A Russian court has extended the pre-trial detention of two journalists accused by the authorities of participating in the activities of an “extremist” organisation founded by late opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
The two journalists have experience of worked for international news platforms.
In a statement late on Tuesday, Moscow’s Basmanny court said that the detention of Konstantin Gabov, a freelance journalist who had in the past worked for Reuters, and Sergei Karelin, who had in the past worked for the Associated Press, was extended until late September.
Gabov and Karelin are accused of preparing material for a YouTube channel, “Navalny Live”, run by allies of Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison in February. If convicted they will face up to six years in prison.
Both were shown in a glass cage in the courtroom. Neither could be reached for comment.
“Gabov is a freelance journalist who in the past occasionally contributed to the Reuters news file,” a Reuters spokesperson said when asked for comment.
“Reuters is deeply committed to freedom of the press and opposes the arrest and detention of any journalist for reasons related to reporting,” the spokesman said. “Journalists must be free to report the news in the public interest without fear of harassment or harm, wherever they are.”
Associated Press did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russian authorities have banned Navalny’s movement as extremist and have cast the late politician as a U.S.-backed troublemaker out to foment revolution in order to destabilise Russia.
Many Russian journalists working for non-state outlets fled the country after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and introduced tough laws which mandated jail terms for people deemed to have discredited the Russian army or to be distributing what the authorities regard as fake news about the military.
The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) put out a statement on April 30 demanding the immediate release of the journalists, The IFJ which represents 600,000 media professionals in more than 140 countries, reiterated the condemnation of the Russian authorities’ continued crackdown on independent journalists.
“We stand in full solidarity with Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin and with all independent journalists who are under ongoing pressure from the Kremlin aimed at silencing dissenting voices,’’ the IFJ-EFJ said in the statement.
(With Inputs From Reuters)
