Sergei Vilkov, a Saratov journalist with the "Public opinion" newspaper and anti-fa activist, has been acquitted of defamation charges this week. Source: Facebook.
We continue our partnership with OVD-Info, an NGO that monitors politically-motivated arrests in Russia. Every Friday, we bring you the latest information on freedom of assembly.
This week, a Saratov court acquitted journalist Sergei Vilkov in a case concerning alleged defamation of a member of the region’s legislative assembly. The suit was brought after Vilkov published a copy of a police report about a member of an organised crime gang on social media (and was subject to pressure for over two years). The personal data of the individual concerned matched those of Sergei Kurikhin, a deputy in Saratov’s regional legislative assembly. The judge decided there was a lack of evidence to prove the journalist’s guilt.
Danis Safargali, leader of the Altyn Urda (Golden Horde) movement, has been sentenced to three years in a general-regime prison colony. Safargali was charged with inciting hatred and hostility in connection with 15 publications on the VKontakte social media site, including a video “The Russian-Fascist Pseudo-Spirituality of the Russian Orthodox Church”. Safargali has also been charged with other offences (hooliganism, causing minor injury and assault) in connection with a fight during which one of his opponents kicked his pregnant wife in the stomach. We describe in detail Safargali’s case here.
