Covid and Orthodoxy: blogger is on trial for calling for self-isolation, which could offend the Russian Orthodox Church

Magpie's Tail

Pichugin is a Nizhny Novgorod journalist and blogger who runs several online resources about life in the capital of the Volga region. At the beginning of April, Pichugin posted in the anonymous telegram channel “Sorokin Tail” :

Attention! Today, a planned campaign is taking place throughout the country to infect the population with a deadly disease. The action was launched by representatives of a specific organization; representatives of law enforcement agencies and the FSB have all the names, passwords, and appearances. The organization's leadership uses its suicide bombers as spreaders of the infection, gathering them in specially designated places, where the spreaders deliberately violate sanitary rules, and then infiltrate society. In a week, it is planned to repeat the action, even more large-scale. Be ready!

The post was viewed just over 700 times. Pichugin tried to draw the attention of townspeople to the fact that, despite the pandemic, there were a lot of people in churches on the eve of Easter, and social distance was not observed. After the Easter holidays, the regional authorities quarantined the village of Diveevo, where one of the main monasteries in the Nizhny Novgorod region is located.

Pichugin emphasizes that shortly before the publication of the post, he participated in an online meeting of Nizhny Novgorod media workers with Governor Gleb Nikitin. The governor emphasized the need for extraordinary, creative approaches to encouraging the population to maintain social distancing. Pichugin’s website “Reporter-NN” also published materials from the civil mobilization campaign against the pandemic “We Are Together,” initiated by the authorities. One of the Reporter-NN employees was awarded a presidential medal for covering the situation with the pandemic.

Five days after the publication, a criminal case was opened against Pichugin under Article 207.1 of the Criminal Code (public dissemination of knowingly false information about circumstances posing a threat to the lives of citizens).

Names-passwords-appearances

“I have no information that the Russian Orthodox Church is behind [the criminal case]. The case was opened based on a report from the FSB. The next day after the publication of the post, I received a call from a person with whom we communicated quite closely on various information matters. His tone was not as positive and friendly as always. He said: “What is this written here?” This is the same article. We do not have such an organization in the country. Delete it, please.” When I had already come to the conclusion that I should delete it, [the FSB officer] contacted me again and said: “Actually, please don’t delete it.” Then I realized that their thoughts about the matter were ripe. The publication stood for a day, I deleted it,” says Alexander Pichugin to OVD-Info.