In March this year Belyanchikov, editor of the newspaper TVR Panorama, published a social media correspondence between his some of his readers in Russia and Ukraine. The correspondence, which was made with the consent of the participants, included critical remarks on Russian conduct in the Crimea. The prosecutor’s office in Petrozavodsk found the correspondence to be extremist and full of false and unverified information and sent the editor an official warning.
Belyanchikov did not accept the warning and sued the prosecutor’s office.
“There was nothing in that material besides opinions, anxiety and fear,” Belyanchikov explains on TVR Panorama’s web site. “There were no insults or appeals for extremist actions.” «Such a zealous behavior from the procurator’s side can only be explained as an attempt to enforce political censorship, to limit the freedom of speech and freedom of opinion.”
The court of Petrozavodsk agreed with Belyanchikov that there were no signs of extremism in the published correspondence. In her closing remarks Judge Tamara Semerikova defended journalists’ right to do their job:
“In this case it is very important to maintain the delicate balance between protecting the interests of society and state on one side and information on the other.” “If there is no freedom of speech, it will be like what we went through 20-30 years ago. You cannot deny a journalist to be engaged in his constitutionally permitted activity. That is very important”.
