‘Navalny’ Doc Journalist Says He And His Family Have Been Banned From BAFTA Ceremony Due To “Public Security Risk”
18.02.2023 - 14:37
/ deadline.com
Investigative journalist Christo Grozev, a key figure in the story of acclaimed documentary Navalny, says he and his family have been banned from attending the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday because he poses “a public security risk”.
Grozev, who is affiliated with the Netherlands-based investigative journalism group Bellingcat, was part of the team that uncovered the 2020 plot to kill Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by poisoning.
The journalist tweeted yesterday that he has been banned from Sunday’s BAFTA ceremony where the film is nominated for Best Documentary.
“I was surprised to discover that my whole family and I have all been banned by British police from attending this weekend’s Bafta awards where the documentary #Navalny is nominated. The reason stated: we ‘represent a public security risk’,” he tweeted.
“I understand the need to keep the public safe (although I don’t understand how my son or teenage daughter constitute risk to the public). But moments like this show the growing dangers to independent journalists around the world.
“These dangers don’t stem just from murderous dictators, but also from having journalists’ voices hushed – instead of amplified – by the civilised world they are trying to serve.”
Grozev features prominently throughout Daniel Roher’s Oscar and BAFTA-nominated doc alongside Maria Pevchikh, the head investigator for Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
The film features extensive interviews with Navalny, as he recuperates from the assassination attempt in a safe house in Germany, and also follows Grozev and Pevchikh’s efforts to uncover the details of the poisoning plot.
Their findings suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin was involved in the operation.
The final scenes of