Requested throughout a daily name with reporters on Tuesday whether or not he thought-about use of searches as “an issue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated “If we discuss it as a development — no, there isn’t a development.”
“If we discuss particular person circumstances, it’s obligatory to think about every one [separately],” he added.
Irina Slavina — whose actual identify was Irina Murakhtaeva — died after setting herself on hearth final week exterior the regional division of the inside ministry within the metropolis of Nizhny Novgorod, 400 kilometers (248 miles) east of Moscow.
In a Fb publish on October 1, the day earlier than her loss of life, Slavina stated her condo had been raided.
Based on Peskov, the Kremlin has no data on the circumstances round Slavina’s condo being searched. “I merely don’t have details about what was making the search – why, how,” he stated.
Slavina’s lawyer Evgeny Gubin advised CNN after her loss of life that she had been feeling the pressure of quite a few lawsuits filed towards her, guessing that she had been “placed on edge” by the “experiences, courtroom hearings, large fines for what she did not do.”
Calls develop for investigation
On Tuesday, an impartial Russian organisation, the Commerce Union of Journalists and Media Employees, revealed an open letter calling for an investigation into “the merciless crime of driving Irina Slavina to suicide.”
“We demand to right away examine the self-immolation of Irina Slavina and punish these chargeable for driving the journalist to suicide,” stated the assertion that was addressed to the Inside Ministry, the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor’s Workplace of Russia.
Requested concerning the Journalists’ Union enchantment, Peskov replied “sadly we have not seen it.”
The EU’s lead spokesperson for overseas affairs and safety coverage, Peter Stano, has additionally known as for an investigation, saying Monday that Slavina’s loss of life “must be totally investigated additionally in mild of pressures exerted on her for her work & actions,” in a publish on Twitter.
Russia final 12 months launched a collection of web and media legal guidelines that drew considerations from activists round potential censorship and surveillance.
The brand new legal guidelines allowed authorities to jail or tremendous those that unfold faux information or “disrespect” authorities officers on-line, and mandated the creation of an impartial nationwide web, which critics warned may make it simpler for the federal government to dam entry to politically delicate content material.
CNN’s Sharon Braithwaite and Niamh Kennedy contributed to this report.
