Hundreds of mourners have bid farewell to independent Russian journalist Irina Slavina, who died after setting herself on fire in an apparent reaction to investigators trying to tie her to an opposition group and what’s been described as years of harassment by authorities. Before her suicide in front of the police headquarters in Nizhniy Novgorod on October 2, Slavina wrote on Facebook, “Blame the Russian Federation for my death.”
At the same time, press access to information was gradually restricted. Since March 17, journalists could no longer attend an event in the presence of Vladimir Putin without having taken their temperature at least three times . On March 19, foreign journalists were denied entry to the Russian parliament , and the courts began to prevent the press from accessing public hearings. While the Moscow court promised journalists written reports and video broadcasts “where possible”, the measure raises concerns about its arbitrary and not very transparent nature