Four Russian journalists were sentenced to 5.5 years each on extremism charges Tuesday over their alleged work with the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalnys organizations, the independent news outlet SOTAvision reported.Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Konstantin Gabov and Sergei Karelinwere detained last year on accusations of gathering material and preparing and editing videosfor Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and the NavalnyLIVE YouTube channel.
All four have maintained their innocence, saying they were being prosecuted for their work as journalists.Moscow's Nagatinsky District Court found the journalists guilty of participating in an extremist community following a trial that was closed to the public, SOTAvision reported from the courtroom on Tuesday.The court also handed the journalists a three-year ban on administering websites.Prosecutors had earlier requested that the journalists be sentenced to five years and 11 months in prison each.SOTAvision, Favorskaya and Krigers employer, has repeatedly denied the accusations against them, saying neither journalist had ever worked for Navalnys organizations.Favorskaya, 35, had covered Navalnys court hearings and filmed the last known video of the Kremlin critic before his Feb.
16, 2024, death in an Arctic penal colony.
He was serving a 19-year prison sentence for extremism when he died under unclear circumstances.Favorskaya previously said she was being persecuted for helping to organize Navalnys funeral, while Kriger, 24, was prosecuted for filming street interviews, SOTAvision said.Gabov, 38, reportedly worked for Reuters and the Russian television channels Moskva 24 and MIR, as well as the Belarusian news agency Belsat.
Karelin, 42, has done work for the Associated Press.Russian authorities banned Navalnys activist and political groups including FBK as extremist in 2021, putting employees, volunteers and supporters at risk of criminal prosecution.In January, three former Navalny journalists weresentencedto prison for up to five and a half years on the same charges of participating in extremist activity.