Novaya Gazeta journalist Oleg Roldugin charged with illegal data access

Novaya Gazeta journalist Oleg Roldugin, who was detained amid the Russian authorities’ 13-hour raid on the outlet’s newsroom in Moscow last Thursday, has been formally charged with “illegally accessing computer information” as part of a group, the newspaper reports.

The same charge was cited at a pretrial hearing held Friday, where Roldugin was remanded in custody for one month. Ahead of the hearing, Roldugin stated that he does not admit guilt. He is currently being held in a temporary detention facility.

According to the independent outlet Agentstvo, this marks the first time law enforcement has applied statutes on the illegal handling of personal data against a journalist over the use of leaked information. Previously, the law had been used only against administrators of leak databases and security officials accused of leaking data.

Roldugin was detained on April 9 following a search of his home by Russian security forces. The raids came on the same day Russia banned the Nobel-winning human rights group Memorial as an “extremist” organisation.

At Novaya Gazeta, Roldugin had reported on investigations into the inner circle of Chechen Governor Ramzan Kadyrov, as well as the creators of the Max state messaging app.