Vitaly Bespalov

Affiliated media: Parni PLUS, Editor-in-chief

Incident date: August 27, 2019

Attack type:

• Bullying, intimidation, pressure, threats of violence and death, including cyber-

Who attacked: Unknown sources

Source: Glasnost Defense Foundation

Location: Russia, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg

Additional information:

In August 2019, Vitaly Bespalov, the editor-in-chief of the site "Parni PLUS" in St. Petersburg, received an e-mail with threats signed by the homophobic group "Pila”. He was presented with an ultimatum: kill photographer Maxim Lapunov, who had reported torture in a "secret prison for gays" in Chechnya, before October 1, 2019, or pay a million roubles to them. The anonymous authors of the letter otherwise threatened to kill Vitaly himself by the end of the year.