Russia: Attack Targets Investigative Journalist

Washington, D.C.

In response to the assault against journalist and environmental activist Grigory Pasko in the Russian city of Barnaul, Freedom House issued the following statement:
 
“Russian authorities show little interest in seriously investigating threats and attacks against journalists and civic activists, such as the beating and threats against Gigroy Pasko,” said Robert Herman, vice-president for international programs. “New measures limiting freedom of expression and association, such as the ‘foreign agent law,’ only create a sense of impunity for the perpetrators.”
 
Background

Pasko was beaten on September 27 by two unknown men in Barnaul, the capital of Russia’s Altai Republic, and told to leave the city. Pasko, who leads a Czech-based civic organization “Community of Investigative Journalists,” was in Barnaul to conduct a workshop on investigative reporting for local journalists. Barnaul’s local nationalist online pamphlet Monavista reported on his trip, calling him “traitor” and “spy.” On the day of the attack the police appeared at the venue of the workshop to check the participants’ passports. Pasko was jailed in 2001 on fabricated espionage charges after he reported on the Russian navy’s dumping of radioactive waste in the Sea of Japan.

Russia is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2016, Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2016, Not Free in Freedom on the Net 2015, and receives a score of 6.50 on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 as the worst possible score, in Nations in Transit 2016.