"They said: we looked at your investigation about Kolokoltsev"

Journalists of Project Badanin, Zholobov and Rubin told Medusa what they were looking for and what the security forces interrogated about them

On the morning of June 29, police officers came to the journalists of the Project publication. They conducted searches with the editor-in-chief of Roman Badanin , his first deputy Mikhail Rubin and correspondent Maria Zholobova, taking laptops, telephones, a SIM card and a flash drive. Journalists were interrogated and released after that. All of them are witnesses in the criminal case of slander at a long -standing acquaintance of Vladimir Putin, the St. Petersburg businessman Ilya Traber, who was opened at the end of 2017. Having left the interrogation, Roman Badanin said that the real reason for the searches was not the case of Traber, but the investigation of the “Project” about the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Vladimir Kolokoltsev, published in the same morning. The Special Corps of Medusa Anastasia Yakureva talked with the journalists of the “project” that she was interested in the security forces, what questions they asked and how the publication plans to work further.

Romanbadanin, founder and chief editor

- You said after leaving the interrogation that you associate today's searches not with the 2017 slander case, but with today's investigation about Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Was there a search as a surprise? Were there any warnings, threats?

- A complete surprise. The search is always a complete surprise. Although there were certain signs that the hero was worried. We sent all the requests [to the Ministry of Internal Affairs] more than two weeks ago, so, of course, they were in the know. Yesterday we have been released news that announced the output of this material today, so we associate attention to us today with this announcement.

- The fact that the hero is worried, by what signs was it clear?

- I can’t say - this is our relationship with sources. From the sources we heard that there is some kind of excitement.

- That is, the Ministry of Internal Affairs knew that you were preparing this text, in two weeks [before the publication], but the search happened on the day the investigation was released, when, obviously, everything was already ready? This is some kind of absurd step?

- I was just in the police department in Chertanovo, there you can’t throw anything into the toilet. In my opinion, you can’t even write there. And you ask me about whether these are absurd actions. Well, a lot of absurd actions.

- Why did you decide to do Kolokoltsev?

- The unfinished hero. Secondly, a very important hero. Thirdly, there is a mismatch of a lot of things-wealth that does not coincide with the income demonstrated. This is a whole minister who has been working for ten years.

-Will you change something in the work of the editorial office in connection with what happened?

- I will say so: we are not going to close. And how we will technically change the work, I am not yet ready to say. We will talk a lot about this with lawyers and among ourselves.

-You made some conclusions for yourself, as will be now with the work of investigators in Russia?

- ***** [Khrenovo]. Do what you should, and what will happen - the main life hack.

- You go to the photo with a little daughter to the car [after the search]. Did you go with her for interrogation? How did she transfer it?

- For the interrogation, I did not go with her, she stayed with her wife. But I opened the door in the morning to investigators when my daughter was in my arms - and all this time I was tormented there. She does not speak yet, so I did not ask her how she suffered. The eldest sons were not at this moment at home.

Mikhail Rubin, First Deputy Chief Editor

- Tell me how you were detained. Was it in the entrance or in the yard?

- This detention was the most unpleasant - boorish, with broken hands. I did not know that witnesses could be delayed like that. In the morning [the correspondent of “Project”] Masha [Zholobova] wrote that she was calling the police, I sat in a taxi and went to her. As soon as I began to leave the taxi at the entrance, exactly at that moment - I did not have time to get out yet, I had a backpack in my hands, which flew out - they grabbed me, began to scream something, poked, broke my hands; All these were some people, of course, not in shape. And for a long time they did not tell me that I am a witness.

And even in the process of searching for parents [later], they all the time hinted that everything was bad, they say, we are acting that a bad situation.

When the lawyer arrived, they already began to behave better. Moreover, the decision indicated the address of my registration, but they immediately told me that "you did not spend the night there today." Therefore, they obviously, as it seemed to me, were watched.

“Can you tell how the search took place?”

- I have no subscription, I am a witness, so I can. The investigative group was not interested in anything but two things - to pick up all the equipment and all the documents that are related to the “project”. It was evident how they were not at all interested in the film about Traber and how they were interested in everything related to the “project”. They were interested in all current ones, they were completely not interested in what was in 2017.

- You were not related to the film about Traber [who was shot by Badanin and Zholobov - he went out on the rain], you are not in co -authors. Didn't this embarrass them?

- This is the funniest. I have nothing to do with the film about Trauber, they didn’t worry them at all, they explained to me in private: “Well, did you work then on the rain”? You can be related. " There was no common sense in this at all. When they showed me a decision on a search, there was no court decision. This decision on the search was issued by the investigator to himself. The investigator, who himself recently found out that he needed to be in Moscow [to come from St. Petersburg]-and flew urgently. It says that the 2017 case does not tolerate delay. That is, it was so unable to have been put up with deposits that he could not go to assure him to court.

And the second - they were not at all worried that I have no relation to this film. During the interrogation for decency, I was asked a few questions about Traber. The first question of the investigator: am I familiar with the authors of this material? Then he thought for a long time, because he obviously had to invent something, and asked: can I have to relax to collect the texture? He even watched again the credits of the film - I was not there. And then he tried to find out something about the “project” all the time.

