Searches at "Base" were conducted in connection with the case of information leak by police officers

Today, security forces came to search the office of the Telegram channel "Baza", editor-in-chief Gleb Trifonov was taken in for questioning. The Investigative Committee reported a criminal case, in which searches were conducted in Moscow and Krasnodar Krai, in particular, in the case of police officers transferring information for publication in the Telegram channel.

The editor-in-chief of "Baza" Gleb Trifonov was taken in for questioning as part of a criminal case on abuse of office (Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), "Baza" reported today. As part of the case, searches were conducted in the editorial office of "Baza" and Trifonov's home.

Boxes of documentation were taken out of the editorial office of "Baza", and phones and computers were also seized. Several employees of "Baza" were taken away for questioning.

Trifonov's lawyer Alexei Mikhalchik reported that "despite the fact that it was possible to find out who is handling the criminal case in which Gleb Trifonov is being questioned, he has still not been provided with information about the journalist's whereabouts." "And they are effectively limiting his defense from the possibility of joining the criminal case. At the moment, the period of administrative detention has expired and in fact we are talking about illegal restriction of freedom of Gleb Trifonov," Baza quotes Mikhalchik as saying.

Against the backdrop of the search in the editorial office of Baza, the Investigative Committee of Russia reported that a criminal case has been opened on abuse of power by police officers (Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

"In the Krasnodar and Krasnoyarsk Territories, as well as in the Belgorod Region, the investigation, in cooperation with operational units, revealed facts of illegal transfer of restricted information. Subsequently, this information was published on one of the channels of the Telegram messenger. As part of the criminal case, searches were conducted in Moscow, the Krasnodar and Krasnoyarsk Territories, as well as in the Belgorod Region. "Items and documents relevant to the investigation have been seized," the department's Telegram channel said.

The department also emphasized that "the individuals who illegally transmitted the information, as well as their accomplices, are being identified." The specific Telegram channel was not named in the publication.

The Baza Telegram channel, which is registered with Roskomnadzor, has 1,650,834 subscribers. "Baza" publishes information about incidents and conflicts in Russia and abroad, in particular, videos from crime scenes. For example, "Baza" was one of the first to post footage of an attack on a security officer in Nalchik. "Baza" also cites information from sources. without naming them, this Telegram channel is often one of the first to publish information.

We also recall that in early June, Investigative Committee and police officers conducted searches in the Yekaterinburg editorial office of the Ura.ru news agency in connection with the transfer of official information to them from the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs. Three journalists were interrogated and then released as part of a case of abuse of office against unidentified police officers. The agency's Sverdlovsk editor Denis Allayarov was later detained a second time on suspicion of bribing a police officer, Kommersant writes.

Lawyer Georgy Krasnov explained to the publication at the time that the editor and journalists were detained as part of a criminal case initiated by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation against unidentified police officers under paragraph "e" of Part 3 of Article 286 (abuse of office due to selfish or other personal interest) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It was alleged that the security forces allegedly found police incident reports on the journalists' computers, on the basis of which they prepared materials.