Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights asks that investigation into Shlosberg attack be overseen at highest level

2 September 2014

Source: HRO.org (info)
On 1 September Mikhail Fedotov, chair of Russia’s Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, sent a letter to Aleksandr Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, requesting that the criminal investigation into the attack on Lev Shlosberg, editor of the newspaper Pskovskaya guberniya and head of the local Pskov branch of the Yabloko party, be overseen by him personally.

According to the statement published on the Presidential Council’s website, "The Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights has learned from media reports that Lev Shlosberg, editor of the newspaper Pskovskaya guberniya, was attacked by unknown assailants in Pskov. There are grounds for believing that this attack may be linked to Mr Shlosberg’s activities as a journalist and civic activist. If this is the case, then a serious offence has been committed under Article 144 Section 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, or even a particularly serious offence under Article 277 of said Code.” 

According to police reports, Shlosberg was attacked at around 10 p.m. on Friday evening outside a house at the intersection of Oktyabrksy Prospekt and Ulitsa Metallistov in Pskov.

Shlosberg was hospitalised after the beating. A criminal investigation into the incident is currently underway under Article 115, Section 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (deliberate infliction of minor bodily harm motivated by hooliganism, carrying a maximum penalty of two years in prison).

Translated by Joanne Reynolds
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