A court in Moscow received 12 administrative reports on a single day — June 8 — alleging press freedom violations, the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported.
Among those charged are the Russian business daily Kommersant, accused of spreading “false information of public significance,” and the media holding company SIM, suspected of distributing information about a banned extremist organization.
Several individuals were charged under the same false-information statute, including RusNews editor in chief Sergei Ainbinder, Moskovskiye Novosti editor in chief Alexander Berezkin, and journalist Elizaveta Seryogina, who is associated with the Telegram channel “Besposhchadnyi piarchik” (“The Ruthless PR Man”).
The initial hearings in these cases are scheduled for June 29 and July 1. The specific allegations against each outlet and journalist have not been disclosed.
Publishing “false information of public significance” carries a maximum fine of up to 500,000 rubles; distributing content from a banned extremist organization carries a maximum of 50,000 rubles.
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