The prosecutor's office of the Nizhny Novgorod region transferred to court a criminal case against three workers of a landfill in Arzamas, who attacked journalists and environmental activists. This was reported by the press service of the regional Investigative Committee.
A waste transfer station security specialist and two security guards are accused of obstructing the professional activities of journalists by forcing them to refuse to disseminate information, coupled with violence against the journalist and damage to their property (Part 3 of Article 144 of the Criminal Code).
A criminal case was opened over an incident that occurred in July 2023. That day, a group of journalists and environmental activists arrived at a site leased by MSK-NT LLC, which had set up an illegal landfill on this site. The inspection was organized by the chairman of the non-profit environmental project " Princip " Dmitry Trunin.
Three men who worked at the landfill demanded that activists and journalists leave the area. At the same time, the visiting group had permission from the owner of the site, Dmitry Vagin, who, having learned about the illegal dumping, unsuccessfully tried to evict the tenants.
After refusing to leave the landfill, the men began beating environmental activists and journalists. They continued to beat Dmitry Trunin even after he left the station and began to get into the car. After this, Trunin was admitted to the hospital with a broken lip and a suspected concussion. Soon, on behalf of the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, a criminal case was opened against the attackers, and in October it was classified .
“The investigation established that in July 2023, a film crew from a network publication consisting of a correspondent and a cameraman, on the basis of an editorial assignment, in order to prepare a video report about possible violations of environmental legislation on the territory of a waste transfer station arrived in the city of Arzamas, Nizhny Novgorod region. In order to impede their legitimate professional activities by forcing journalists to stop preparing this story and refuse to disseminate information, acting as part of a group of persons by prior conspiracy, the defendants caused bodily harm to the cameraman and damaged filming equipment,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement.