Human rights activists of the initiative “The Crimean Human Rights Field Mission” stated that the first opening of the criminal procedure under the article 280.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regarding journalists of the “Center of Investigative Reporting” is a direct interference into freedom of expression.
According to the opinion of the deputy chairman of the CHRFM of Ukraine Olga Skripnik, the authorities of Crimea can not apply the Russian legislation to the Ukrainian media. “The Center of Investigative Reporting” was registered by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and is located in Kiev, therefore it is the Ukrainian media. It isn’t clear on what ground the Russian legislation is applied to the Ukrainian media, because it violates the principle of territorial jurisdiction,” Skripnik thinks.
She is sure that application of norm on separatism because of an article in the Ukrainian media also indicates pressure on freedom of speech and harassing of Ukrainian journalists.
The deputy chairman of the CHRFM of Russia Dmitriy Makarov claims that the article 280.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is formulated so loose that any discussion of boarders of the Russian Federation or future of its territories can fall under it. At the same time, the punishment for violation of the article can be up to imprisonment in a term up to 5 years. “Doubts regarding validity of presence of one or another constituent entity in the Russian Federation fall under this wording. Please note, it involves exactly the comments on this subject but not an armed resistance, or an attempted of a rebellion,” Makarov said.
Officers of the Russian FSB conducted searches in parents’ apartments of Anna Andriyevskaya and Natalya Kokorina on March 13. According to the Kokorina’s lawyer Dzhemil Temishev, the FSB of Russia opened a criminal procedure regarding the journalist of “The Center of Investigative Reporting” Anna Andriyevskaya. The procedure is opened under the article 280.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Public appeals to actions aimed at violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation”. As Anna Andriyevskaya informs, her article about the battalion “Krym” became the cause for opening of the procedure. The journalist claims that there are no appeals for separation of the peninsula there. After the search, Natalya Kokorina was detained and taken to the FSB building, where she was interrogated as a witness and was released six hours later.
