The Final Statement
‘Even from pre-trial detention, I continue to follow the news, and I still cannot understand why representatives of our state condemn restrictions on freedom of speech in other countries while journalists continue to be held in our prisons.’
‘Your Honour, in my final statement, I cannot avoid addressing the subject of journalism – my profession.
Of course, I could say a great deal about my social work and involvement in charity, but information about this can already be found in the case materials.
Yes, I am a journalist. A journalist with many years of experience working for media outlets in Zabaykalsky Krai and at the federal level. I have worked as a correspondent for online media outlets, as a television journalist, and as a producer and editor-in-chief… Because of this, I know Russian law well, including the Law on Mass Media and the most important legal foundation of our state – the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Article 275.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides that people who cooperate with foreign organisations on a confidential basis must be sentenced to an actual term of imprisonment. However, when this provision is applied to a media professional, it conflicts with an entire body of other Russian laws.
A mass media outlet is not simply an organisation. As I have already said, the media are protected by specific laws and have a particular legal status and rights afforded specifically to media professionals.
Before my arrest, I was a freelance correspondent for the international media outlet Siberia.Realities, which has been designated a ‘foreign agent’ in Russia. I would like to stress that to this day, this media outlet has not been assigned any other status. This is an important point: under the law, cooperation with media outlets designated as ‘foreign agents’ is not prohibited. Moreover, the Law on Mass Media makes it clear that distributing content produced by ‘foreign agents’, provided it carries the appropriate labels, is a legally permitted activity. In that case, what danger are we talking about?
Did I act confidentially? No. At the trial court, I explained that I concealed my affiliation with this media outlet only twice, while conducting a journalistic investigation. This method of obtaining information is not prohibited by law. Moreover, it is also used by journalists working for federal media outlets, including Roxana R., who helped me get a position at Siberia.Realities and who, at the same time, testified for the prosecution. Incidentally, both prosecution and defence witnesses confirmed during the hearings that my work was not conducted confidentially.
Is it permissible in a democratic state, where freedom of speech is protected by the Constitution, where the press has a special status, and where its rights are protected by a separate law, to prosecute a journalist under Article 275.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for cooperating with an international media outlet that is nevertheless a media outlet?
Note that even in the case materials, Siberia.Realities is identified as a media outlet, while I am identified as a freelance correspondent. I believe it is unacceptable to prosecute a journalist for this, as doing so amounts to pressure on the media and on freedom of speech, as well as a violation of the principles underlying the Law on Mass Media. Every month, the register of ‘foreign agents’ in Russia gains new names. A significant proportion of those listed are journalists who work with foreign media outlets and media outlets designated as ‘foreign agents’ – in other words, for the very work I was doing, other journalists are given ‘foreign agent’ status while retaining the right, provided they comply with certain rules, to have that status revoked.
I am the first and only journalist to receive an actual prison sentence not simply for journalism, but for journalism for which, in practice, media professionals are merely given ‘foreign agent’ status. So what is this selective breakdown in principle? Why have I, of all people, been granted such an ‘honour’?
Even from pre-trial detention, I continue to follow the news, and I still cannot understand why representatives of our state condemn restrictions on freedom of speech in other countries while journalists continue to be held in our prisons.
Our country condemned the arrests of Julian Assange and Pavel Durov, calling what happened a crime against freedom of speech. Our authorities also condemned the arrest of the head of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul, describing it as political persecution and pressure on freedom of speech. This is nothing but a double standard.
November 26, 2024.
Zabaykalsky Krai Court, Chita, Russia.
Source: ‘Okno’
For more information: ‘Memorial. PZK’.
Photo: Memorial PZK.