Watchdog

Russia has launched what appears to be its first criminal probe into suspected public dissemination of false information about the new coronavirus just two days after President Vladimir Putin signed a new law on knowingly misinforming the public into the nation's criminal code.

St. Petersburg activist Anna Shushpanova said on her personal social-media page on April 4 that local investigators searched her apartment a day earlier and took her computers and telephone after she posted local residents' concerns about possibly inadequate quarantine measures at a clinic and hospital in the town of Sestroretsk in a group on VKontakte, a popular Russian equivalent of Facebook.

She said she is currently a witness in the investigation.

Russia on April 4 announced 582 new COVID-19 cases and nine deaths during the previous 24 hours, bringing its total number of declared cases to more than 4,700 and the death toll to 43.

But critics think the real number of cases is higher and have accused Russian authorities of underreporting the extent of the outbreak.

Shushpanova did not say what exactly she posted on the topic on the evening of April 2.

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Russian state news agency TASS reported that she wrote that an individual with signs of coronavirus entered the Sestroretsk clinic, made contact with doctors and visitors, and was sent home on public transport. The clinic’s department head was forced to step down following the incident, TASS cited her post as saying.

Shushpanova said another individual had posted about the alleged incident before her and that local residents replied to it. That individual then wrote under Shushpanova's post that he called the coronavirus hotline to report the incident and also wrote about it on the personal social-media page of St. Petersburg's governor.

Shushpanova said she thinks she is being targeted for her activist work in Sestroretsk on "hot topics" including ecological issues and city beautification and doesn't understand why her devices were seized if she is just a witness.

She said Open Russia, a civil rights advocacy group, has already reached out to defend her.

"I have the impression that the current situation is an attempt to silence me, to stop me from writing about the problems in the area and stop me from attracting media and public attention [to the problems]," she said, adding that she will be serving as an observer from the opposition party Yabloko during the upcoming vote on constitutional changes.

Shushpanova said she was surprised by the speed of the probe, pointing out that about 10 investigators were at her door 18 hours after her post.

She said investigators also searched her sister's apartment and took both of them to the station. The investigators' search warrant was not signed by a court, she said.

"This is really like a bad April Fool's joke," she said.

Russia has been increasing pressure on civil society in recent years amid signs of growing public dissatisfaction with living standards.

Putin on April 1 signed into law an amendment to the Russian Criminal Code allowing for the punishment of people who knowingly spread false information about the coronavirus.

Punishments include fines of up to 700,000 rubles ($8,800), correctional work up to 360 hours, and up to 3 years in prison.

Shushpanova said the authorities first must prove the information she posted is false and then prove that she knew it was false.

With reporting by Vedomosti and TASS

The United Nations says it is "horrified" by the death of a juvenile offender in Iran, following reported beatings by prison guards after inmates protested to be released due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on April 3 it had received information that Daniel Zeinolabedini died after he was reportedly "badly beaten" following a prison riot in Iran's West Azerbaijan Province on March 28.

Detainees at Mahabad prison were protesting against their "prison conditions and the failure of the authorities to temporarily release them amid the COVID-19 pandemic," spokesman Rupert Colville said in a virtual press briefing.

Media in Iran, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, have reported unrest in several prisons, despite the temporary release of some 100,000 inmates to curb prison overcrowding.

There has been no report of the alleged incident in West Azerbaijan Province.

Zeinolabedini, who was on death row for a murder he allegedly committed in September 2017 at the age of 17, has claimed his innocence, according to the UN rights office.

He was put in solitary confinement and beaten by security officials at Mahabad prison, before being transferred to Miandoab prison in the same region, where he also suffered abuse.

"His family said he called them on March 31 to tell them he had been badly beaten, could hardly breathe, and desperately needed help. His death was confirmed on April 2," Colville said.

The rights office said it was "particularly shocked" because Zeinolabedini's conviction and death sentence were upheld by Iran's Supreme Court, despite international human rights law prohibiting death sentences for crimes committed by minors.

The spokesman called on the Iranian authorities to conduct an "independent and impartial" investigation into the death and hold those responsible to account.

Colville expressed concern about at the fate of "six other people who were also reportedly beaten during the riot on March 28 and taken to Miandoab prison," and urged the authorities "to take all measures to protect their lives."

With reporting by Reuters and AFP