Thread by @Den_2042

"I ask you to blame the Russian Federation for my death”,- wrote in her last Facebook post Russian journalist Irina Slavina on October 2nd, hours before setting herself on fire in front of the local police office in her hometown of Nizhny Novgorod.

Since 2015 On her own Irina Slavina has founded and run KozaPress news website.
In 2019 KozaPress was the second most popular news outlet in Nizhny Novgorod.
She started her own project out of necessity, after loosing her job in the local media 3 times:

"Back then I have lost my job for the third time, left without income and being blacklisted. There are no more editors and media in the region who would undertake the risk of hiring me", - told Irina Slavina in one of her interviews on how KozaPress was started

Irina Slavina about running her website:“These five years have been very difficult for me. I had to pull my outlet through by earning money in other media. Never in my life have I taken a penny to publish a news or article in KozaPress, although I was offered money more than once

"Yes, I have to give up the money if it contradicts my principles and the law. I have my convictions, do you understand? Never mind with the lies [they make up] about me", - wrote Irina Slavina in May

In 2017 they distributed hate leaflets quoting Irina Slavina's comments about the crash of the Russian aircraft carrying a famed military band to entertain Russia’s forces in Syria.
The called her ANIMAL and gave her home address
They punctured the tires of her car several times.

"Unspeakable tragedy. Terrible loss. But thoughts revolve around the word retribution".
"I grieve. But I cannot forget the corpses of the children of Syria where the Russian artists flew to dance", - wrote Irina Slavina.
She feared for her life in 2017 because of these words.

Irina Slavina endured intimidation and smear campaigns. She took care of her husband -who has suffered stroke- and their 2 children.
But they found her weak spot - finances. They fined her for a post against Stalin.They fined her for organizing a rally in memory of Boris Nemtsov

“The police, the prosecutor’s office, the judges. They are being overcome with some kind of special love to me, trying to get to the bottom of literally every word that I write. The police, apparently, have no other important business than reading my Facebook"

"My income is very small, they strain me very much financially, so I regard it as revenge", - wrote Irina Slavina in 2019, after they sentenced her the largest fine in Russia to date, according to P. 3 of Art. 20.1 of the Administrative Code. Because of the FB post against Stalin

“I wonder if I set up an act of self-immolation near the FSB entrance (or the prosecutor’s office, I don’t know yet), will this bring our state just a little bit closer to a bright future, or will my sacrifice be meaningless?" - wrote Irina Slavina in 2019
And then on 01OCT2020…

"Today at 6:00 am 12 people entered my apartment with a gas cutter and a crowbar: officers of the TFR, police, SOBR, attesting witnesses. The husband opened the door.
I, being naked, was dressing up under the supervision of a lady I did not know."

"A search was carried out. The lawyer was not allowed to call. They were looking for brochures, leaflets, accounts of Open Russia, possibly an icon with the face of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. I have none of this"

"But they took what they found - all the flash drives, my laptop, daughter's laptop, computer, phones - not only mine, but also my husband's - a bunch of notebooks on which I scribble during press conferences"

"I am left without the means of production", - wrote Russian journalist Irina Slavina one day before her self-immolation.

She wrote about her dog May: "I'm fine. But May suffered a lot. He was not allowed to be taken outside until 10:30."

PS
The authorities have destroyed the makeshift memorial for Irina Slavina several times, but each new day people continue to bring flowers.
#Russia #Putin