Criminal case launched following attack on opposition YouTuber in Khabarovsk

2:44 pm, July 27, 2020

Police in Khabarovsk have launched a criminal case for battery in response to the July 23 attack on opposition YouTuber Dmitry Nizovtsev, following his coverage of local protests.

Nizovtsev, the host of the YouTube channel “Navalny’s Headquarters in Khabarovsk,” wrote about the case on Twitter.

“I went to the police. [In response] to my report they launched a criminal case under article 116 (battery). The bruise on my cheek was so happy about it that it turned yellow. [And] it has almost stopped hurting.”

Dmitry Nizovtsev / Twitter

Law enforcement later announced the launch of a criminal case for robbery after a seperate attack on “Open Russia” coordinator Sergey Naumov, who was also covering the ongoing protests in Khabarovsk. The suspects in the investigation have yet to be officially identified. However, Naumov claims to have identified his attacker as one of the security guards for the Khabarovsk Territory’s acting governor, Mikhail Degtyarev.

Dmitry Nizovtsev was beaten after live-streaming a march in support of jailed former governor Sergey Furgal in Khabarovsk on July 23. Navalny’s Khabarovsk headquarters maintains that the attack on their journalist was “revenge for reports from the rallies.”