My agreement was seized with me with the “project” and were very happy, they rushed to report to the authorities. They have some, as I understand it, the common messenger-this group, which is engaged in our business. It was very important for them for some reason.

- Did Kolokoltsev come up in a conversation?

- Of course, he surfaced in a search. We discussed today's article with them, then they said among themselves that they had already managed to read it, that she had come out. They told me rather triumphantly: “So we did not interfere with its exit. She went out. " That is, I discussed this article with all the employees with whom he was dealing.

And during interrogation, the investigator was exclusively interested in the “project” and its financing. He asked about my sources of income and what is the “project”, “how would you describe it.” There were still questions: how are you related to Badanin? And in an informal conversation, he asked me about the sources of the “project” income.

Maria Zholobova, correspondent

- Can you tell how the search took place, or do you also have a non -disclosure subscription?

- I can, I have no subscription. I woke up at seven in the morning from the hellish knocking and calls at the door, directly hounded with force, called, not letting go of the bell. I did not know what to do, did not open them and wrote to the guys that they called me the doorbell. Then [the police] phoned their neighbors. I have a vestibule there, that is, they overcame the first door, went to my door and began to hammer into it, say: "Maria Viktorovna, we will now open the door to you, open it."

I was waiting for a lawyer, the lawyer arrived, said: you can open it. They entered, gave me a decision on a search, which said that it was in the 2017 case about slander, about the film “Rain”. Moreover, the statute of limitations in this case came out. The decision on the search was issued at 12 in the morning, as I understand it, in St. Petersburg GSU [the main investigative department] of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As far as I know, they got into cars at night and went to Moscow with a large crowd - because I had two investigators, three operatives and some other people, Misha [Rubin] had a crowd, Roma [Badanina] to the dick of people.

In general, they all arrived, also came to Roma at about seven in the morning. Misha [Rubin] immediately went to me, he arrived at my house, got out of the car, immediately attacked him and detained him, and took him to his parental apartment - to seize him there.

- And the fact that the decision on the search was issued not by the court, but by the investigator, is this normal?

- Yes, they can do this in some “emergency situations”, come to a search without a court decision. But what kind of emergency circumstances were there, the resolution is not said.

- How did the operatives behave?

- They were quite polite with me, they looked quite neatly. I can’t even say that they were looking for something, they first took my phone, laptop, flash drives, all electronic media. And that’s all - and then the search was rather neat, relaxed. They quite carefully looked at books, rack, my things; Gently my handbags searched, holding them in my hand, they were ***** [uninteresting] everything except electronic devices. But they took a picture of all my notebooks, all my notebooks, every page and then they took them with them.

Then they said: let's interrogate in the apartment. I say: not a question, give in an apartment, I refuse to say something to you according to the 51st article . We signed everything, and then for some reason they gave me a summons for a call for interrogation to the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in my area-apparently, they were allowed to use the cabinet there; I came there an hour later. There were also quite formal questions. I think they are not at all in the know who is the traber, what kind of film it is.

- And the Moscow employees interrogated?

- No, these same St. Petersburg interrogated. Moreover, this was really because of Kolokoltsev, because they said: and we looked at your investigation about Kolokoltsev. And you looked at the hell if you came by Treber? Well, that is, the bells sounded in a conversation, they were really in the subject.

- What did they ask about Traber?

- They asked, like: where did you get this information, who are your sources? I say: we finish this conversation, I still will not tell you anything. They are: Okay. The interrogation eventually did not last long, about an hour. I think the main goal was to pick up all the devices; Maybe scare. But this, obviously, is not connected with Traber in any way.

- And what exactly did they say about Kolokoltsev?

- They said: "Oh, so pretty in the video." That is, they mentioned this video, they were in the topic that there is such an investigation. At the same time, they did not know where I was working at all, they did not know about the “project”, they knew nothing at all. It is unlikely that they watched this video, because the “project” updates every morning.

- Was there many questions about Badanin’s novel?

- There were questions: how did you meet Roma, but does it give you tasks, but how is your work on the texts built with him? Everything is in this vein. They tried to understand if he orders all this to me.

-As I understand it, you sent questions to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs two weeks before the release of the text. That is, they knew what the text would be about?

- Yes, they knew very well, from questions one could perfectly understand what the text is about. Nevertheless, urgently fell off after our announcement with the news about his wife’s sister [Kolokoltsev]. Maybe he was trigger that this was about his wife's relatives?

- How hard is you yourself given today's events?

- It just infuriates me that I was left without all devices and I don’t know how to restore access to them, because I have two -factor authentication. We'll have to go through all this. In fact, it scared my mother more. Although in fact I myself have not yet managed to realize everything.

I have been in this status of a witness for four years. Now I don’t know what threatens me, but if not a period, then OK: I will survive any correctional work. The problem is that the case was initiated by slander, and now, judging by the decision on the search, a new episode has been added - that he received serious harm to health. It says there: the expert found that Traber received serious harm to health.

Anastasia Yakureva talked

Photo: Project