Experts considered criticism of the authorities in Prokopieva’s text a justification for terrorism

Experts from Roskomnadzor and the Investigative Committee considered that Pskov journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva justifies terrorism in her text because she criticizes the authorities and compares the student who carried out the explosion in the FSB of Arkhangelsk with Narodnaya Volya members. RBC got acquainted with the conclusions of the examinations that formed the basis of the criminal case.

The first examination was ordered by Roskomnadzor in November 2018, shortly after the release of Prokopieva’s radio program. The study was carried out by experts Alexander Sorgovitsky and Anastasia Gershlikovich, hired by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Main Radio Frequency Center”.

According to the conclusion of Sorgovitsky and Gershlikovich, Prokopyeva substantiates the “logicality” of the terrorist attack through statements about the “expediency of the terrorist’s actions in the modern conditions of political life in Russia.” The journalist, according to experts, connects “the cause of the terrorist act with the actions of law enforcement agencies” and compares the 17-year-old who blew himself up with the Narodnaya Volya members of the 19th century.

Based on the first examination, Roskomnadzor issued warnings to the radio station “Echo of Moscow in Pskov” and the portal “Pskov News Tape”, where Prokovieva’s publication was published. Subsequently, the magistrate's court fined both publications.

The second examination in December 2018 was carried out by order of the Investigative Committee for Pskov “Southern Expert Center”. Psychologist Viktor Kislyakov and linguist Alexey Ryzhenko note that Prokopyeva connects the terrorist attack with the state structure of “Putin’s” Russia and the struggle of political activists for civil rights. In the context of this connection, the terrorist’s actions in the journalist’s text, according to Kislyakov, are viewed as a natural consequence of the “repressive” policies of the current government, as “a protest against torture and fabrication of criminal cases.”

“The lack of condemnation of the terrorist attack, the attribution of “lofty goals”, “noble motives” to the terrorist, and the shifting of blame onto the current government for the “harsh” methods of fighting for civil rights creates a positive image of the terrorist in the text,” writes Kislyakov.

Another examination was ordered by the Russian Investigative Committee in March 2019 as part of a criminal investigation. It was conducted by linguist Natalya Pikaleva and psychologist Anastasia Lapteva from the North-West Regional Center for Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice. According to the conclusions of this examination, the terrorist’s act “does not cause a negative attitude or indignation in the author,” and on the contrary, “those to whom this explosion was addressed” receive a negative assessment.

The Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation (HRC) appealed to the prosecutor of the Pskov region Sergei Belov and demanded that the criminal prosecution of Prokopyeva be stopped. According to the HRC, the journalist talks about “the public danger of suppression by the state of protest activity of citizens,” which affects the mood of young people.

On October 3, the Investigative Committee for the Pskov Region summoned for questioning local journalists who spoke out in support of Prokopieva, who was accused of justifying terrorism. On October 2, Lev Shlosberg, a deputy of the Pskov regional assembly from Yabloko, who also supported the journalist, was summoned for questioning.

The journalists' union is collecting signatures in support of Svetlana Prokopyeva, a correspondent for the Radio Liberty website, accused of justifying terrorism. More than 400 signatures have already been collected . The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and Reporters Without Borders came out in defense of the journalist.

On September 20, Prokopyeva was found accused under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public calls for terrorist activities, public justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism using the media).

The reason for the case was the author's program of the journalist, dedicated to the terrorist attack in the FSB building of the Arkhangelsk region. In an issue entitled “Repression for the State,” Prokopieva suggested that the young man committed a terrorist attack in the building of the FSB Directorate of Arkhangelsk as a protest against the repressive political regime. Linguists from Novgorod State University and the Russian Pedagogical University, who conducted an examination for the court, found no justification for terrorism in Prokopieva’s words. However, these examinations were not included in the case.

17-year-old Polytechnic College student Mikhail Zhlobitsky detonated a bomb in the building of the FSB Directorate in the Arkhangelsk Region on the morning of October 31, 2018. The attacker was killed and three security forces were injured. The incident was recognized as a terrorist attack.