Russia: CFWIJ condemns the unjustified detention of Alesya Marokhovskaya, Polina Uzhvak, and Irina Dolinina

September 9, 2021- Three women journalists were detained by the police in Moscow while picketing outside the Ministry of Justice on September 8. Alesya Marokhovskaya, Polina Uzhvak, and Irina Dolinina were protesting the use of the term “foreign agent” for independent journalists. They held signs with messages translated as, “They are not foreign agents, they are journalists.” Police arrested the three women journalists and later escorted them to a police van, as seen in a video aired by Dozhd TV station. The CFWIJ condemns the detention and demands the immediate release of the journalists. We urge the authorities to stop labeling dissenting voices, particularly the press, as foreign agents. 

On September 8, several Russian publications held a rally to denounce the crackdown against press freedom and spread the message: no foreign agents, they are journalists. Marokhovskaya, Uzhvak, and Dolinina joined the call for action against the notorious law that allows state authorities to target journalists under the label of foreign agents. Videos shared by the Dozhd media show the police detaining the three women journalists and then ordering them into a van. Irina shared with Dozhd TV, “The fact that we are being labeled as foreign journalists is nothing else but a ban on honest journalistic work”.

Online news platform Vizhniye Istorii reported that the arrests of the three women journalists have further mounted fears that independent media is in danger ahead of the elections this month. A decade-old law requires the labeling of any material these journalists produce. These stipulations have affected the financing of several media outlets. 

Sofia Rusova, the co-chair of the Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers, shared while speaking to Radio Liberty that certain people are behind the campaigns against independent publications, supervised by Kremlin officials. Sofia elaborated her message that such officials are sterilizing the political space and excluding independent journalists from the political sphere. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism has documented several cases of threats and violations against independent media, particularly women journalists, under the present repressive government. We demand authorities release Alesya Marokhovskaya, Polina Uzhvak, and Irina Dolinina from unjustified detention. The CFWIJ stands in solidarity with the women journalists who continue to report amidst threats to their safety.