the "public danger of suppressing the state of protest activity of citizens", which is reflected in the mood of young people.

Human rights activists believe that journalists have the right to speak freely on the theme of "psychological aspects of terrorism." The Council asked Belov to introduce experts to the criminal case and consider the possibility of closing it.

The criminal case on the justification of terrorism against Svetlana Prokopyeva was brought up in February 2019. In the author’s program “Minute of Enlightenment” at Echo of Moscow in Pskov, the journalist talked about the attack in the FSB in the Arkhangelsk region, where 17-year-old Mikhail Zhlobitsky arranged an explosion in October 2018. Later, the news agency "Pskov News Tape" published a Prokopieva column under the heading "Repression for the state" - a text version of the radio program. According to Prokopyeva, this act could be provoked by repressive actions of the political regime.

In support of Svetlana Prokopyeva and in defense of the freedom of expression, journalists, international human rights organizations, many politicians and public figures in Russia and other countries spoke .

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The European Court of Human Rights received a complaint of Prokopyeva about the violation of her rights of a journalist. In the appeal, in particular, it emphasizes that the seizure of personal equipment during a search in the apartment of the journalist threatened the confidentiality of its sources of information.