5 million rubles were blocked on the accounts of Postnikov, editor-in-chief of Vecherniye Vedomosti

The editor-in-chief of Evening News, Vladislav Postnikov, wrote on his Telegram channel that a block of 5 million rubles was imposed on his bank accounts for “damage caused by the crime.”

“Fortunately or unfortunately, I have never held such money in my life, so the state spent about 700 rubles,” the journalist said.

His lawyer, Georgy Krasnov, said that he had not seen the documents on the arrest of accounts, but he thinks that the blocking is connected with the case of former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev (recognized as a foreign agent), who is accused under article 207.3 of spreading fakes about the Russian army.

Krasnov explained that 5 million rubles. – the maximum amount of the fine under the second part of this article. And the legal basis for blocking such an amount could be Art. 115 of the Criminal Procedure Code, according to which the property of not only the suspects and the accused, but also other people, including witnesses in the case, who, according to the investigation or the court, “could receive criminal money from the suspect”, can be arrested.

Conditionally, the lawyer explained: “Ponomarev, according to the investigation, is engaged in criminal activity, he has money, possibly obtained by criminal means. He’s some money <...> directs someone.

“So far I have not seen a single document that confirms the fact that someone received money, but the version is still like this,” he said and added that “the investigation believes that these journalists may allegedly have Ponomarev’s money, which, as a result of a guilty verdict, he can pay as a fine in a criminal case.

Krasnov also drew attention to the fact that accounts can only be arrested by a court decision, which means that the investigator had previously filed a petition with the Koptevsky court and there may be material on the arrest of Postnikov’s account, but they themselves have not yet been in court, since they are in Yekaterinburg.