Roskomnadzor demanded to remove from the site Znak.com two publications about the investigation of MBH Media

Roskomnadzor sent to the Znak.com editorial office, notices demanding to remove from the site two notes about the investigation by MBH Media, a project by Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

We are talking about publications that came out back in January 2020. In one of them, it was said that the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, on New Year’s holidays, flew across Finland on the planes of a special flight unit “Russia”, which cost budget of 8 million rubles. Another note spoke about the co-founder of the Russian Athos Society, businessman Konstantin Goloshchapov, who owns the Tahko Tours cottage village in the Tahko ski resort. The cost of the recreation center is estimated at about 13 million euros, and it operates at a loss. The businessman is called “the massage therapist of Russian President Vladimir Putin” because, according to journalists, Goloshchapov helped the future head of state to heal a sports injury during his active judo training.

Roskomnadzor, in a letter addressed to Znak.com, refers to the request of the General Prosecutor’s Office of August 3, 2021. She considers it necessary to restrict access to information for “organizations whose activities are recognized as undesirable.” At the end of June, the Prosecutor General’s Office declared four European funds associated with Khodorkovsky undesirable.

Roskomnadzor also began to block materials written on the investigations of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s project by Dozhm and the Magadan edition of Vesma. They also received relevant notifications from the department.

The letter to Dozhd says that access to the material on the sale of the leading Rossiya 1 to Naila Asker-zade of a section on Rublevka worth 2.8 billion rubles will be limited at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The news was written based on the publications of Open Media. It also contained two references to facts disclosed by the Project. The notice indicates that the material was written with a link to an undesirable organization. Which one is not specified.

The blocking also applies to the publication on the real estate of Alina Kabaeva’s family worth billions of rubles, informs “Rain”.

A week ago, at the request of Roskomnadzor, Znak.com had to delete 15 notes about the investigations of the Project, which was also recognized this year as an undesirable organization.

Similar notifications from Roskomnadzor received Rain, Medusa, The Village and The Bell. The publications also removed publications about the Project’s investigations. Among them were materials about Vladimir Putin’s friend Svetlana Krivonogikh, Yuri Kovalchuk, Nail Asker-zade, Arkady Rotenberg, Ramzan Kadyrov, Dmitry Medvedev and other well-known Russian politicians and businessmen.

The Project was declared an “undesirable organization” in July. This status prohibits the organization from doing business in Russia. For cooperation with an “undesirable” organization (including an unofficial one), administrative punishment is threatened: ordinary citizens – a fine of up to 15 thousand rubles, officials – up to 50 thousand, organizations – up to 100 thousand. Criminal proceedings can be initiated for multiple violations. For financing an “undesirable” organization, punishment is imposed from 1 to 5 years in a penal colony, and for organizing activities in Russia – from 2 to 6 years in a penal colony.

The editor-in-chief of the “Project” Roman Badanin is in the status of a suspect in a criminal libel case. At the end of June, the newspaper’s journalists were searched.