Moscow police summon ‘Meduza’ correspondent Kristina Safonova, plan to draw up charges

On Wednesday, April 28, Meduza special correspondent Kristina Safonova gave the Moscow police a statement about her work at the protest rally on April 21. She later received a summons asking her to report to the police so they can draw up administrative charges.

Safonova gave her statement at the Molzhaninovsky District Police Department, and was accompanied by lawyer Alexey Pryanishnikov from the human rights group “Pravozaschita Otkrytki.” She explained to the police that she attended the rally as a journalist and provided them with necessary documents, including a copy of her editorial assignment.

After giving her statement, Safonova received a summons telling her to appear at the police department to be written up for violating the established procedure for organizing or holding a public event (Administrative Code article 20.2).

A Moscow police officer visited Kristina Safonova’s home on Tuesday. Later on, she was contacted by the Molzhaninovsky District Police Department and summoned to give a statement the following day. 

On April 27, police officers visited the homes of reporters from Dozhd, Ekho Moskvy, Komsomolskaya Pravda, and RTVI who had covered the solidarity protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny on April 21.

In the week after the protest, Russian police have arrested more than 100 people in cities across the country. More than 50 of these detentions have taken place in Moscow. Only 20 people were detained in the Russian capital on the day of the protest. The countrywide arrest count was more than 2,000 people, according to OVD-Info.