The prosecutor demanded to sentence journalist Prokopyev to 6 years in prison

The journalist was accused of publicly justifying terrorism in her copyrighted material, which aired in November 2018. It examined the case of a teenager from Arkhangelsk who blew himself up in the FSB building. The journalist suggested that the state itself is pushing young people to such radical actions. The investigation found that the position of the journalist exposes terrorism in a positive light. In the linguistic examination, the assumption was confirmed, a criminal case was instituted, and Prokopiev herself was put on the list of extremists, her accounts were blocked. The defense party believes that the results of the two examinations that were carried out in the case contradict each other. Prokopieva’s guilt has not been proved in them. Lawyers are asking to acquit Prokopyev.

Under article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which she is accused, the proposal of the prosecutor is close to the maximum. The most severe punishment under this article is up to seven years in prison. Two secret witnesses testified against Prokopieva. They accused her of radical views and calls for participation in rallies. According to the journalist, they can be a representative of the Ekho Moskvy radio station in the region and a representative of the Pskov branch of the Yabloko party.

The editor-in-chief of Echo of Moscow, Alexei Venediktov, called the case against Propokyeva political and is related to the fact that the materials covered the event that took place in the FSB building, writes Interfax. According to the editor-in-chief, the term requested by the prosecutor is an example of “demonstrative punishment”. Venediktov said that he considers the accused to be innocent: if the court has a different opinion, the verdict will be appealed.