A public official indicted of bribery called journalists "jackals"
Lilia Kuchina, head of the municipal agency "City Roads," insulted journalists on her way out of the courtroom, where the judge had ruled on the measure of restraint in her case. She is indicted of taking over 1 million rubles in bribes.
"Scumbags, I wish you were dead, jackals [an obscene synonym for 'unpleasant']," the Chita.ru website quoted her as saying.
Kuchina was detained on January 24. She has pleaded guilty and will be under arrest until March 19. In 2005, she was convicted of fraud.
This is not the first time that officials insult journalists. In January 2023, the mayor of Pechora in Komi, Valery Serov, called journalists "whores" and "idiots" because of a story about the ruinous condition of drain pipes in residential buildings. The prosecutor's office is investigating the case. The Human Rights Council and Komi State Duma member Oleg Mikhailov requested Serov be fired for his statements, but the authorities refused to do so.
Serov recorded a video appealing to local residents. He asked, "to stop harassing people who of different opinions, since all points of view are important and equally matter.”