4 journalists accused of working for the banned organisation of late opposition chief Alexei Navalny have been sentenced by a Moscow courtroom to 5 and a half years in a penal colony, within the newest instance of Russia’s unrelenting crackdown on dissent and press freedom.
Antonina Favorskaya, Sergei Karelin, Konstantin Gabov, and Artem Kriger have been discovered responsible of participating in extremist actions.
They have been arrested final 12 months and have been on trial behind closed doorways since October.
As they arrived for the listening to, the defendants have been cheered by their family and friends, who have been allowed into the courtroom for the decision.
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Alexei Navalny. File pic
Prosecutors had accused the 4 of making materials for Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Basis, which is outlawed as an extremist organisation by Russian authorities.
Opposition activists and the journalists’ authorized groups have dismissed the trial as politically motivated.
“The decision is illegal and unjust,” Elena Sheremetyeva, the lawyer representing Kriger, instructed reporters outdoors courtroom.
“The preliminary investigation didn’t present any proof, any lawful proof, that reveals the guilt of my shopper, and that’s the reason we’ll enchantment the decision.”
Gabov and Karelin are freelance video journalists, who’ve beforehand labored for Western media retailers, together with Reuters and The Related Press, respectively.
Antonina Favorskaya is introduced into courtroom in March 2024. File pic: AP
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Favorskaya and Kriger labored for SOTAVision, an impartial Russian information outlet which is designated as a international agent by the authorities.
The case follows the jailing of three of Navalny’s former defence attorneys in January on related expenses.
Navalny, who was Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic, died suddenly in a distant Arctic penal colony in February final 12 months.
The Nagatinsky District Court docket, the place the trial came about behind closed doorways. Pic: Reuters
The 47-year-old anti-corruption campaigner had been jailed on a number of expenses, starting from fraud to extremism, which he stated have been fabricated to be able to silence him.
His household and supporters accuse President Putin of ordering his homicide, whereas the Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement in his dying.
