Press Release, 8.07.2020

Photo: Svetlana Prokopyeva after the trial

Lev Shlosberg, deputy of the Pskov Regional Assembly from Yabloko, expressed his opinion that journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva did not end up with the six years in the colony, as the Public Prosector had been asking, thanks to the wide publicity, which did not allow lawlessness to be committed behind closed doors. But the only fair decision would be to declare the Pskov journalist innocent and release her from criminal liability, Shlosberg said.

On July 6, the Second Western District Military Court made a verdict that Pskov-based journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva was guilty and sentenced to a large fine of 500,000 roubles and her laptop as an “instrument of crime” was confiscated in favor of the state. Prokopyeva was accused of publicly acquitting terrorism for writing the author’s column “Repression for the State,” where she reflected on the possible reasons for the act of 17-year-old bomber Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who blew himself up on the stairs of the Federal Security Service building in the Arkhangelsk region in the fall of 2018. The process over Proopyeva lasted for 18 months. Independent journalists, politicians and human rights activists in Russia and abroad monitored it.

The defence of the jounralist plans to appeal the verdict and seek recognition of the innocence of Svetlana Prokopyeva. It should be noted that Public Prosecutor requested for her six years in prison in a penal colony and a ban on journalism for four years.

Chairman of the Pskov branch of Yabloko Lev Shlosberg expressed his opinion about the sentence to the Pskov journalist on Ekho Moskvy radio in Pskov. Shlosberg said that it was thanks to the public outcry and the efforts of the Russian journalistic community that Svetlana Prokopyeva remained free, although she was found guilty.

“There were thoughts that the verdict could be near the upper limit [of imprisonment under such accusations]. I am sure that if millions of people had not followed the case of Svetlana Prokopyeva, if Russian public opinion had not interfered in this process, the court decision could, unfortunately, be different.

Russian journalists made very important work on the case. They revealed this process to the public, they made it understandable to people. This article, the column of Svetlana, was read by many thousands of people. Journalists revealed to the public specific features of the trial with custom-made examinations, false forms of expert opinions, and other details. They made possible significant public influence on this situation,” Shlosberg noted.

According to Lev Shlosberg, the verdict in the case of Svetlana Prokopyeva proved that the efforts and solidarity of caring citizens can change the system: “The most powerful pressure of civil society forced the police state to respond. We still cannot change this system and replace representatives of this system in the court. They could not acquit Svetlana Prokopyeva, because in their understanding this would mean the collapse of the foundations of the state system that was built in Russia. But the court’s decision means that civil society can influence the key decisions of the authorities.”

However, “it’s very important for us to understand that despite the relief that we all have experienced right now, an innocent person has been found guilty. It is important for us not to recognise the abnormal as normal.” Shlosberg also noted that “all the efforts that need to be made for acquittal of Svetlana Prokopyeva will be made. It will be the efforts of not only her lawyers and herself, it will be the efforts of the entire civil society in Russia.”

Photo: Svetlana Prokopyeva at the exit from the Pskov Regional Court. Pskov, July 6, 2020

On the evening of July 6, Svetlana Prokopyeva became a guest of the live broadcast Shlossberg Live on the Grazhdanin TV channel. The programme was also attended by Denis Kamalyagin and Vladimir Kapustinsky, Editor-in-Chief and correspondent of the Pskovskaya Guberniya publication, who were detained by the police on July 4 for participating in a series of single pickets in support of the journalist.

More than 100 people gathered in the building of the Pskov Regional Court and in front of it on the day of the trial. Many politicians, journalists and activists specially came from other cities: Chairman of the Yabloko party Nikolay Rybakov, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia from Yabloko Emilia Slabunova, journalist of Ekho Moskvy Tatyana Felgenhauer, Editor-in-Chief of Mediazona Sergei Smirnov, columnist for Novaya Gazeta and Moscow municipal deputy Ilya Azar, Coordinator of the NET movement and Moscow municipal deputy Yulia Galyamina, head of the municipal district Yakimanka in Moscow Andrei Morev, human rights activist Victoria Ivleva, coordinator of the Open Russia movement Andrei Pivovarov, as well as the journalists of federal and regional mass media, social activists and political activists.

Publications about the Svetlana Prokopyeva case and in its support have been published in hundreds of media in Russia and abroad.