ARTICLE 19 submitted this alert to the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists:
At about midday on 27 September 2016, the Director of the Community of Investigative Journalists Grigory Pasko was attacked in the city of Barnaul (Altai region) in Russia by two unknown assailants.
He escaped with concussion and a bruise to half of his face. The men shouted, “Get out of our city!” and warned him that they would attack him again. Pasko posted about the attack on Facebook and was referred by police for a medical examination.
The previous day, a local newspaper quoted a local nationalist activist calling Pasko a “foreign agent.” Unknown people had already been following him and loitering around his hotel.
Pasko has previously served time in prison for which he was recognised as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
He was in Barnaul to give a seminar on investigative-reporting techniques.