Officials raid the home of former ‘Meduza’ correspondent Taisiya Bekbulatova

On Tuesday, July 7, law-enforcement officials in Moscow raided the apartment of journalist Taisiya Bekbulatova, the editor-in-chief of Holod Media and a former Meduza special correspondent. She managed to contact human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov before she stopped responding to calls and text messages, says Mediazona. Lawyer Nikolai Vasilyev later arrived outside Bekbulatova’s home, but officers did not permit him inside.

Update: Following the search of her home, Taisiya Bekbulatova was taken in for questioning, Pavel Chikov reports. According to Kommersant,Bekbulatova is being questioned as a witness in the case of journalist Ivan Safronov. Mediazona reports that investigators did not allow lawyer Nikolai Vasilyev to be present during Bekbulatova’s interrogation.

The reason for the search remains unknown. Mediazona notes that Bekbulatova is a friend of journalist Ivan Safronov, who was arrested earlier in the day on charges of treason. According to a statement released by the Federal Security Agency, Russian intelligence discovered that Safronov collected and transmitted classified information about Russian military-technical cooperation and national defense and security. If convicted of treason, Safronov could be imprisoned for up to 20 years.