31 May 2012

Source: Open Information Agency

Svetlana Robenkova is surprised at Gazprombank's decision to abandon its legal action and announced that she is waiting for the investigation of her claims by the Moscow Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Agency for Information Technologies and Communications (Roskomnadzor).

Robenkova told Agora Human Rights Organisation, which is representing her interests: "I am amazed that Gazprombank has abandoned all its claims. This was totally unexpected. Perhaps this turn of events is connected with the fact that Gazprombank's management have sensed the scale of the scandal and asked its legal department to withdraw the claims. I have no intention of abandoning the defence of my rights with regards Mr. Schmidt. My personal details were disclosed and those who are guilty should be punished. Gazprombank's attempts to resolve the situation today will not affect my decision. I reckon that Mr. Schmidt was using Gazprombank's name in an attempt to resolve his own personal problems. The legal action was submitted on behalf of the bank. I was charged with very serious accusations: incitement to enmity and hatred against a social group - senior executives. It's also possible that Gazprombank's management were totally unaware that these claims were being made on its behalf."

Readers will recall that on 25 May Svetlana Robenkova submitted an application to Moscow Prosecutor Sergey Kudeneev requesting that a case be brought in relation to the disclosure of her name, date of birth and registered address, and that those responsible to brought to justice under the Administrative Code.

On 18 May, the administrator of the blog schmidt-a-0.livejournal.com, which is run on behalf of Aleksandr Schmidt, Deputy President of Gazprombank, published a copy of Gazprombank's application to have a criminal case brought against Robenkova. This open access document contains the blogger's personal details, including her name, date of birth and full registered residential address. Human rights defenders note that "the publication of these details on the internet amounts to the circulation of information aimed at disclosing the personal details of a member of the public."

Robenkova has asked the Moscow Prosecutor to initiate an investigation under the Administrative Code to hold accountable those responsible and to inform her of his decision. In the meantime, the blog schmidt-a-0.livejournal.com has been deleted from the net.