Russian journalist persecuted by gov’t commits self-immolation in front of police station
In the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, near the building of the local administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a local journalist died after setting herself on fire.
Novaya Gazeta reports the chief editor of the local independent newspaper Koza committed suicide. Press, Irina Slavina. Before her death, a post appeared on Slavina’s Facebook page: “I ask you to blame the Russian Federation for my death.”
An investigation has been launched into the case.
Slavina’s relatives came to the scene, people began to bring flowers. The building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and exits from the metro are cordoned off by the police.
Novaya Gazeta reports that Slavina was persecuted by law enforcement agencies.
The day before, she was searched in a case looking into “activities of an undesirable organization.”
As Slavina herself said, at 6 in the morning, 12 people entered her apartment with a gas cutter and a crowbar.
“I, naked, dressed under the supervision of a lady I did not know. A search was carried out. I was not allowed to call my lawyer”, she wrote, adding that her and her family’s personal equipment had been seized. “I was left without means of production.”
The journalist was fined several times under articles on “disrespect for the authorities” and for participating in protests due to posts on Facebook and for organizing a rally in memory of the murdered Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
