"Mediazona" editor-in-chief released

Today, Sergey Smirnov, the editor-in-chief of the "Mediazona", has left the special detention centre in Sakharovo in Moscow, after 15 days of administrative arrest under the case of calling people to participate in a rally for Alexei Navalny.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Sergey Smirnov was detained in Moscow on January 30. A protocol was drawn up against him on participation in the action in support of Navalny on January 23. On February 3, the court found Smirnov guilty of violating the rules for holding a rally and sentenced him to 25 days of administrative arrest. On February 8, the court reduced the term from 25 to 15 days. The journalist's defence insisted that the post in a social network, which law enforcers and the court treated as a call to participate in the rally, was just a repost of a joke.

Today, Sergey Smirnov, the editor-in-chief of the "Mediazona", has been set free from the special detention centre in Sakharovo, Yegor Skovoroda, a "Mediazona" editor, has informed in his Telegram channel.

Let us remind you that immediately after the detention of the editor-in-chief of the "Mediazona", the "Syndicat-100" Association of Federal and Regional Media demanded to release Smirnov and his colleagues. According to "Syndicate-100", during the protests on January 23 and 31, as well as on February 2, on the day of the trial of the opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, dozens of journalists were detained by law enforcers. The "Syndicate-100" is a community of independent Russian media, created in March 2020. Currently, the "Syndicate-100" unites more than 30 federal and regional editions.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 18, 2021 at 11:46 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.