Location: Russia             
Date: May 17, 2022

Human rights defender and citizen journalist Irina Danilovich was mistreated and threatened while in the custody of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). Days after she went missing on April 29, 2022, Irina was charged and detained for two months. The missing journalist was found by her lawyer on May 11, 2022, in a pre-trial detention center in Simferopol, where she was kept in a cell with no bathroom and interrogated about her alleged connections to foreign intelligence agencies.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism calls on the authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea to immediately release Irina and drop legal proceedings against her. 

For over two weeks family and friends looked for Irina who was abducted seemingly by the state on April 29 while returning from Koktebel, where she works as a nurse, to her home in the village of Vladyslavivka. On the same day, the journalist’s house was raided by six unidentified men, said her parents. The raid party seized electronic devices, including mobile phones and laptops, books and some documents after conducting a thorough search of the premises. The family was told the journalist is being detained on allegations of sending information to a foreign country but no charges were disclosed. 

On May 2, Irina’s family filed a report with the Crimean prosecutor about her disappearance. Her lawyer also wrote an appeal to the Russian Prosecutor's Office of Crimea seeking details of her apparent state abduction or alleged detention. 

Days later, on May 11, Irina’s lawyer Ayder Azamatov managed to locate the journalist at a pre-trial detention center in occupied-Crimea’s capital Simferopol. But he was not allowed to see her until two days later. Irina informed her lawyer that from April 29 till May 7 she was kept in a basement at the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) headquarters in the capital. 

Local media reported Irina had been detained on suspicion of carrying illegal explosives. On May 7, the journalist was produced before the Kyiv District Court in Simferopol and charged for illegally handling explosives under the Russian criminal code. If convicted, she faces up to eight years in prison and a fine of up to 100,000 rubles ($1,560). She is being held pre-trial for two months, according reports quoting Azamatov. 

Azamatov and his client both maintain Irina is innocent and is being framed by the FSB. They maintain that while in custody, Irina was forced to sign documents she was not allowed to read on the promise that would be released. She was also made to record a video stating no methods to influence her were employed.

The journalist told her lawyer that she was interrogated using a polygraph for three days and questioned about her alleged connections to foreign intelligence agencies. According to local news reports, there was no toilet in her cell. Instead she was escorted to such facilities twice a day. The journalist was reportedly fed only once a day while in detention and forced to sign a confession by FSB investigators. “They put a bag over her head and offered her a choice - a forest or a prison. They threatened to take her to Mariupol, where she would be lost,” the Ukrainian media project Graty reported. 

Irina’s captives questioned her about links to the media, Crimean activists, lawyers and relatives of political prisoners. The journalist maintained her innocence and pleaded not guilty. 

FSB investigators claim that 200 grams of TNT explosives were found in Irina’s purse. Medical supplies that she carries as a nurse were also treated with suspicion and the journalist is accused of intending to use needles as weapons. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned for Irina Danilovich’s safety and well-being. Her seeming abduction, the raid at the family home, and delayed disclosure of charges were all in violation of her rights as a journalist and as a citizen. Russian authorities in Crimea must allow members of the press to do their work safely and without interference. We call for Irina’s immediate release. All baseless legal charges against her must be dropped and the mistreatment she was subjected to in prison must be investigated.

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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