Police in St. Petersburg detained Valeria Meshcheryakova because of a rally in support of journalist Elena Milashina “The Face of Russian Journalism,” which took place at the graduation ceremony of St. Petersburg State University in July 2023. This was reported by OVD-Info and Paper with reference to relatives of the detainee.

The police detained Meshcheryakova at the Moskovsky station as she was exiting the train. She was taken to the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Vasileostrovsky district. The detainee is charged with organizing or holding a public event without permission (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code). Meshcheryakova was left in police custody overnight, said a lawyer from OVD-Info who came to the department.

Graduates of the Faculty of Journalism of St. Petersburg State University Valeria Meshcheryakova and Elizaveta Antonova held a picket during the graduation ceremony on July 6, 2023. They unfurled a poster with a photograph of journalist Elena Milashina taken after being beaten in Chechnya and the words “The Face of Russian Journalism.”

After holding a rally in support of Elena Milashina, St. Petersburg State University graduate Elizaveta Antonova announced that she did not enter the university’s master’s program because her entrance scores were lowered.

In St. Petersburg, a participant in the “Face of Russian Journalism” picket, which was held at St. Petersburg State University in support of Elena Milashina, was detained