#Russian #journalists #arrested #extremism
Konstantin Gabov is a freelance producer and has worked, among other things, for the news agency, according to the court. He was arrested in the Russian capital Moscow and is suspected of “participation in an extremist organization”.
The same suspicion applies Sergej Karelin, who holds both Israeli and Russian citizenship, was arrested in the Murmansk region of northern Russia. He is a video journalist and has also worked for the German Deutsche Welle and the AP news agency, among other things.
“The Associated Press (AP) is deeply concerned about the detention of Russian video journalist Sergei Karelin,” the news agency said in a statement. Gabov also worked for Russian television channels Moskva 24 and Mir 24 as well as Poland-based Belarusian Belsat TV.
The two men are accused of having prepared material for a YouTube channel run by Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation. Navalny died under unclear circumstances in an Arctic penal colony in February – murdered according to the outside world, blood clot according to state media.
Alexei Navalny. Photo: Magnus Hallgren
Both journalists face between two and six years in prison for the alleged crimes, but both deny the accusations leveled against them. By “extremist organization”, the court means Navalny’s movement, whose YouTube channel is still active.
The already limited media freedom in Russia was tightened even more when new, harsh laws were introduced after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Gabov and Karelin are two in a row of journalists who have been arrested since then.
Russian authorities have arrested several journalists around the country during March. Among others, Antonina Favorskaja, who reported on the trials of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny for several years and filmed his last clips before his death.
The most internationally noticed case concerns American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested last year and risks 20 years in prison for “espionage”. Since October, the Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva has been detained for being a “foreign agent” and last week the opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison for “treason”.
Read more:
The press organizations’ warning: Russia is moving towards a media vacuum
Independent Russian journalists have found a haven in Riga
Anna-Lena Laurén: I knew I would be kicked out, it was just a matter of when
Russian opposition profile gets the longest sentence
Podcast: Evan Gershkovich – Accused of Spying on the Country He Loves
