The filmmakers behind Navalny have dedicated their BAFTA documentary award to investigative journalist Christo Grozev.
Bulgarian Grozev, who stars in the documentary on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and events surrounding his poisoning in 2020, claimed before the ceremony that he and his family were not admitted to the event because of a “security risk”.
At the ceremony, producer Odessa Rae said: “We would like to dedicate this award to Christo Grozev, our Bulgarian nerd with a laptop, who couldn’t be with us tonight because his life is being threatened by the Russian government and (President) Vladimir Putin.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny appears in a video link (Russian Federal Prison Service via AP)
“I met Christo in the summer of 2020. His life is quite private at the time and he gave up everything to tell the story and many other stories that need to be told.”
Mr. Grozev then tweeted: “Wow.”
The senior Russia investigator for Bellingcat — an investigative journalist group specializing in fact-checking and employing open-source information and investigative techniques for social media — Mr Grozev tweeted on Friday that he was “surprised” being “banned” and said he represented him as “a risk to public safety”.
He added that this shows “growing threats to independent journalists around the world,” not only from “murderous dictators, but also from the silence of journalists’ voices.”
During the film, Mr. Grozev explains how he and colleague Maria Pevchikh revealed the details of the poisoning, which pointed to Russian involvement.
The Metropolitan Police said police forces in general “do not and cannot ban” individuals from events and this is the responsibility of organisers.
The force added that they could not comment on anyone’s safety or any advice given to them, but that they were “absolutely concerned” at “the hostile intentions of foreign states” on British soil.
It added: “The situation faced by journalists around the world and the fact that some journalists are exposed to the hostile intentions of foreign states while in the UK is a reality that we are absolutely concerned about .
“We are committed to working with our intelligence partners to investigate these threats and take other steps to ensure the safety of those affected.”
The Met added: “Despite our efforts to protect and investigate, we recognize the impact of these threats on those affected.
“Responsibility for such threats and their potential impact on the general public rests with the hostile state actors behind them, and we have significantly increased the resources dedicated to addressing them.
“We recognize that our advice can leave organizers with difficult decisions when deciding how best to mitigate risk to the safety of their event, and we are grateful for Bafta’s continued commitment.”
Ahead of the ceremony, Bafta said, “The safety of all of our guests and staff at the ceremony is always our top priority, and we have implemented robust and appropriate security measures each year.”
Tory MP and Chair of the Special Committee on Foreign Affairs Alicia Kearns also previously tweeted: “I’ve spoken to ministers – you are not the security risk.”
Speaking in the Bafta winner’s room, Russian investigative journalist Maria Pevchikh called on the Kremlin to release Navalny and all political prisoners.
She said: “The message to the Kremlin is that they must release Navalny and all political prisoners immediately and also end the war immediately.
“And before Navalny went to jail I promised him that while he was in jail I would spend the time climbing the highest chair, the highest mountain and calling his name and screaming and making sure , that people will not forget what he did for my country.
“And I think today’s stage was quite a high mountain, I would say, to take his name from the stage. It is a great honor and privilege and let us all remember that while we are having this great evening tonight, many people are sadly spending these days in prison simply because a corrupt KGB man decided to allow a great country take over.”
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