(CJES/IFEX) – Gleb Ivanov, editor of the Astrakhan opposition weekly “Fakt i Kompromat”, was charged with three crimes by the Astrakhan prosecutor’s office and the interior affairs department for the Astrakhan region on 17 March 2007. Ivanov’s colleagues believe this repressive action was taken against the journalist over a statement by a subordinate of Tatyana […]
(CJES/IFEX) – Gleb Ivanov, editor of the Astrakhan opposition weekly “Fakt i Kompromat”, was charged with three crimes by the Astrakhan prosecutor’s office and the interior affairs department for the Astrakhan region on 17 March 2007.
Ivanov’s colleagues believe this repressive action was taken against the journalist over a statement by a subordinate of Tatyana Belova, the head of the Federal Registration Service’s department for the Astrakhan region, which was published in the 15 February edition of “Fakt i Kompromat”. The author of the statement accused Belova of sexual harassment. “We published that statement, which was forwarded to the prosecutor’s office, at the request of its author. Immediately after its publication, the man was accused of slander and we were witnesses in the case. But the prosecutor’s office closed the case. On 10 March, Gleb Ivanov’s apartment was searched and my apartment was searched and our home computers were impounded,” Tersky told CJES.
Tersky also said an investigator from the Astrakhan Kirovsky District Prosecutor’s Office had called Ivanov over on 17 March to take back his computer. When Ivanov showed up at the prosecutor’s office, he was charged on three counts.
“Gleb Ivanov was taken to the Kirovsky District Court, where Justice Viktoriya Koltsova was to consider the prosecutor’s office’s request to put the journalist in custody. But because the journalist did not have a lawyer, the hearing was rescheduled to 19 March,” said Tersky.
Tersky said three cases have been opened on the journalist. One, a fraud case, was closed six years ago due to a lack of evidence. The second case was opened in February 2006 over a fight in a café. Ivanov’s colleagues believe he was framed in that case as he did not take part in the fight but merely witnessed it. That case was also closed several months later after witnesses testified that Ivanov had not participated in the fight. However, the case has now been reopened. The third case is a libel case. “All the three cases carry a total punishment of 13 years in prison,” said Tersky.
Ivanov could not appear in court on 19 March as he had broken his leg the previous day. For this reason, the request to detain the journalist was declined.
Tersky believes the persecution of the journalist is connected to the fact that “Fakt i Kompromat” is the only publication in Astrakhan writing on the illegal actions taken by the region’s law enforcement agencies.
