489 persons sign petition in defence of Rostov journalist Sergey Reznik

Rostov journalists have collected 489 signatures to the collective petition in defence of the journalist and blogger Sergey Reznik.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Pervomaiskiy District Court of Rostov-on-Don is hearing the case against Sergey Reznik, accused under several articles of the Russian Criminal Code: "commercial bribery", "knowingly false denunciation" and "insulting a state official".

The petition was sent to the Russian Union of Journalists, Committee to Protect Journalists, Glasnost Defence Foundation, Centre for Extreme Journalism, Fund "Public Verdict" and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

The petition demands "to stop the customized prosecution of independent journalist Reznik," according to the portal "City Reporter". The signatures are collected on the resource of online petitions of the "change.org".

Sergey Reznik's appeal to the Russian President Vladimir Putin was also published within the defence campaign.

Let us add here that on October 22 unidentified assailants attacked Reznik in the yard of the apartment house where the journalist lives. After the beating, he turned to the police, who opened a criminal case on the assault.