Circassian activist Larisa Tuptsokova reported criminal prosecution

Journalist and Circassian activist Larisa Tuptsokova, who lives in Georgia, learned of a criminal case against her in Russia on charges of extremism.

The Kabardino-Balkaria Human Rights Center announced the criminal case against Larisa Tuptsokova tonight on its Telegram channel. The journalist herself wrote about this earlier, on September 24, on her social media page.

A criminal case against Tuptsokova has been opened under the article on participation in an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). A notice of this was sent to her parents' home address in Maykop.

“At this time, there is no additional information – I have not been given any details, and I have not been able to find anything in open sources. My activities have always been transparent and legal. Unfortunately, it is difficult to talk about the law in a place where criminal cases are initiated simply for openly expressing one's opinion,” Larisa Tuptsokova wrote on her Facebook page*.

The activist noted that she has not lived in Russia for over 14 years. She linked the persecution to the activities of the Circassian Media project, which reported provocations by the authorities at least twice in August. The project was attacked in a report by the Adygeya State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, which called the Circassian issue "so-called," and also discovered a fake website online for a "supposedly Circassian cultural center in Tbilisi" with publications in the names of its authors, including Tuptsokova.

* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.