Moscow radio station fined thousands of dollars for interview with independent political analyst

A small claims court in Moscow has fined the radio station Ekho Moskvy and online editor Vitaly Ruvinsky 200,000 rubles ($2,900) and 60,000 rubles ($865), respectively, for publishing remarks about political analyst Valery Solovey. In a Telegram post, Ekho Moskvy editor-in-chief Alexey Venediktov confirmed the fine and vowed to file an appeal, but did not clarify specifically what comments resulted in the penalty.

A source told the news agency TASS that the fine concerns remarks from Solovey about the spread of the coronavirus in Russia.

• In March 2020, complying with orders from Russia’s federal censor, Ekho Moskvy’s online editors unpublished an interview with Valery Solovey where he offered his own estimate of those killed by COVID-19 in Russia, citing figures that were higher than the government’s official numbers.
• Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian authorities have opened nearly 200 cases against the distribution of supposed “fake news” involving the spread of the disease. A recent report by the “Agora” human rights group warns that law enforcement have used these investigations to target journalists, activists, and opposition politicians.