Russian district attorneys on Thursday requested for almost 6-year jail sentences for each of 4 Russian reporters on charges of working for an anti-corruption group established by the late Russian opposition political leader Alexei Navalny that was designated by authorities as extremist.
Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Sergey Karelin and Konstantin Gabov were detained in 2015 and charged with participation with an extremist group, which they have actually turned down.
District attorneys asked the court to sentence each of them to 5 years and 11 months throughout closing arguments at Moscow’s Nagatinsky District Court.
Their closed-doors trial becomes part of the Russian authorities’ relentless crackdown on dissent that has actually reached an extraordinary scale after Moscow sent out soldiers into Ukraine in February 2022. The authorities have actually targeted opposition figures, independent reporters, rights activists and common Russians vital of the Kremlin, imprisoning hundreds and triggering thousands to leave the nation to prevent prosecution.
The 4 reporters were implicated of dealing with Navalny’s Structure for Combating Corruption, which was designated as extremist and disallowed in 2021 in a relocation commonly viewed as politically encouraged.
Navalny was President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest and most popular enemy and non-stop wared main corruption in Russia. In February 2024, Navalny passed away in a remote Arctic jail while serving a 19-year sentence on a variety of charges, consisting of running an extremist group, which he had actually turned down as politically driven.
Favorskaya and Kriger dealt with SotaVision, an independent Russian news outlet that covers demonstrations and political trials. Gabov is a freelance manufacturer who has actually worked for numerous companies, consisting of Reuters. Karelin, an independent video reporter, has actually done work for Western media outlets, consisting of The Associated Press.