Russian police detain one journalist & question another in early-morning house calls over ‘participation’ in pro-Navalny rallies

Two journalists, from liberal media outlets, were questioned by police at their homes in Moscow on Tuesday morning, apparently over their presence at protests held last week in support of jailed opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

The state-owned Echo of Moscow reported that one of its reporters, Oleg Ovcharenko, had been taken into custody. The broadcaster’s editor, Alexey Venediktov, wrote on Telegram that Ovcharenko had covered last week’s demonstrations.

“He now has to appear at the police station and present his press card and confirmation of an editorial assignment,” Venediktov said. The editor added that seven correspondents from the outlet had been working at the unauthorized mass gatherings, and said he'd told his staff to “prepare yourselves.”

Meanwhile, popular TV news channel Dozhd also announced on Tuesday morning that  its correspondent Alexei Korostelev had also been detained, but later released.

His employers said he was asked questions about his work at the rally held in Moscow last Wednesday. The outlet insists he was accredited and was there on editorial assignment. His colleagues say he will have to attend another meeting with officers later this week.

The protests last week drew thousands to the streets in cities across Russia to demand Navalny’s release from prison and express concern over his health, which was said to have deteriorated in hospital. However, it later emerged that the anti-corruption campaigner had been seen by private doctors before the rallies had even begun.

Despite nearly half a million online signatures backing the actions, only a small fraction of those who had pledged support turned up on the day. Crowds were said to be in the tens of thousands, rather than the hundreds of thousands seen at similar actions after Navalny was arrested in January. Authorities are currently empowered to disperse mass gatherings that take place without prior authorization, under Russia's Covid-19 laws.

A row over journalists’ alleged involvement in protests broke out earlier this year when the editor-in-chief of opposition-leaning news site Mediazona was jailed for 25 days for sharing a post online that featured details of planned marches. The editorial boards of some of the country’s best-read newspapers, such as Kommersant and RBK, slammed the court ruling and claimed that the “unlawful detention of journalists is an obstacle to their professional activities.”

A number of outlets reported that their employees, including those wearing high-visibility press vests, had been targeted for detentions at the demonstrations earlier this year, with video emerging of at least one journalist appearing to be hit with a truncheon before falling to the ground.

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