Law enforcers conduct searched at "Caucasian Knot" journalist

Today, policemen have searched the home of Vyacheslav Yaschenko, a "Caucasian Knot" journalist, and took away his laptop and storage media. They explained that the search was conducted within the case of the activist, Evgeny Kochegin*, accused of spreading fakes about the Russian Army.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Evgeny Kochegin* is a former coordinator of the Volgograd office of the oppositionist, Alexei Navalny**. The office stopped working even before Navalny's** offices were recognized as extremist organizations. Before the elections to the State Duma, Kochegin* created the socio-political movement "Dozor" Volgograd Anti-Corruption Office. In May 2022, the court arrested Kochegin* in absentia, suspecting him of spreading fake news about the Russian Army. He himself treats his criminal case as a prosecution for his public and political activities. On September 9, 2022, law enforcers came to search the homes of doctors from Volgograd, Angelina Neroznik and her husband Sergey, because of their friendship with Kochegin. In September 2023, the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) declared Kochegin* as a foreign agent.

"The search order ... stated that I was a witness; and the search was related to a criminal case initiated against the activist, Evgeny Kochegin*, about fakes about the Russian Army," Yaschenko has stated, noting that the search was conducted without a court order.

"It has been established that Vyacheslav Yaschenko was the person possessing information about Kochegin's* whereabouts. Investigators have reasons to believe that at Yaschenko's residence may contain mobile phones and computers, in which negotiations and correspondence were conducted, confirming the crime committed by Kochegin*," the search warrant has stated.

According to Yaschenko, law enforcers behaved correctly.

"But they turned all the flat upside down; my wife was worried and was in a semi-fainting state due to the suffered stress," the journalist has added.

The law enforcers also tried to interrogate Yaschenko, but he refused to testify.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**Navalny's offices are recognized as extremist organizations and banned in Russia. Alexei Navalny is a founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (known as FBK), an NCO that is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of NCOs performing functions of a foreign agent. The NCO is also recognized by a court as extremist and banned in the territory of Russia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 18, 2024 at 10:54 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.