Russia Jails Four Journalists for Covering Navalny in Widening Crackdown on Independent Media

March 29, 2024 – Russia – 

Four Russian journalists have been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for allegedly promoting “extremist” activity linked to the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. The journalists — Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Sergey Karelin, and Konstantin Gabov — were convicted behind closed doors in Moscow in April 2025, in a move widely condemned by press freedom organizations and human rights advocates.

All four journalists had previously covered Navalny’s court cases, protests, or political movement. The Russian government has designated Navalny’s organization as an extremist group since 2021, effectively criminalizing any association with it, including reporting. Favorskaya, a prominent journalist with SotaVision, had recently been detained for placing flowers on Navalny’s grave. Her brief detention was later escalated into formal extremism charges, leading to a multi-year prison sentence. The others were accused of producing video content or collaborating with Navalny-aligned platforms.

Media outlets, including The Guardian, France 24, and PBS, have reported that none of the defendants were accused of inciting violence. Instead, their journalism — particularly work involving interviews, livestreams, or coverage of Navalny’s activism — formed the basis of the state’s case. Observers say the prosecutions serve as a clear warning to any media outlet still willing to challenge state narratives in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

The sentencing comes amid a broader and accelerating crackdown on dissent following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Dozens of independent journalists have been arrested, media outlets shut down, and laws tightened to classify criticism of the government as “extremism” or “disinformation.”

International reaction was swift. The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and the European Union condemned the verdicts and called for the journalists’ immediate release. Memorial, Russia’s Nobel Prize-winning human rights group, has classified all four as political prisoners.

These convictions illustrate the deepening criminalization of independent journalism in Russia. As space for free expression continues to shrink, simply reporting on political opposition — even neutrally — is now treated as a crime. The world watches as Moscow signals that journalism itself has become a threat to the state.

Reference – 

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250415-russia-jails-four-journalists-who-covered-navalny

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/29/russian-journalist-who-covered-navalny-trials-jailed-on-extremism-charges

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/russian-journalist-who-covered-navalnys-trials-is-jailed-in-moscow-on-charges-of-extremism