Russian News Editor Commit Suicide

 

Russia – A Russian news editor have recently committed suicide by burning herself alive according to the news in front of interior ministry office in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod. She was the editor-in-chief of KozaPress news website. She is Irina Slavina.

“A Russian news editor has died after setting herself on fire in front of an interior ministry office in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod………….. Irina Slavina was editor-in-chief of the small Koza Press news website.”(BBC)

She was suspected of being part of the group Open Russia and thus authorities search her flat to find things related to the group. Her laptop, phone and flash drives were seized.

“  She was one of seven people in Nizhny Novgorod whose homes were searched on Thursday, apparently as part of an inquiry into Open Russia….. In a Facebook post on Thursday, she said 12 people had forced their way into her family's flat and seized flash drives, her laptop and her daughter's laptop as well as phones belonging to both her and her husband.” (BBC)

What is Open Russia?

Open Russia is a movement or organization founded by exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky which aim according to the information in the internet, is to strengthen Russian citizens that promote democracy and human rights. In 2017, according to the information in the internet, the organization was listed among the undesirable organization in Russia by Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media or Roskomnadzor.

“Undesirable Organization” is a criminal act on Russia under such similar name – “Undesirable Organization Law” wherein it seeks to crackdown organization that undermines Russia’s government.

Irina Slavina was suspected to be part of the Open Russia group which was listed as an “undesirable organization” in Russia.

“The day before, Slavina's house was searched as part of a criminal case under the article on the activities of an undesirable organization (Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which was initiated against Mikhail Iosilevich. The security forces took away the electronic equipment from Slavina, then the journalist was taken for interrogation. Following the raid, Slavina wrote "They were looking for brochures, leaflets, invoices of Open Russia, possibly an icon with the face of Mikhail Khodorkovsky... I don't have any of this", and that they seized "flash drives, my laptop, my daughter's laptop, the computer, phones — not just mine, but also my husband's — a bunch of my notebooks that I scribbled on during press conferences. I'm left without the means of production.” (Wikipedia)

“In her last post on Facebook, Slavina asked “the Russian Federation to be blamed for her death” (Wikipedia)

“Irina Slavina earlier wrote on Facebook: "I ask you to blame the Russian Federation for my death."”(BBC)

The main point : Irina Slavina a Russian news editor was suspected to be part of the Open Russia group that was listed among the undesirable organization in Russia wherein she committed suicide by burning herself alive.