The prosecutor requested 6 years of prison for journalist Mikhail Afanasyev
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The prosecutor’s office requested 6 years of general regime prison for journalist Mikhail Afanasyev in the case of spreading “fakes” about the Russian army using official position. This is reported by “Network Freedoms”.
The accusation also demands that Afanasieva be banned for three years from engaging in activities related to the placement of materials in the mass media and the Internet.
The reason for Afanasyev’s prosecution was his article on the website of the online magazine “New Focus” about OMON officers from Khakassia, who refused to participate in combat operations in Ukraine due to poor equipment and ill-considered decisions of the command. According to the investigation, the journalist, among other things, published “false information” about the number of missing and wounded employees of the Khakassian administration of the Russian Guard after the beginning of the Russian armed invasion of the territory of Ukraine.
Afanasyev has been in pre-trial detention center since April 14, 2022.
- In June 2022, “Memorial” recognized Mikhail Afanasyev as a political prisoner, since “his persecution is aimed at intimidating journalists who present an alternative point of view on events in Ukraine.”
- In December, the court fined the founder of “New Focus” 450,000 rubles in an administrative case of inciting hatred against police officers in articles for 2018-2021.
- As noted by human rights defender Pavel Chikov, Afanasyev’s case is the first known case where the use of an Internet site is recognized as an official position. The “New Focus” portal, on which Afanasyev wrote, does not belong to the journalist and was not registered as a mass media.
- In March 2022, Russia introduced laws on criminal and administrative liability for so-called fakes about the Russian army and discrediting its actions. The Russian authorities consider any point of view different from the position of the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defense of Russia to be fakes and discrediting.
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