The Sovetsky District Court of Orel imposed two years and six months of suspended sentences on journalists Vladimir Panfilov and Artem Prokhorov in an extortion case. A correspondent for Oryol News reported this from the meeting room.
Prokhorov was the administrator of the city news site Orlets, which was blocked after the start of the war, along with their group on VKontakte. 66-year-old Panfilov hosted the “Resume” program about regional politics on his YouTube channel.
In August 2022, both were sent to a pre-trial detention center, accused of extorting one hundred thousand rubles from Oryol businessman Vladimir Tilman for refusing to publish incriminating evidence against him (Part 2 of Article 163 of the Criminal Code).
The journalists denied the accusations and said that the businessman himself offered them to release videos about himself for money, after they refused the offer of “incomprehensible personalities <…> make a run [on Tilman].» In 2018, Panfilov already spoke out in support of Tilman when he had a conflict with his business partners.
After the decision was announced, Prokhorov said that they would not appeal the verdict, since it did not provide for a real term. Both journalists still disagree with the accusation.