FLASH NEWS
Four Russian journalists sentenced to prison for alleged links to Navalny
2025-04-15 22:26:55 / BOTA
Four Russian journalists have been sentenced by a Moscow court to five and a half years in prison each for their links to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Foundation has been declared an “extremist organization” by Russian authorities.
The journalists — Antonina Favorskaya, Sergei Karelin, Konstantin Gabov, and Artyom Kriger — were found guilty after a trial closed to the public for their contributions to YouTube channels affiliated with FBK before it was banned in 2021.
The court on April 15th also banned the defendants from working as journalists for three years after their release from prison.
After the verdict and sentences were announced, the journalists' supporters began applauding and chanting: "You are the best!"
Krieger told his supporters that "everything will be okay, don't worry, sooner or later this will all end. Those who condemned me will surely be condemned themselves."
All four journalists have consistently denied the charges against them.
The trial, which began in early October 2024, was held behind closed doors, with supporters and journalists only allowed to attend the announcement of the verdict and sentences.
Favorskaya and Kriger are reporters for the independent media outlet SOTAVision, which itself has been labeled a "foreign agent" by the Russian government.
"Independent journalism equates to extremism"
Gabov and Karelin are freelance journalists who have contributed to major international media organizations, including Reuters and the Associated Press. Gabov has also contributed to the Russian-language service of Radio Free Europe.
"I have never been a member of any political party and have always considered it my duty as a journalist to objectively express the opinions of people with different views to help them be heard by the authorities," Gabov said in his final statement to the court.
"Independent journalism [in Russia] is equated with extremism," he added.
Karelin emphasized in his final statement that the channel he is accused of collaborating with had not been declared extremist at the time he contributed to it.
“Repentance is considered a mitigating circumstance. It is the criminals who should repent for what they have done. But, I am in prison for my work, for my honest and impartial attitude towards journalism, for my love for my family and my country,” he said in a written statement to the court.
The prosecution had sought up to six years in prison for each of the defendants. The trial was closed to the public, with authorities justifying the measure by citing warnings from the Russian Center for Combating Extremism, which claimed that the FBK might try to interfere in the process.
The sentence is part of a wider crackdown on journalists and former associates of Navalny, who died in prison in February 2024 under questionable circumstances while serving a 19-year prison sentence on charges widely considered politically motivated.
His death sparked international outrage and intensified attention to Russia's treatment of political prisoners and independent media.
Human rights organizations report that dozens of journalists are currently detained in Russia on similar charges, as the government continues to tighten control over critical voices./ REL
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