{"id":3390,"date":"2021-06-29T15:24:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T15:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/russian-police-launch-probe-into-attack-on-rfe-rl-contributor.html"},"modified":"2021-06-29T15:24:15","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T15:24:17","slug":"russian-police-launch-probe-into-attack-on-rfe-rl-contributor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/russian-police-launch-probe-into-attack-on-rfe-rl-contributor.html","title":{"rendered":"Russian Police Launch Probe Into Attack On RFE\/RL Contributor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Andrei

BLAGOVESHCHENSK, Russia — The Investigative Committee in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Blagoveshchensk has launched a probe into a physical attack on a contributor to RFE\/RL’s Siberia.Realities.<\/p>\n

Andrei Afanasyev told RFE\/RL that police informed him on June 29 that an investigation was launched into "hooliganism" 12 days ago. <\/p>\n

"I think the investigators are trying to avoid mentioning the word ‘journalist’ in the case and present everything like it was mere hooliganism, as if [the attack] has nothing to do with my professional activities," Afanasyev said, adding that a probe should have been launched into the "obstruction of journalistic activities."<\/p>\n

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Afanasyev was attacked and severely beaten by three unknown assailants on June 9.<\/p>\n

He says one of the attackers knocked him to the ground late at night near his apartment block by striking him with a metal bar. He says he was then beaten for about 10 minutes by all three assailants.<\/p>\n

Afanasyev believes the attack was retribution for a recent investigative report he filed about the Akhmat martial arts club in Blagoveshchensk. The manager of that club, Adam Magomadov, is a former leader of the Chechen diaspora community in Russia’s Far Eastern Amur region.<\/p>\n

Magomadov was arrested in April on an extortion charge.<\/p>\n

Afanasyev’s reporting revealed that Andrei Domashenkin, a local lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party, had founded the martial arts club.<\/p>\n

When questioned by RFE\/RL on June 10 about the attack against Afanasyev, Domashenkin said that "law enforcement is taking care of that case." He did not elaborate further.<\/p>\n

On June 14, Afanasyev filed a lawsuit with the local prosecutor\u2019s office against police in Blagoveshchensk, accusing them of failing to launch an investigation into the crime.<\/p>\n

RFE\/RL President Jamie Fly has urged Russian authorities to investigate the attack against Afanasyev. <\/p>\n

"Russian authorities must thoroughly investigate and hold accountable anyone involved in the attack on Andrei. Investigative journalism is not a crime,\u201d Fly said in a Twitter post on June 11.<\/p>\n

The Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based media-rights watchdog, also has called for an investigation into the attack.<\/p>\n

Siberia.Realities is a regional news outlet of RFE\/RL’s Russian Service.<\/p>\n