Journalist Charged with Second Case After Alleged Torture
Journalist Alexey Seregin from Mari El was charged with a second criminal case over failure to fulfill foreign agent obligations, following allegations of torture during his arrest and deteriorating health. He claims he was attacked by masked men, subjected to electric shocks, and denied medical care, while authorities reportedly questioned his mental capacity after he reported the abuse.
Consensus
- Alexey Seregin, a journalist from Yoshkar-Ola, Mari El, is in pre-trial detention.
- A second criminal case was opened against Seregin under Article 330.1 of the Russian Criminal Code for failure to fulfill foreign agent obligations.
- The second case was reportedly triggered by a post that remained unmarked as a foreign agent for several minutes.
- Sergegin was arrested on June 4, 2026, and charged with public justification of terrorism under Article 205.2, part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code.
- The alleged basis for the terrorism charge was a comment made in 2024 in a Telegram chat about Dzhokhar Dudayev, described as justifying illegal armed formations in Chechnya in the 1990s.
- Sergegin claims he was subjected to electric shocks during his arrest in a police station to force him to unlock his phone.
- Sergegin alleges he was attacked by masked individuals on a bus stop, beaten, and had his eyebrow broken.
- Sergegin reported severe health issues including speech impairment, attention coordination problems, and stupor.
- Sergegin's medical treatment in custody was ineffective, and hospitalization was denied.
- Sergegin was referred for preliminary psychiatric evaluation, during which doctors questioned his mental capacity after he disclosed the torture.
- Sergegin is scheduled to be transferred to the V.P. Serbsky National Medical Research Center for psychiatric examination.
- Sergegin was fined 2,000 rubles on July 14, 2026, for alleged resistance to police (Article 19.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses).
Points of divergence
- Sergegin was fined for disobedience to a police officer, with the court ruling he pushed an employee of Center 'E' and tried to escape. — novaya_eu
- Sergegin was not allowed to receive most of his letters, which he believes is psychological pressure by SIZO staff. — tg_sotavisionmedia
- Sergegin was scheduled to be transferred to Moscow on August 15, 2026. — tg_sotavisionmedia
- Sergegin was scheduled to be transferred on August 15, 2025. — tg_horizontal_russia
- Sergegin's head was injured after the arrest. — tg_idelrealii
- Sergegin was transferred to Moscow for psychiatric examination at the V.P. Serbsky National Research Center for Psychiatry and Narcology. — tg_sotavisionmedia
- Sergegin was sent to the Serbsky Center in Moscow for psychiatric evaluation. — novaya_eu
- Sergegin was scheduled to be transferred in August 2025. — tg_horizontal_russia
Coverage (5 sources)
- Against a journalist from Mari El, a second case has been filed. A man told about torture with electricity — and doctors, because of this, doubted his sanity — Новая газета Европа
- «Doctors doubted my sanity because I told them about torture». A journalist from Mari El has been charged with a second criminal... — SOTAvision
- Against journalist Alexey Seregina from Mari El who is in pretrial detention, a second criminal case has been filed; he told about torture during arrest and deterioration of health — Медиазона
- Against arrested journalist from Mari El Alexey Seregina second criminal case initiated. He told about torture by electric current... — Idel.Реалии
- Against arrested journalist from Mari El, second criminal case filed, he told about electric torture — 7х7 — Горизонтальная Россия