Journalist Pursued in Russia Arrested in Armenia

Armenian border guard officers have arrested journalist Ilya Danilov, who was traveling from Georgia to Armenia, and transferred him to the border police department. The journalist had previously worked at Navalny's headquarters, which led to two criminal cases being filed against him in Russia for "falsehoods about the army" and "participation in an extremist organization," resulting in a warrant for his arrest in absentia.

Attorney Dmitry Zakhvatov informed portmedia that Armenia will not extradite the journalist who is pursued for political reasons. Extradition is possible only if the article under which the Russian citizen is charged is also present in the Armenian Criminal Code. Nonetheless, the official arrest of the activist wanted by the authorities must occur in any case.

“Armenia has international obligations under the Kishinev Convention, which provides for mutual assistance in civil, family, and criminal cases. It is evident that there is no provision in Armenian legislation that would allow the prosecution of the opposition movement simply for being an opposition movement. Therefore, the extradition request will certainly be rejected; there is no doubt about that,” the attorney noted.

Meanwhile, according to the human rights defender, Ilya Danilov may remain in custody until Monday, as the prosecutor will not make a decision to deny the extradition during the weekend.