The International Press Institute (IPI) today welcomed a Moscow court’s decision to end proceedings against a Russian journalist who was accused of divulging personal data after a newspaper identified a public official’s name and position in an article about corruption.
The Moscow Khamovniki District Court yesterday terminated two administrative cases against the news agency RIA-Novosti and its chief editor, Svetlana Mironyuk, who were accused of divulging the personal data of former investigator Gulnara Mustafina.
The Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reported on its website that Judge Irina Demidova said: “The court has ruled to terminate the administrative case against RIA Novosti Editor-in-Chief [Svetlana] Mironyuk in the absence of an offense in her acts.”
IPI Executive Board Chair Galina Sidorova, chair of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, Foundation 19/29 and former editor-in-chief of Sovershenno Secretno in Russia – said: “The accusations against Svetlana Mironyuk were so absurd that even the Russian court usually not too friendly towards press freedom and the journalist community could not decide otherwise. However, the fact itself that such a complaint could be filed against a journalist in Russia shows that the situation with press freedom here is becoming more and more alarming”
The case had received widespread media coverage in Russia. According to news reports, Mustafina, a former officer of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Committee, in early September filed a complaint to the Khamovniki prosecutor’s office claiming that RIA-Novosti violated Article 13.11 of the Administrative Code on the legal procedure for the collection, storage, use or dissemination of information about individuals.
Mustafina’s complaint reportedly followed an article on corruption that appeared in The Moscow News and on the newspaper’s website that mentioned her name, surname and place of work. She accused RIA-Novosti and Mironyuk of divulging personal data and argued that such information should not be published without the knowledge and permission of the subject of the disclosure. However, Mustafina did not bring a complaint against the editor of The Moscow News or the journalist who authored the article.
In response to the complaint, administrative cases were opened, respectively, against RIA-Novosti – the owner of The Moscow News – and Mironyuk as one of RIA-Novosti’s chief executives. Violation of Article 13.11 carries fines of approximately 12 to 24 euros for individuals, and 120 to 240 euros for legal entities.
At yesterday’s hearing, Mironyuk’s defence lawyer, Alexander Makarov, said that no information about Mustafina’s private life had been published in the article. “Mustafina as an Interior Ministry investigator was a state official and thus performed a public function,” news reports quoted him as saying. “Therefore, media could and should write about her service.”
Makarov added that Mironyuk was neither the chief editor of The Moscow News nor the director of the publication’s website, and that it was therefore a mistake to initiate proceedings against her.
IPI Deputy Director Anthony Mills praised the court’s decision to terminate the cases, noting: “If the court had ruled to the contrary, it could have created an alarming precedent posing severe obstacles to the daily work of journalists”.
