Russia sentenced four journalists on Tuesday to four journalists saying the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny had been involved in five and a half years in the criminal colony, exacerbating the crackdown on press freedom and Kremlin critics.
Navani (Putin's main opponent) was declared “extremist” by Russian authorities, and the ruling still died in the Arctic criminal colony on February 16, 2024, despite his death.
Before launching the 2022 Ukrainian offensive, Moscow also banned Navani from being an “extremist” and ruthlessly targeted those who believe they have connections with him.
A judge sentenced journalists Antonina Kravtsova, Konstantin Gabov, Sergei Karelin and Artem Kriger – all of whom covered Navalny's “five-year and six months of five years and six months”.
After being arrested last year, they were found guilty of “participating in extremist groups.”
The trial was in the Nagatinsky Magistrate's Court in Moscow and only opened sentencing to the media, which is a typical case of political cases in Russia's Ukrainian offensive.
About a hundred supporters, journalists and Western diplomats came to the court to make the judgment. Supporters cheered and applauded when the defendant was brought in.
Russian authorities have targeted his family and colleagues since Navani's death last year in an Arctic prison.
In January, three lawyers who defended him in court were sentenced to several years in prison.
Moscow also escalated its decade-long crackdown on independent media due to its military offensive against Ukraine.
Shortly after ordering troops into Ukraine in 2022, Moscow passed a wide military censorship law that prohibited criticism of the military, forcing most of the country's independent media to leave the country.
– “Pay with my free payment” –
The reporter was sentenced on Tuesday to dismiss the charges associated with extremist groups.
Kravtsova, 34, is a photographer who works in the independent Sotavision export and uses the pseudonym Antonina Favorskaya.
She covered Navalny's trial for two years and filmed his last appearance in court two days before his death via video links.
Video correspondents Gabov and Karelin have been accused of preparing photos and video materials for Navalny's social media channels.
Both sometimes work with international media – Gaboff works with Reuters and Carrelin with the Associated Press and Deutsche Weill.
Kriger, 24, is the youngest of the accused, covering political trials and protests against Sotaves.
After the judgment, he said in court: “Everything will be fine, everything will change. Those who judge me will sit here instead of me.”
As he spoke, a supporter shouted, “You are the pride of Russia!”.
Journalists slammed cases against them and the state of freedom of the press in Russia in their final statements published by independent media.
“Enterprise journalism is now equivalent to extremism,” Meduza reported.
“I don't want to escape and I want to insist that it is possible and necessary to do journalism in Russia,” Kriger told the court.
“If I had to pay for this belief with freedom or my life, I would do it.”
bur/sbk
