UPD: Postnikov, who served 28 days, did not wait for the third protocol and left the police. According to lawyer Georgy Krasnov, the journalist was taken to the police department without an official summons, so he did not participate in the document processing and simply left. 'When he is summoned in the prescribed manner for protocol processing, he will appear. Protocols of delivery and detention were not drawn up,' the lawyer clarified in a conversation with the publication 'Kommersant'. However, a source in law enforcement interpreted Vladislav Postnikov's departure from the police department as an escape before the start of the court session.
The police intend to draw up a protocol for displaying extremist symbols, reports the correspondent of It's My City. The previous two protocols, for which the journalist served administrative arrests, were drawn up under the same article. Currently, the police are taking Vladislav Postnikov to Yekaterinburg from Nizhny Tagil, where he was supposed to be released from the detention center today.
According to lawyer Georgy Krasnov, Postnikov will be tried today in the Academic District Court. The lawyer told 'Mediazona'* that law enforcement had previously 'identified' several old posts by the journalist, which they are now repeatedly charging him with.
For the first time, Vladislav was detained on the evening of February 28 near the 'Evening News' editorial office. The journalist was accused of displaying the logo of Navalny's headquarters**, which are considered 'extremist' in Russia, on Vladislav Postnikov's personal Telegram channel. On March 1, the Kirovsky District Court placed the editor-in-chief of 'Evening News' under administrative arrest for 14 days. For unknown reasons, he was sent to a detention center in Nizhny Tagil.
On March 14, when Postnikov was supposed to be released, the police detained him again and drew up a second protocol 'for displaying extremist symbols'. This time, the reason was two posts — the first mentioned an approved action by 'Another Russia'**, and the second featured a photo of the coordinator of Navalny's headquarters in Yekaterinburg, Alexey Gresko, with a badge in the form of the letter 'N' on his jacket lapel. The Leninsky Court of Nizhny Tagil arrested the journalist for 14 days.
The basis for the third protocol is currently unknown.
The editorial office of 'Evening News' believes that Postnikov is being persecuted for the publication's anti-war stance. In March 2022, the newspaper published a video of an anti-war protest in Yekaterinburg, where detainees were forced to kneel in the snow.
Since then, the editorial office and Postnikov himself have received at least 54 protocols for 'discrediting' the army due to the same news about this protest. They have been fined a total of one million rubles.
* Recognized as a 'foreign agent' in Russia.
** Recognized as 'extremist' organizations in Russia.
Photo: Ura.ru