Putin: the case of journalist Bayazitova is not a witch hunt

Russian President Vladimir Putin said there is no “witch hunt” in criminal cases against journalists on charges of extortion.

A journalist on the “Results with Vladimir Putin” program asked the Russian leader a question about the seriously ill journalist Alexandra Bayazitova, for whom the investigation requested 14 years in prison for extortion.

Putin categorically denied that this was a “witch hunt,” arguing that the situation with the journalist was completely different. But the president called the deadline requested by the prosecutor’s office “excessive.”

Read the online broadcast of the Direct Line “Results of the year with Vladimir Putin”