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Prosecutors Perform Inspection at Dozhd TV Office

The prosecutors claimed to be investigating the channel's activities in relation to anti-extremism, labor and licensing legislation. Denis Abramov / Vedomosti

Prosecutors arrived at the office of Russia's Dozhd TV channel to perform an inspection of the premises, Dozhd editor-in-chief Natalya Sindeyeva wrote on her Facebook page on Monday.

The two prosecutors were at the office at 12:40 p.m., according to Dozhd's website.

The prosecutors claimed to be investigating the channel's activities in relation to anti-extremism, labor and licensing legislation, according to documents shown by the prosecutors and published by Sindeyeva.

In September, leader of the Rodina political party, Alexei Zhuravlyev, asked Russia's Prosecutor General Yury Chaika to perform a check on Dozhd, according to the party's website.

Zhuravlyev claimed that Dozhd was violating licensing rules by “systematically broadcasting BBC and Deutsche Welle content,” but his request did not result in legal action.

Dozhd is a cable-broadcasted channel established in 2010. It is considered to be one of the few media outlets left in Russia not controlled by the state. The channel is sponsored via paid subscriptions from nearly 60,000 viewers, Natalia Sindeyeva told RBC in December.

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