Russia: CFWIJ Demands Journalist Natalia Tyshkevich’s Immediate Release
Location: Russia
Date: April 6, 2022
Former DOXA editor Natalia Tyshkevich was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest over a social media post in 2017. The journalist was accused of displaying symbols of banned organizations. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) calls on Russian authorities to end relentless legal harassment against former editors of DOXA. Natalia must be released immediately.
A Moscow court has appointed Natalia Tyshkevich, former editor of the student magazine DOXA, for 15 days of administrative arrest under an article on displaying symbols of banned organizations (Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) over a post from 2017. According to her lawyer Alexander Aldaev, police found symbols of the "Ukrainian Insurgent Army", a pro-Ukrainian organization recognized by Russia, in Tyszkiewicz's post. However, the journalist claimed the symbol was only depicted in the post.
On April 1, the prosecutor requested two years of corrective labor for the former DOXA editors Armen Aramyan, Natalia Tyshkevich, Alla Gutnikova, and Vladimir Metelkin. According to the news sources, the charges stemmed from a video from the DOXA website released during nationwide protests in support of opposition figure Alexei Navalny in January 2021. The video titled "They Can't Defeat Youth" was expressed for students who were punished by educational institutions for attending the rallies.
According to the defense, the alleged videos were subsequently deleted at the request of Roskomnadzor, the federal service for supervision of communications in Russia. There was no involvement of teenagers in illegal actions. Over 250 representatives of the international academic community signed an open letter in support of DOXA journalists, calling the allegations “ridiculous”.
Following the trial, Nathasha was taken from the court and detained for "demonstrating the Ukrainian emblem", for the protocol was drawn up before the war. She spent the night at the police department in the Tverskoy district in Moscow. The verdict is expected to be heard on April 12, 2022.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned about the Kremlin’s increased crackdown on the independent press and its attempts to control channels of information. We stand in solidarity and demand an immediate release of Natalia. We denounce the legal proceedings against journalists in Russia. We applaud our brave colleagues in the country who are striving to bring the truth to the world despite heightened censorship.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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