There Russia orders the arrest in absentia of Rai journalists Simone Traini and Stefania Battistiniwho has been under accusation for weeks for “illegally crossing the border” from Ukraine, and outside the territory of the Russian Federation after reporting on the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk in the summer. According to Russian media, a court in the Kursk region requested his extradition to Russia and the arrest of Battistini and Traini for “illegal crossing” of the border and ordered “preventive custody” on Russian territory or “from the moment of extraction”.
Battistini, Traini and the reporters wanted by Moscow
Battistini is the Rai journalist who first documented the Ukrainian offensive in the Russian Kursk region, and since 12 September she has been officially wanted by Moscow. The journalist was included in a list that also includes the operator Simone Traini and other journalists from foreign newspapers. They are all wanted for illegally crossing the border between Ukraine and Russia.
On the list, according to what was learned in Moscow, there is also Nick Walsh of CNN, Nicholas Simon Connolly of Deutsche Welle, Natalya Nagornaya, correspondent of the Ukrainian TV station 1+1, and two other Ukrainian journalists, Diana Butsko and Olesya Borovik.
“I had the ambassador of the Russian Federation in Italy summoned to the Farnesina to express our surprise due to Moscow’s singular decision to include the journalist Battistini on the wanted list issued by the Russian Interior Ministry”, he wrote last September in Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Tajani’s announcement followed the decision of the Russian Interior Ministry to include the Rai journalist on the wanted list, together with other foreign reporters.
Battistini’s service
Last August 17, the FSB announced that it had opened a criminal case against Battistini and the operator Traini of Tg1 on charges of “illegally crossing the border” with Russia and carrying out video recordings in Sudzha, in the Russian region of Kursk, the scene of an incursion by Ukrainian forces at the beginning of August.
“The decision of the Russian Interior Ministry to include Rai journalist Stefania Battistini and her operator Simone Traini in the list of wanted persons for their reporting in the Kursk oblast represents an act of violation of freedom of information”, stated the Rai in a note. “The journalist and the operator carried out their work as witnesses of the events in an exemplary and objective manner. Rai continues to carry out its role as a public service also thanks to the courageous activity of its journalists and correspondents and reserves the right to operate in any place to denounce the Russian government’s decision to defend free information and to protect its journalist and operator”, Rai continued.
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