The general director of web television channel Dozhd said Thursday that Moscow prosecutors have requested information from the channel regarding its financing of coverage of two opposition rallies held in December.
Prosecutors are acting on a request by Robert Shlegel, a State Duma deputy from the ruling the United Russia party, according to a copy of the prosecutors' request posted on Twitter by Dozhd head Natalya Sindeyeva.
Shlegel said he had filed a request with prosecutors in December, asking them to check whether Dozhd had served as a sponsor and organizer of opposition rallies on Bolotnaya Ploshchad and Prospekt Akademika Sakharova.
"Dozhd, in my view, acted as an 'information sponsor' and partly as an organizer of these events," he wrote. "The question arose whether this is simple interest, or whether it has a financial motive underneath it."
Prosecutors also requested tax documents and a copy of the channel's editorial charter.
Earlier this week, radio station Ekho Moskvy announced that its owner, Gazprom Media, had demanded a reshuffling of the station's board of directors, prompting fresh fears of censorship by authorities.
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