Alexander Valov from "BlogSochi" detained for two days

Alexander Valov, the editor-in-chief of the website "BlogSochi", was detained by the police for 48 hours after a search conducted in his apartment.

A search in the Alexander Valov's apartment was conducted on January 19. Alexander Valov did not open the door to the arrived policemen, since he believed the actions of the law enforcement bodies were illegal. The search was provoked by "the activities on the 'BlogSochi' and an attempt to close the website," Alexander Valov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In a video, broadcasted by Alexander Valov through YouTube, he says that the electricity in the apartment is switched off. The video shows sparks from a tool used by the policemen to cut the lock on the door, and then several people entered the apartment. The video camera stopped filming the arrived people, and the blogger shouted that they closed his mouth and beat him. The video record was interrupted.

"Alexander Valov, a blogger and the editor-in-chief of the website 'BlogSochi' was detained by investigators from the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) on suspicion of extorting money on a large scale from Yuri Napso, a State Duma delegate from the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia)," Sochi advocate Alexander Popkov wrote on his Facebook page.

"Alexander Valov treats the criminal proceedings against him to be politically motivated," the advocate reported.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.