A male journalist has come out to publicly accuse veteran Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky of sexual harassment after State Duma deputies cleared his fellow LDPR party member of impropriety.
The Duma ethics commission earlier this week said it found nothing wrong with the “behavioral norms” of deputy Leonid Slutsky, accused by at least five female journalists of sexual harassment. Protesting the decision, dozens of Russian media organizations launched a boycott of news from the Duma until a serious investigation of the harassment claims took place.
Current Time TV reporter Renat Davletgildeyev became the first Russian male journalist to allege publicly that he was sexually harassed by a senior politician, recalling an incident during an interview with Zhirinovsky after the 2006 Miss Russia pageant finals in Moscow.
“He himself, while giving a short interview, was feeling up my a-- so much that my hands were shaking with the recorder,” Davletgildeyev wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday, noting that he was intimidated by Zhirinovsky’s status and blamed himself for the encounter.
Davletgildeyev told the Ekho Moskvy radio station in an interview Friday that he didn’t plan to press charges against Zhirinovsky because the incident had occurred over a decade ago.
Zhirinovsky’s son, State Duma deputy speaker Igor Lebedev, threatened to “punch [Davletgildeyev] in the face” if he met him.
“Of course it’s slander! Another message by someone from a news source that we don’t understand against a famous politician and State Duma deputy is once again an unfounded accusation,” Lebedev told the state-run TASS news agency Thursday.
Russian activists, meanwhile, have begun staging one-person protests against Slutsky outside the Duma building in Moscow early Friday.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
