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September 04, 2025 – Russia –
Nika Novak, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Russian Service, remains behind bars in Siberia—and now in solitary confinement. Authorities subjected her to a five-day isolation beginning August 21, after she refused to retract criticism of the conditions in which she is detained. She has since launched a hunger strike in protest. Novak has been imprisoned since December 2023, when security forces arrested her; a closed trial followed, and she was sentenced to four years on charges of “collaboration with a foreign organization” under sweeping legal provisions.
Currently housed in a notoriously harsh penal colony in Irkutsk, Novak is reported to be enduring treatment previously described by former inmates as involving psychological pressure, blackmail, and prolonged punishment cell detention. Despite appeals, a court denied her requests and imposed a hefty fine of 500,000 rubles (around $6,000) for alleged “criminally” earned income.
The placement of a journalist in solitary confinement for standing by her reporting speaks volumes about Russia’s crackdown on dissent. RFE/RL, along with global press freedom advocates—including the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Coalition for Women in Journalism, and the International Press Institute—have condemned Novak’s treatment as politically motivated and designed to intimidate independent journalists.
The broader RFE/RL series “Journalists in Trouble” highlights this alongside other cases of repression—including the nine-year sentence of Azerbaijani journalist Farid Mehralizada and accreditation denials in Kazakhstan. These incidents underscore a regional pattern of targeting critical media under the guise of national security.
For defenders of press freedom, Novak’s ordeal is more than an isolated case—it reflects a systemic assault on journalistic integrity. Her solitary confinement over speaking out about unjust conditions is a stark reminder: in closed societies, silence is enforced through fear, and refusal to comply can invite punishment.
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