By Maira Magro
Freelance journalist Solly Boussidan was arrested by Russian authorities Friday, Jan. 28, in the city of Sochi, accused of reporting without the necessary accreditation, reported the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo, the news outlet with with which he collaborates.
Boussidan was on the way to Armenia through Russia with a tourist visa, explained Estadão. However, in light of the Jan. 24 bombing at the Moscow airport, the journalist decided to write a story for news portal Terra about the Russian television coverage of the tragedy. Two days later he was arrested in his hotel and interrogated for 12 hours, added the article from Estadão.
According to the newspaper, a judge ordered Boussidan to 10 days in prison followed by deportation. The journalist went 36 hours without eating in jail, and was forced to sign documents written in Russian. The state departments of Brazil and Germany — where Boussidan also has citizenship— have gotten involved to allow the reporter to leave Russia as soon as possible.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
