Four Russian journalists were convicted of extremism for working for an anti-corruption group founded by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison each. Antonina Favorskaya, Konstantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin, and Artem Kriger maintained their innocence, claiming they were being prosecuted for simply doing their jobs as journalists. The closed-door trial is part of a wider crackdown on dissent in Russia, which has escalated since the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The crackdown has targeted opposition figures, independent journalists, rights activists, and ordinary Russians critical of the Kremlin, leading to hundreds of individuals being jailed and prompting many to flee the country to avoid prosecution. The journalists, Favorskaya and Kriger, worked for SotaVision, an independent news outlet in Russia, while Gabov is a freelance producer who has worked for organizations such as Reuters. Karelin is a freelance video journalist who has worked for Western media outlets, including The Associated Press.
The journalists were accused of working with Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption, which was labeled extremist and outlawed in 2021. Navalny, who was Putin’s fiercest opponent, died in 2024 while serving a 19-year sentence in a penal colony on charges, including running an extremist group, which he had claimed were politically motivated.
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