"Argument": results of 2021

Dear friends, literally a couple of days remain until the New Year, so we decided to summarize some results. Thanks to the activity of the authorities, the outgoing year was not easy for us, and the work of the publication was subjected to significant changes. But we are still in service - and this is the most important thing.

The outgoing year was the first experience of the publication “argument” without the official status of the media. Thanks to the gap in the law and the political engagement of the court, we lost registration , and all attempts to challenge the decision were unsuccessful. The point in this dispute should put the European Court of Human Rights.

During the year, we submitted three times an application to Roskomnadzor for the registration of the media. Each time we received a refusal for a far-fetched occasion, and each time we refused to explain anything. Apparently, we fell into some unofficial lists of “undesirable” journalists who are prohibited by registration in Russia.

The authorities applied other repressive measures in relation to “Preud”. January 22 , January 31 and April 21, large rallies were held in Vladimir in support of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny, which we actively covered. All three events ended for our editors Kirill Ishutin and Ilya Kosygin with detention and arrests.

In the breaks between Kirill Ishutin’s special receiver, he provided legal assistance and represented the interests of other activists in the courts. By the way, he became an unconditional record holder for the number of hours in custody, having stayed under arrest about 1/12 part of the outgoing year.

The action in support of Alexei Navalny also took place near the Pokrovsky correctional colony, where the politician is serving a sentence. This event was also attended by Ilya Kosygin, who was detained and brought to administrative responsibility in connection with the implementation of journalistic activities.

In March, journalists Kirill Ishutin and Ilya Kosygin visited the forum of independent municipal deputies in Moscow, at which they were once again detained and were further held administratively liable under the article on the participation in the activities of an unwanted organization.

After the publication by the “argument”, an interview with the deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir Region Maxim Shevchenko, which mentioned the criminal record of businessman Evgeny Prigozhin, “Putin’s cook” filed a civil lawsuit against our editor -in -chief Ilya Kosygin. By decision of the second instance, the journalistmust pay Prigozhin compensation for non -pecuniary damage in the amount of 80 thousand.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow continued to extend the Preud to the editors of Kirill Ishutin and Ilya Kosygin The deadline for the arrest on the property of criminal cases against Yukos and the Corruption Fund. As a result of searches that twice in our editorial office, all equipment was seized, and arrested bank accounts and property.

Despite the loss of the status of the media and numerous repressive measures by the state, the “argument” continued to comprehensively cover public and political life in the Vladimir region. The most close attention, as before, was given the activities of representatives of civil society, protest activists and opposition.

Together with the information support of civilian initiatives, throughout the year, the “argument” continued to develop other areas of activity. First of all, they were engaged in human rights, providing legal assistance to residents of the region who suffered from illegal actions of officials and authorities. Our journalists have repeatedly participated in various conferences and round tables devoted to the current problems of the region.

In September, the publication “argument” actively covered the elections of deputies of the State Duma. We wrote about many violations committed during the vote. Including drew attention to illegal campaigning by representatives of the party of the authorities, which was subsequently recognized in the Central Election Commission. We supported independent candidates outside the region. In particular, our editor visited the action in support of Andrei Pivovarov, which took place in Krasnodar.

The outgoing year was remembered for the journalists “Preud” by a large number of travels, which allowed to interview with a wide variety of people around the world. We had a chance to talk with the founder of the Almanac “Moloko Plus” Pavel Nikulin , politician Alexander Solovyov , activist Stepan Strogin , lawyerVladimir Zhbankov , blogger Nikolai Levshits and many other Russians, who, for various reasons, had to leave their native country.

Throughout 2021, we regularly wrote about the problems of ordinary residents of the Vladimir region. We provided legal assistance to citizens who, for one reason or another, suffered from the actions of officials, whether it was dismissal from work for participating in a protest action or administrative arrest for recording a video message to the president.

And in many cases, support led to positive results. Recall at leastour interview with the employees of the hospital, to which the head physician did not transfer covid payments, and then officially forbidden to criticize herself and began to be rude on social networks. Thanks to the close attention of the public and the media in December, the scandalous leaderleft the position.

Or, for example, the story of a member of the election commission of Alena Zotova, who was accused of provocations for drew attention to gross violations during the September elections. The police refused to institute proceedings under an article about slander, and then completely stopped in touch. After the wide publicity and intervention of our lawyer, an official investigation began in relation to negligent law enforcement officers.

And after the publication of our interview with the teacher of the Russian language and literature, Oksana Milovzorova, who, after participating in the protest campaign, was removed from work under the pretext of abandoning vaccination, users of social networks organized a crowdfunding campaign in support of activists, as a result of which they collected a sum of money, which should help the girl cope with the consequences of repressive measures. At school, she, by the way, was also restored.

It is worth noting that, despite the deprivation of registration, which led to the exclusion from news services, regular detentions, trials and other attempts by the authorities to prevent us from effectively fulfilling our journalistic duty, “argument” retained its position in the rating of the ten most cited regional media according to the version of “Mediassogy” in all three quarters of 2021.

The outgoing year, despite all the difficulties and obstacles, clearly demonstrated that the “argument” can exist and work for the benefit of civil society, no matter what measures in relation to the publication are taken by a repressive state. Follow us on social networks, do not put up with lawlessness and defend your rights. On behalf of our editorial office, we congratulate everyone on the upcoming New Year!

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