
The deputy speaker of Russia’s lower-house of parliament has accused pro-Kremlin censorship recommend Yekaterina Mizulina of mismanaging public price range and harassing musicians.
The dispute erupted after State Demua Deputy Speaker Vladislav Davankov, who leads the liberal New Other people birthday party, requested police to analyze extortion claims towards Mizulina made by way of the ex-wife of underground rapper Pasha Method, who died previous this month.
In line with a letter Davankov despatched to Russia’s inside minister, and later shared by way of journalist Ksenia Sobchak, Mizulina to start with instructed police to analyze Pasha Method for alleged “drug propaganda.” On the other hand, no fees had been filed, and the subject used to be reportedly “settled” informally.
Mizulina replied by way of asking police to analyze Davankov for slander and asked that State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin reprimand him for allegedly violating parliamentary ethics. She denounced his movements as a “smear marketing campaign.”
On Monday evening, Davankov challenged Mizulina to look prior to parliament with a proof of the way she resolved the “drug propaganda” allegations and the way certainly one of her organizations spent 200 million rubles ($2.4 million) in state investment.
“You’ve constructed your occupation difficult investigations into bloggers and musicians,” Davankov wrote on Telegram. “You’ve exhausted thousands and thousands of folks along with your calls to prohibit, check up on and imprison. Why don’t you prefer being scrutinized your self?”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Mizulina — who heads the Protected Web League, a gaggle identified for submitting court cases towards anti-war content material creators — had no longer replied.
The EU sanctioned Mizulina and the Protected Web League remaining yr for his or her position in reinforcing state censorship in Russia.
In his Telegram submit, Davankov argued that Mizulina’s slander grievance may just set a precedent that applies to her personal previous movements.
“You’ve slandered greater than a dozen folks and constructed a occupation on serial denunciation,” he wrote. “Are you in a position to be constant on your good judgment and make an apology to everybody you’ve unfairly denounced?”
The Protected Web League used to be co-founded by way of Orthodox businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, consistent with the EU’s sanctions checklist. Mizulina, 40, could also be the daughter of former senator Yelena Mizulina, who has been underneath Western sanctions since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.