Irina Slavina died Friday after setting herself on fire.
Moscow, Russia:
Editor-in-chief of independent Russian news site died on Friday after setting herself on fire following a police raid during an investigation into an opposition group, her site confirmed Internet.
The Koza.Press news site in the industrial city of Nizhny Novgorod reported that its editor-in-chief Irina Slavina had “set herself on fire in front of the police headquarters”.
City investigators later confirmed his death in a statement saying his body was found with “signs of thermal burns”, while saying there was “no basis” to link his death to police raids since she was only a witness in an investigation.
The journalist wrote on Facebook a few hours before her death: “I ask you to blame my death on the Russian Federation”.
A video posted on social media reportedly showed her setting herself on fire on a bench.
Slavina’s website has carried out investigative reporting and covered opposition to President Vladimir Putin, friends and supporters said on Friday, a rarity in regional journalism that faces pressure from local authorities.
She “died of her injuries,” her site reported, saying her husband had confirmed this. The site became inaccessible shortly thereafter.
Her death drew tributes from journalists and activists, including rights lawyer Pavel Chikov who wrote on Telegram messenger that he had worked with her on two occasions when she was accused of failing to respect to the authorities and publish false information.
Slavina wrote on social media on Thursday that police and federal guards broke into her apartment during an early morning raid.
She said they were looking for evidence of links to Open Russia, an opposition movement funded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky that has been deemed undesirable by authorities, amid allegations it has funded protests in the city.
“I have nothing,” the journalist said, adding that the police confiscated her notebooks and her computer as well as laptops and phones belonging to her, her husband and daughter.
“I have no means of production,” she said.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is recovering in Berlin after being poisoned in Russia with what German doctors called a military-grade nerve agent, called Slavina’s death “terrible”.
“A criminal case has been fabricated against Slavina under a political charge. Yesterday her home was searched, doors were shut down and computers confiscated,” he wrote.
“They absolutely drove her to suicide.”
Local news site NN.ru reported that people were holding a vigil in memory of Slavina on a city street, with a man holding a sign saying “state kills”.
