Famous Russian liberal journalist and Putin critic accused of sexual harassment

[Kiril]

Echo of Moscow editor-in-chief Alexey Venediktov accused of sexual harassment by former Navalny press secretary


Journalist Anna Veduta, Alexey Navalny's former press secretary, has accused the Echo of Moscow editor-in-chief Alexey Venediktov of sexual harassment. Her story was published by the BBC's Russian Service on April 29.


Update: Venediktov issued an apology to Veduta in a live broadcast on Echo of Moscow's YouTube channel, saying "I have a different view of these events, I don't even remember them occurring. [...] If this has been gnawing at Anna for 8 years, if she feels uncomfortable because of what she believes had happened, then I apologize to her." Veduta responded on Twitter, saying that she didn't need "mocking" apologies, and that she spoke out to finally break the silence about Venediktov's behavior. "Someone had to finally say this out loud. I'm not the first or the last, these things have happened to a lot of people, but everybody kept quiet," Veduta tweeted.

Veduta told the publication that Venediktov had harassed her in 2012 following a dinner with Echo of Moscow employees Tatiana Felgengauer and Oksana Chizh, after which the radio station head proposed on accompanying the three women home.

Venediktov began harassing Veduta after the other journalists had left. According to Veduta, Venediktov moved closer to her in the back seat of his car and began touching her knees, attempting to reach higher. "I pressed myself into the car seat, tried to wriggle out, and kept saying 'Don't do this'," Veduta said.

When they arrived at Veduta's residence, Venediktov was adamant about seeing her off. "I declined, but he insisted that it was safer [that way]. When we were at the front door, he asked if anyone was home and tried to kiss me," Veduta said.

The journalist told Venediktov that her mother was home, then "ran into the apartment and sat on the bathroom floor staring at the wall for an hour". The editor denied the accusations, saying that that type of behavior was uncharacteristic for him. "I most certainly didn't try and enter her home," he said.

Venediktov added that he has been accompanied by a driver and a guard since 2008. "Maybe I took them home, or maybe I didn't, but [picturing] the four of us in the back seat is an amusing thought. I don't have a Lincoln, maybe we were packed in there like sardines," he said. According to Veduta, there was no guard in the car at the time. The journalist said she was scared and ashamed to go public about what had happened, nor did she want to spoil politician Alexei Navalny's relationship with the radio station.

According to the BBC, Venediktov was also accused of harassment by a "young public figure" who wished to remain anonymous. The source claimed that Venediktov invited her to a restaurant at the Helvetia hotel in St. Petersburg in 2017.

"We sat at the table very closely, I had nowhere to go, and Venediktov began to hold my shoulder, as if by accident. He first put his hand on my leg, then on my knee, then his hand crawled higher on the inside of my thigh," the woman said, adding that she was confused and silently took his hand away, which he put it back. "Eventually, by some miracle, I got out from behind the table and left," she recalls.

Venediktov denied the second story, commenting that it contained "many fantasies". "I don't know anything about this, nor do I remember anything. Let the girls talk - it probably brings them some kind of benefit. I can't ban girls I don't know from publicly profiting from my name," he added.

https://rtvi.com/news_en/echo-of-mos...al-harassment/

[Kiril]

I wonder if is it OK for liberal people to talk about democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of choice, equal right and so on and at the same time do such things like this old liberal?

[KirillMazur]

I wonder if is it OK for liberal people to talk about democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of choice, equal right and so on and at the same time do such things like this old liberal?

- Здравствуйте, дети! Я ваш новый учитель. Меня зовут Олег Петрович и по своим политическим взглядам, я либерал. А теперь, дети, давайте вы по очереди представитесь, так же, как и я, и тоже расскажете о своих политических взглядах.
- Меня зовут Маша, я либералка...
- Меня зовут Стёпа, я тоже либерал...
- А меня зовут Вовочка и я - сталинист.
- Вовочка, а почему же это ты сталинист?!!
- Моя мама сталинистка, мой папа сталинист, мои друзья сталинисты и я тоже
сталинист.
- Вовочка, а вот если бы твоя мама была проституткой, твой папа - наркоманом, сестра - шлюхой, а друзья - геями, вот кем бы ты был тогда, а?!
- Ну, вот тогда бы я и был либералом.

[Arsen_]

I wonder if is it OK for liberal people to talk about democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of choice, equal right and so on and at the same time do such things like this old liberal?

Well that guy is fake liberal and fake Putin critic. He is perfectly integrated into Putin's system. Что касается этого говна, называемого "sexual harassment", то не надо тащить его в Россию!

"Sexual harassment" thing was invented by psychopaths and neurotics and exploited mostly by whores and blackmailers. And nowadays "sexual harassment" is a manifestation of cancelation of presumption of innocence, when any whore or faggot or blackmailer coming out of nowhere may without any real evidence accuse anyone of anything.