4 journalists who had been accused of working for Kremlin foe Navalny are convicted of extremism

[ad_1] MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian courtroom on Tuesday convicted 4 journalists of extremism for working for an anti-corruption group based by the late opposition chief Alexei Navalny and sentenced them to five 1/2 years in jail every.

Antonina Favorskaya, Kostantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin and Artyom Kriger had been discovered responsible of involvement with a gaggle that had been labeled as extremist. All 4 had maintained their innocence, arguing they had been being prosecuted for doing their jobs as journalists.

The closed-door trial was a part of an unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has reached an unprecedented scale after Moscow despatched troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

The authorities have focused opposition figures, unbiased journalists, rights activists and atypical Russians important of the Kremlin with prosecution, jailing lots of and prompting 1000's to flee the nation.

Russian journalists, Antonina Favorskaya, left, and Artyom Kriger, accused of working for a gaggle based by the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, stand in a defendant’s cage of the Nagatinsky District Court docket in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photograph)

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Russian journalist Antonina Favorskaya, accused of working for a gaggle based by the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, stands in a defendant's cage of the Nagatinsky District Court docket in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photograph)

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Russian journalist Artyom Kriger, accused of working for a gaggle based by the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, stands in a defendant's cage of the Nagatinsky District Court docket in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photograph)

Learn Extra Favorskaya and Kriger labored with SotaVision, an unbiased Russian information outlet that covers protests and political trials. Gabov is a contract producer who has labored for a number of organizations, together with Reuters. Karelin, a contract video journalist, has accomplished work for Western media retailers, together with The Related Press.

The 4 journalists had been accused of working with Navalny’s Basis for Preventing Corruption, which was designated as extremist and outlawed in 2021 in a transfer broadly seen as politically motivated.

Navalny was President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest and most distinguished foe and relentlessly campaigned towards official corruption in Russia. Navalny died in February 2024 in an Arctic penal colony whereas serving a 19-year sentence on various prices, together with working an extremist group, which he had rejected as politically pushed.

Favorskaya stated at an earlier courtroom look open to the general public that she was being prosecuted for a narrative she did on abuse Navalny confronted behind bars. Chatting with reporters from the defendants’ cage earlier than the decision, she additionally stated she was punished for serving to manage Navalny’s funeral.

Gabov, in a closing assertion ready for courtroom that was revealed by the unbiased Novaya Gazeta newspaper, stated the accusations towards him had been groundless and the prosecution did not show them.

“I perceive completely nicely ... what sort of nation I reside in. All through historical past, Russia has by no means been completely different, there may be nothing new within the present state of affairs,” Gabov stated within the assertion. “Impartial journalism is equated to extremism.”

Russian journalist Sergey Karelin, accused of working for a gaggle based by the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, stands in a defendant's cage of the Nagatinsky District Court docket in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photograph)

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Russian journalist Antonina Favorskaya, accused of working for a gaggle based by the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, stands in a defendant's cage of the Nagatinsky District Court docket in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photograph)

Learn Extra In a press release Karelin ready for his closing arguments that additionally was revealed by Novaya Gazeta, he stated he had agreed to do avenue interviews for In style Politics, a YouTube channel based by Navalny’s associates, whereas making an attempt to offer for his spouse and a younger little one. He careworn that the channel wasn’t outlawed as extremist and had accomplished nothing unlawful.

“Regret is taken into account to be a mitigating circumstance. It’s the criminals who must have regret for what they did. However I'm in jail for my work, for the sincere and neutral perspective to journalism, FOR THE LOVE for my household and nation,” he wrote in a separate speech for courtroom that additionally was revealed by the outlet, by which he emphasised his emotions in capital letters.

Kriger, in a closing assertion revealed by SotaVision, stated he was imprisoned and added to the Russian monetary intelligence’s registry of extremists and terrorists “solely as a result of I've rigorously carried out my skilled duties as an sincere, incorruptible and unbiased journalist for 4 1/2 years.”

“Don’t despair guys, eventually it's going to finish and those that delivered the sentence will go behind bars,” Kriger stated after the decision.

Supporters who gathered within the courtroom constructing chanted and applauded because the 4 journalists had been led out of the courtroom after the decision.

The journalists’ attorneys stated they'd attraction the decision, which Kriger’s legal professional, Yelena Sheremetyeva, described as “unlawful, unfair.”

“The career of a journalist in itself will not be extremism,” stated Irina Biryukova. “And primarily based on the case supplies which are obtainable, I'll say that in our opinion, there isn't any proof that the blokes dedicated any crimes, and even minor offenses.”

She stated the 4 “are holding up” and “had been glad that so many individuals got here.”

The Russian human rights group Memorial designated all 4 as political prisoners, amongst greater than 900 others held within the nation. That quantity consists of Mikhail Kriger, Artyom Kriger’s uncle, a Moscow-based activist who was arrested in 2022 and is serving a seven-year jail sentence.

Mikhail Kriger was convicted of justifying terrorism and inciting hatred over Fb feedback by which he expressed a want “to hold” Putin.

Russian journalist Konstantin Gabov, accused of working for a gaggle based by the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, stands in a defendant’s cage of the Nagatinsky District Court docket in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photograph)

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