The Moscow Times: Russia on Thursday reported 27,550 new coronavirus cases and 924 fatalities from Covid-19.
RFE/RL: A Moscow court has ordered an investigative journalist to pay 156,000 rubles ($2,155) in compensation to a Dutch blogger who he alleged had ties to Russia’s military intelligence agency.
The Moscow Times: A German prize for democracy and freedom of expression was on Wednesday awarded to imprisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and his FBK anti-corruption foundation.
The Moscow Times: Russians commemorated Thursday the killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya 15 years ago on President Vladimir Putin’s birthday, while her newspaper warned time had run out to punish the masterminds of the murder.
RFE/RL: The United States and the European Union have marked the 15th anniversary of the murder of prominent investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya in central Moscow by renewing their calls for all those responsible to be brought to justice, amid an intensifying crackdown on independent media and the opposition.
RSF: Today (7 October) is not only Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 69th birthday but also the 15th anniversary of the murder of the well-known Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is marking this sad occasion by releasing a thousand black balloons to remind President Putin about the climate of impunity in his country.
Human Rights in Ukraine: Russia’s case against Ukrainian journalist Vladislav Yesypenko, is full of bloopers; the FSB’s story is teeming with discrepancies and the attempt to link the journalist with Ukraine’s SBU [Security Service] has collapsed. This is the message from Yesypenko’s lawyer Dmitry Dinze, who has previously represented several Ukrainian political prisoners, including film director Oleg Sentsov.
Amnesty International: On 23 September, the Supreme Court of Sakha (Yakutia), approved shaman Aleksandr Gabyshev’s confinement to a psychiatric hospital and forcible treatment. He was then transferred to a “specialized” guarded hospital in Novosibirsk, 4,850 kilometres away by road. The shaman has long faced persecution for publicly criticizing President Vladimir Putin, including repeated arbitrary arrests, humiliating searches, and psychiatric confinement.
