Russia: CFWIJ condemns the arrest and online harassment of Ekaterina Ishchenko

October 15, 2020, Moscow - Reporter Ekaterina Ishchenko was arbitrarily arrested and fined by state authorities as part of a coordinated plan to intimidate journalists. Once she was released, she faced a vitriolic organized troll campaign on social media as well. Several journalists including Ekaterina face regular institutional overreach as the state makes the environment more hostile towards journalists.

Ekaterina Ishchenko who works for a news website, Sotovision, was arrested under vague charges and fined for apparently just doing her job by state authorities. She was then targeted with what also appears to be a state-backed online troll campaign post release. She is only one of the several journalists who face attacks like this in the Khabarovsk region. The situation in Khabarovsk has gotten particularly dangerous for journalists ever since President Putin replaced a fairly elected candidate with one of his favoured people. Any attempts to report on the incident is met with a hostile crackdown.

International watchdogs have taken note of the incident. Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk issued a statement demanding, “This apparently coordinated crackdown on the local media must definitely stop."

"We also ask the federal authorities to conduct an independent investigation into the arbitrary arrests of journalists," she added.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism expresses our solidarity with Ekaterina Ishchenko and other journalists striving to report in such a violent environment. We also condemn the behaviour of the Russian state at the time and demand they make the country safer for their journalists.