MOSCOW, Oct. 18The prosecutor's office is initiating a criminal case for obstructing journalistic activities after vandals painted the entrance and front door of the apartment of military correspondent Valentin Trushnin, according to the Telegram channel of the capital's prosecutor's office.
Earlier, the Izvestia website reported that on October 18, a pentagram with a pig’s head was found at the door of Trushnin, who was on a business trip in Israel. In addition, “shortly before the incident, subscribers from Ukrainian numbers sent messages to the journalist with threats and insults, as well as with personal data of the correspondent and his family members.” The police detained the suspects, a girl and a guy, and criminal cases were opened on vandalism (Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and threats to kill (119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the capital's main headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.
The capital's prosecutor's office emphasized that since Trushnin is a war correspondent and covers the progress of the military action, «there are sufficient grounds to believe that criminal actions are related to his legitimate professional journalistic activity and are aimed at obstructing it.»
“»In this regard, the prosecutor of the Troitsky and Novomoskovsky administrative districts sent materials to the investigative body to resolve the issue of criminal prosecution under Article 144 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists). The results of the procedural check, including the decision to initiate criminal case under Article 144 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, under the control of the prosecutor,» the message says.