After the article denounces de The print entitled “Alesya and Irina, the two Russian IStories reporters threatened for months by Putin’s reports. They live in Europe, but the EU does not protect them”, the vice-president of the European parliament Pina Picierno sent an official letter to Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell (president of the European Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and security), demanding that Europe take action to protect independent Russian journalists under threat. Picierno’s initiative was signed by a group of MEPs from various groups.
In the article by Jacopo Iacoboni, The print denounced that «IStories, one of the most important and courageous independent Russian journalistic collectives, led by Roman Amin, has decided to make public the story of the threats that Alesya Marokhovskaya and Irina Dolinina have been receiving for six months – two investigative reporters from the group, who have been receiving serious threats and intimidation for too long now, and in ways that are more than disturbing and typical of Russian services. They continually receive messages from people who know their whereabouts, plane tickets, addresses, hotel reservations. They know where they are going, they warn them not to go there, they know in advance where they will go to sleep.” The Democratic Party took action by relaunching the complaint: «Irina Dolinina and Alesya Marokhovskaya are two investigative reporters of the iStories press organ – writes Picierno to Von der Leyen and Borrell – among the most important independent Russian newspapers. They received heavy threats through intimidating messages aimed at attacking their commitment to the defense of press freedom and respect for fundamental principles. These acts suggest the involvement of the Russian security services (FSB).”
The letter continues: «The reporters received the first threats in March 2023, then suffered another attack in August 2023 while they were in Prague, and finally on 19 September when they were supposed to go to Gothenburg, Sweden, for a international conference for investigative journalists. The organizers of the conference received anonymous messages referring to the booking details of the two reporters (flights, hotels, travel) and warning them not to go there.” The Democratic Party also asks for an account of the possible involvement of Russian services in the threats: «Interviewing a former employee of one of the European intelligence services, it seems that these intimidation tactics correspond to those used by the Russian security forces (FSB) in order to exert pressure psychological impact on journalists also through the violation of personal data within the European Union. Irina Dolinina and Alesya Marokhovskaya have been fighting against Putin’s regime for years, also suffering retaliation: in September 2021 they were arrested following a demonstration held in Moscow for the free press and, in the same year, they were the target of attacks on their phones ».
More and more Russian journalists and activists abroad, particularly on EU soil, are receiving threats and intimidation, suggesting the start of a renewed repression by Moscow: «These acts are taking place on European soil, violating security, privacy and the rights enjoyed by such people and questioning the key European principles”. In light of this worrying situation, the Democratic Party calls for «action from the European Union which can no longer be postponed we ask to ensure protection for Russian dissident journalists on the territory of the Union and who receive threats from the Putin regime. The regulatory fragmentation among the 27 has allowed Russia to attack Russian journalists residing in Europe and therefore undermine freedom of the press, individual rights, European values and the principles enshrined in the Geneva Convention.”
«Firstly, it is imperative to proceed with full harmonization of the criteria for accessing refugee status. In the long term, the European Commission’s proposal for the Asylum Procedures Directive represents a fundamental step towards ensuring effective protection for Russian dissident journalists, but there is an urgent need to act now and quickly to ensure immediate special protection for Russian dissident journalists on European soil who face threats. Secondly, we ask to ensure the necessary security measures so that the lives of Russian dissident journalists who fight for respect for the rule of law and freedom of the press do not see their lives and their commitment threatenedor. We cannot afford to leave dissident journalists alone and we ask the Member States and the European Commission in collaboration with Europol and Eurojust to put common tools in place as soon as possible to protect them and ensure effective and effective cooperation between national authorities in order to strengthen the exchange of information and its protection”.
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