Verkhovskiy: "Chernovik" case in Dagestan leads to closing the paper

The criminal case and trial of journalists of the Dagestan-based newspaper "Chernovik" will most probably result in closing the edition and conviction of its employees; and this is the problem of the current Russian anti-extremist legislation. This is the opinion of Alexander Verkhovskiy, director of the Information-Analytical Centre "Sova" and expert in wrongful application of the anti-extremist legislation.

"Now, a criminal case is on in Dagestan; and the trial of 'Chernovik' journalists has started. Their 'guilt' is that they had criticized the antiterrorist methods used by local law enforcement bodies. We all watch news from Dagestan and understand how counter-terror is executed there. Facts of abuse are obvious, when they attack dwelling houses by tanks," Mr Verkhovskiy said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his story, the journalists who wrote about this state of affairs "never called to anything and never supported any political part; however, this is not to their benefit, and the case gradually moves to closing the newspaper and their conviction."

In his opinion, the antiterrorist and anti-extremist domains of Russian legislation are closely connected, they intersect in a number of points; and the abuses that stem out of these intersections are telling both on media and NGOs.

In some cases, according to Mr Verkhovskiy, these abuses arise, where there is a "certain public threat." "The authority sees it, and, probably, some part of the society is ready to accept its actions; however very often these actions are excessive or directly break the law," he said.

"There was an outrageous case with St Petersburg 'Memorial' which, so to say, 'was searched in parallel' with the case, to which they had no relation," said Alexander Verkhovskiy, reminding about the search on December 4, 2008, of the office of the human rights organization "Memorial" in St Petersburg.