The Investigative Committee again refused to open a case due to the persecution of journalist Slavina, who, after a search, committed self-immolation at the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

The Investigative Committee for the Nizhny Novgorod Region again refused to initiate a case due to the persecution of the editor-in-chief of the Koza.Press publication Irina Slavina, who set herself on fire in the fall of 2020 near the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. About it it says in the response of the department of the organization “Committee against Torture”.

The organization’s human rights activists asked to investigate the pressure of the security forces on the journalist under articles on obstruction of journalistic activities (Article 144 of the Criminal Code), abuse of office (Article 285 of the Criminal Code) and their abuse (Article 286 of the Criminal Code).

As a reminder, on October 2, 2020 Irina Slavina set on fire himself near the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Nizhny Novgorod. Before that, she wrote on Facebook: “I ask you to blame the Russian Federation for my death.” The day before, investigators of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation conducted a search in the journalist’s apartment, during which they seized personal belongings and equipment. It was reported that the search was carried out as part of a criminal investigation into cooperation with Open Russia, in which the journalist was a witness.

Later, relatives and friends of Slavina sought to initiate a criminal case on bringing the journalist to suicide. In November, Vladimir Karpukhin, the investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, refused them.

Investigators refer to “a conscious desire to die” and “mixed personality disorder”, which the journalist was diagnosed with during the posthumous examination. At the same time, human rights activists talked about violations during its conduct.

In June, the prosecutor’s office of the Nizhny Novgorod region acknowledged the search of Irina Slavina’s house, after which she committed suicide, was legal.