Iryna Zemlyana: Russian court's arrest warrant is based on false charges
A Russian court's ruling to arrest the Institute of Mass Information expert Iryna Zemlyana is based on false charges and the entire case regarding the spring 2022 incident when the Russian ambassador in Poland was "splashed" is fabricated, says Iryna Zemlyana in her comment to the IMI, adding that she does not plan to appeal this ruling, as she does not believe in Russia's justice.
"My lawyers and I will not interact with the aggressor country, the Russian Federation, in any way. There is no judiciary or justice in this country. We will speak exclusively with Interpol and other international institutions as needed. What Russia is doing to me is terror. Deliberate, planned terror on every person who even once spoke out against Russia or Russians. The Russians completely disregard my innocense and continue to falsify more and more charges against me. Russia has been persecuting me for nearly two years and it seems they are not going to stop," Iryna Zemlyana commented on her "false arrest".
On March 10, the Russian media outlet "Mediazona" reported that on March 4, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested Iryna Zemlyana in absentia for attacking a person who enjoys international protection with the aim of provoking war (Part 2 of Article 360 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The media outlet noted that Iryna's patronymic was listed neither in the wanted person card, the Rosfinmonitoring record, nor in the court judgement. The wanted person card includes her photo from the Warsaw rally.
Background
In February 2024, Iryna Zemlyana, an expert at the Institute of Mass Information, was added to the list of "terrorists and extremists" maintained by the Russian Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring).
In November 2022, Russia declared Iryna Zemlyana a wanted person, opening a criminal case against her for allegedly attacking the Russian ambassador Sergey Andreev in Warsaw (Poland). Iryna notes that she did not commit the attack.
A group of protesters doused the ambassador with a red liquid as he was trying to lay flowers at the Mausoleum of Soviet Soldiers on May 9, 2022. Many protesters had red paint stains on their clothes to symbolize blood. They chanted such slogans as "fascists", "ruscists" and "murderers".
Iryna Zemlyana, who participated in the campaign, was forced to leave Warsaw due to death threats. According to her, hours after the incident, all her data, including her passport number, phone number, her Ukrainian address, email, and all social media accounts were leaked on Russian Telegram channels with a call to "exterminate" her. Zemlyana was added to the Russian "war criminals" database.
Poland investigated death threats to Iryna Zemlyana by Russians and others. In June 2023, Polish prosecutors froze the investigation into the Russian ambassador in Warsaw, Sergey Andreev, being doused with paint on May 9, 2022.
The National Police of Ukraine opened a case following Zemlyana's statement after the incident with the Russian ambassador in Warsaw. Later, the Shevchenkiv District Police Department in Kyiv closed the criminal case over death and doxxing threats to the IMI expert Iryna Zemlyana. However, the court ordered to resume the investigation.
Interpol has not yet decided whether to declare her an international wanted person at Russia's request or not.
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