They are said to have worked for the anti-corruption group of the late Russian opposition leader Nawalny. Four journalists have now been sentenced to five and a half years in prison by a court – to the exclusion of the public.
A Russian court sentenced four journalists to five and a half years in prison. They are accused of working as an extremist anti-corruption group founded by the late opposition leader Alexej Nawalny. The process took place in the exclusion of the public.
The accused – Antonina Faworskaja, Kostantin Gabow, Sergej Karelin and Artjom Kriger were involved in a group that was classified as extra -classed, the court ruled. The media people rejected the accusation and emphasized that they were prosecuted because of their work as journalists.
Gabow: No sufficient evidence
The journalists Fawworskaya and Kriger worked for Sotavision, an independent Russian news agency that reports on protests and political processes. Gabow is a freelance producer who has worked for several organizations, including Reuters. Karelin, a freelance video journalist, has worked for Western media, including The Associated Press.
Gabow explained in a final plea, published by the independent newspaper Nowaja Gaseta, that the allegations against him were unfounded and not proven by the public prosecutor. “I know very well what kind of country I live in. In the course of history, Russia was never different,” said Gabow. Independent journalism is equated with extremism. At an earlier public court appointment, Faweworskaya said she was persecuted for an article in which she had reported on ill -treatment of Nawalny in prison.
The journalists Karelin and Kriger also attribute their conviction to their journalistic work, according to various media.
Nawalny was Putin's loud opponent
The opposition leader Nawalny was the sharpest and most prominent opponent of President Vladimir Putin and fought tirelessly against official corruption in Russia. He died in an arctic criminal colony in February 2024. There he served a 19-year-old prison sentence, which was imposed on him, among other things, because of the management of an extremist group. Nawalny rejected the allegations as politically motivated.
