Person of the Week: Sergei Reznik

posted 25 Jan 2015, 09:29 by Rights in Russia [ updated 16 Feb 2015, 10:48 ]

On 22 January 2015, journalist and blogger Sergei Reznik was convicted in Rostov-on-Don of insulting a state official and making a false statement. He was sentenced to three years in prison and a two-year ban on working as a journalist after his release. Sergei Reznik has been in prison since November 2013 serving an 18 month sentence for alleged bribery, making a false statement and insulting a state official, and was due to have been released in May 2015. His conviction and sentencing has been condemned by, among others, the OSCE, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the Russian Union of Journalists.

Reporters Without Borders writes: "Reznik became a target for the local elites in Rostov-on-Don because he constantly wrote about their alleged corruption. His first trial, at which he was convicted of bribery, making a false statement and insulting a state representative, was marked by procedural irregularities and violations of his rights."

For more information see 'OSCE Representative denounces conviction of independent journalist and blogger in Russia', OSCE, 22 January 2015; 'Jailed journalist given another three years in prison', Reporters Without Borders, 23 January 2015; 'Russia: the IFJ and the EFJ call for the release of Sergei Reznik', International Federation of Journalists, 23, January 2015; 'Imprisoned Russian journalist sentenced to new three-year jail term', Committee to Protect Journalists, 22 January 2015

Photo: RFE/RL

Each week Rights in Russia highlights the activities of a human rights defender, civil rights activist, victim of alleged human rights abuses, or alleged perpetrator of such abuses

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