Elena Maglevannaya, a Russian journalist who was recently ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 roubles (4,500 euros) and to publicly retract her articles about the torture of a Chechen detainee, has asked for political asylum in Finland, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported.
She filed her asylum request while in Helsinki to attend a civic forum organised by the Finnish human rights group Finnsforum. She is now staying in a residence for refugees while the authorities consider her request.
A court in the southern city of Volgograd found Maglevannaya guilty on May 13 of “disseminating false information discrediting the federal prison service’s reputation” in a series of articles about torture in Russian prisons, including the case of Zubayr Zubayrayev, a young Chechen imprisoned in Volgograd since 2007.
Maglevannaya had said she would appeal against her conviction.
