Oleg Roldugin, an investigative journalist for Novaya Gazeta detained last week amid a 13-hour raid on the independent newspaper’s Moscow newsroom, has been formally charged with “illegal access to computer information” as part of a group, the paper reported.
The same charge had been cited at the hearing on his pretrial detention, the paper noted. On Friday, April 10, Roldugin was remanded in custody until May 10. At that time, he was classified as a suspect. Novaya Gazeta said he is now being held at the temporary detention facility on Petrovka 38 in central Moscow.
Roldugin was detained on April 9 after a series of raids, first at his apartment and then at the Novaya Gazeta newsroom, the latter of which lasted 13 hours, ending around 1 a.m. local time. Russia’s Interior Ministry claimed the searches were part of an investigation into the collection of citizens’ personal data from “private storage resources” and the subsequent use of that information in publications that it described as “negative in nature.”
While being questioned as a witness, the journalist said he ran a Telegram channel with exclusive information that, in his words, “could not be used in journalistic work.” Officers seized his laptop, computer, hard drives, and press credentials. Security personnel also reviewed his Telegram correspondence, including chats with bots. The criminal case in which Roldugin became a defendant was opened on March 10 against a number of unidentified persons.
