“A journalist in Russia has been sentenced to two years in prison for expressing opposition to the war in Ukraine. The move highlights ongoing concerns about freedom of speech and dissent in the country.”Russia has made on-the-ground reporting increasingly dangerous and illegal since it sent troops into Ukraine two years ago, arresting and fining those who defy the Kremlin’s narratives.
Moscow:
A Russian court on Thursday sentenced a journalist to two years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s full-scale military offensive on Ukraine, as police in Moscow detained five other reporters over a 24-hour period.
Russia has made on-the-ground reporting increasingly dangerous and illegal since it sent troops into Ukraine two years ago, arresting and fining those who defy the Kremlin’s narratives.
“This is exactly the punishment the prosecution asked for,” OVD-Info said. “In addition to being imprisoned, Feldman was banned from administering websites for two years.”Russia Initiates Hundreds of Criminal Cases Against Anti-Ukraine Campaign Critics.
Under military censorship laws, Russians who criticise the offensive online or journalists that 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 for interrogation late Wednesday after serving 10 days’ jail for laying flowers at late opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s grave.
Her colleagues Alexandra Astakhova and Anastasia Musatova, who came to meet her at the detention centre where she was set to be released, were also detained by police, SOTAvision said.
