Achi news desk-
Moscow, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 29th Mar, 2024) A Russian court on Thursday sentenced a journalist to two years in prison for denying Moscow’s full-scale military attack on Ukraine, as Moscow police detained five more reporters over a period of time. A period of 24 hours.
Russia has made reporting on the ground increasingly dangerous and illegal since it sent troops into Ukraine two years ago, arresting and fining those who challenge the Kremlin’s narratives.
A court in the western exclave of Kaliningrad said journalist Mikhail Feldman had discredited the Russian armed forces in a series of posts on the VKontakte social network, the rights groups OVD-Info and Commemorative said, citing his lawyer.
“This is exactly the punishment that the prosecution asked for,” said OVD-Info. “In addition to being jailed, Feldman was banned from administering websites for two years.”
Russia has launched hundreds of criminal cases against individuals who oppose its campaign against Ukraine.
Under military censorship laws, Russians who criticize the offensive online or journalists who use information other than that provided by Russian officials can face years in prison.
The sentence came after police in Moscow detained five independent journalists over the past 24 hours, one of whom said he was beaten, OVD-Info reported Thursday.
SOTAvision journalist Antonina Favorskaya was taken in for questioning late Wednesday after serving 10 days in prison for placing flowers on the grave of the late opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Her colleagues Alexandra Astakhova and Anastasia Musatova, who came to meet her at the detention center where she was expected to be released, were also detained by the police, SOTAvision said.
Then, early Thursday, police arrested reporters Ekaterina Anikievich of SOTAvision and Konstantin Zharov of RusNews, who were filming near Favorskaya’s home.
“They kicked me, put a foot on my head, twisted my fingers, mocked me when I tried to get up, demanded to show my rucksack as if it contained explosives,” said Zharov.
Since launching its attack on Ukraine, Russia has banned, blocked or tried to censor almost every independent media organization still operating in the country.
Many independent journalists fled in the wake of the offensive, and those who remain face risks. US reporters Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva are currently in prison awaiting trial.
Also on Thursday, a court sent a Navy comrade into custody ahead of trial on charges related to “extremism”.
Olga Komleva, who volunteered at Navalny’s Ufa headquarters in central Russia, was arrested earlier this week in the latest in a series of cases against Navalny’s allies who have remained in Russia.
