Week-ending 13 November 2020
On 11 November 2020 Nizhny Novgorod journalist Aleksandr Pichugin, administrator of the Telegram channel ‘Sorokin Khvost’ and chief editor of the new website Reporyor-NN,’ was fined 300,000 roubles for distributing allegedly ‘fake news’ about the coronavirus under Article 207.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (‘public dissemination of knowingly false information that poses a threat to the life and safety of citizens’). On 10 November 2020 the Committee to Protect Journalists had called for all charges against Pichugin to be dropped.
CPJ, Tuesday, 10 November 2020: Russian authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalist Aleksandr Pichugin and allow him to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Tomorrow, a court in the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod is scheduled to announce the verdict and sentence in the trial of Pichugin, the chief editor of the independent commentary and politics website Reportyor-NN and administrator of the political commentary and satire Telegram channel “Sorokin Khvost,” according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. Pichugin is charged with “public dissemination of knowingly false information that poses a threat to the life and safety of citizens,” and yesterday prosecutors requested a suspended sentence of two years and six months, according to the journalist and those reports.
RAPSI, Wednesday, 11 November 2020: A court has fined journalist and admin of one of the Telegram channels Alexander Pichugin 300,000 rubles ($4,000) for distributing fake news about coronavirus, RAPSI has learnt from the United press service of the Nizhny Novgorod Region’s courts of general jurisdiction. The man has been found guilty of public distribution under the guise of truth of knowingly false information posing a threat to human life and safety. According to case papers, in mid-April 2020, Pichugin posted false information on the infection spread in Russia on his Telegram channel having 1,306 subscribers. Over 717 internet users saw the publication. Thus, the defendant’s actions could lead to the misbalance of living conditions of people.ws about coronavirus, RAPSI has learnt from the United press service of the Nizhny Novgorod Region’s courts of general jurisdiction. The man has been found guilty of public distribution under the guise of truth of knowingly false information posing a threat to human life and safety.
RFE/RL, Wednesday, 11 November 2020: A Russian court is expected to issue a verdict in a case against an independent journalist centered around a satirical post that criticized the Russian Orthodox Church over its failure to protect believers from COVID-19. Ahead of the November 11 verdict in the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Russian authorities should stop harassing and pursuing legal action against blogger Aleksandr Pichugin over satire. “Authorities should drop all the charges against journalist Aleksandr Pichugin, and ensure that no one faces criminal convictions over their commentary on events of public interest,” said Gulnoza Said, the New York-based media rights group’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. Pichugin, the chief editor of the independent commentary website Reportyor-NN and administrator of a political commentary and satire Telegram channel, is charged with “public dissemination of knowingly false information that poses a threat to the life and safety of citizens.” The case stems from an article Pichugin published in April on his Telegram channel, in which he criticized the Russian Orthodox Church not taking safety measures to protect congregants from COVID-19.
