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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Four Russian journalists went on trial in Moscow on Wednesday after being accused of working for an anti-corruption group founded by the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, which was designated by authorities as an extremist organization in 2021.
Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Sergey Karelin and Konstantin Gabov were arrested earlier this year and charged with involvement with an extremist group, a criminal offense punishable by up to six years in prison. All four have rejected the charges.
The trial, which is being held behind closed doors, is the latest step in the Kremlin's unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has reached unprecedented levels after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. The authorities have targeted opposition figures, independent journalists, rights activists and ordinary Russians critical of the Kremlin with criminal and misdemeanor charges, jailing hundreds and prompting thousands to leave the country, fearing prosecution.
The four journalists were accused of working with Navalny's Foundation for Fighting Corruption, which was designated as extremist and outlawed by the Russian authorities in 2021. That designation has been widely seen as politically motivated.
Navalny was President Vladimir Putin's fiercest and most prominent foe and relentlessly campaigned against official corruption in Russia. In February, Navalny died in a remote Arctic prison while serving a 19-year sentence on a number of charges, including running an extremist group, which he had rejected as politically driven.
Favorskaya and Kriger worked with SotaVision, an independent Russian news outlet that covers protests and political trials. Gabov is a freelance producer who has worked for multiple organizations, including Reuters. Karelin is a freelance video journalist, he has done work for Western media outlets, including The Associated Press.
As they were led into the courtroom on Wednesday, a crowd of supporters greeted them with applause. In the courtroom, the four smiled at their loved ones from a glass defendant's cage.
Addressing reporters from behind the glass, Kriger cast the case against him and his fellow journalists as a cautionary tale and urged journalists still in Russia to leave the country: “It is not a joke, any person can be charged with anything."
Favorskaya, in turn, spoke about hope: “Everything that is happening now, the darkness that surrounds us, it is not forever, and we will definitely see the country that Alexei (Navalny) dreamed of, we will definitely live in a country where rights and freedoms will be (respected) and journalists and other people will not be jailed for their views."
Shortly after the hearing began, the judge ordered to hold the proceedings behind closed doors upon a request from the prosecution, even though the defense objected to it.
There was more applause and cheering for the four defendants two hours later, as they were escorted out of the courtroom, even as the bailiff ordered those waiting for the defendants in the hallway to stay silent.
“My life right now revolves around Seryozha (Karelin) and sorting out his life (behind bars),” Karelin's sister, Olga Karelina, told the AP in court on Wednesday. She is sending him care packages, sorting out paperwork, exchanging letters with him and helping others send him letters, she said. Karelin, who was arrested in April and initially “petrified,” is now feeling much better, according to his sister: “He developed a healthy anger, which is good.”
Letters of support make a difference, Gabov's lawyer Irina Biryukova told AP earlier this week, adding that her client "is getting a lot of letters from people he filmed once for his stories.” They tell him they remember him filming them and are stunned by what happened to him, Biryukova said. He is really grateful for all the support he is getting, she said.
SotaVision founder Alexandra Ageyeva views the case as a continuation of the unabating pressure on the outlet, which was last year designated by the authorities as a “foreign agent” — a label that brings about additional government scrutiny and aims at discrediting the recipient. In an interview with the AP, she said that her journalists are regularly detained while working in the field, and recalled instances when Kriger, who actively covered various protests, and Favorskaya, who in the months leading up to her arrest focused Navalny's multiple court cases and lawsuits, were being followed.
So when it comes to the trial, “we expect the worst,” she said. “And we expect a further crackdown on our news outlet. Of course, we're not violating any laws, we're working completely openly. But, apparently, independent journalism is too dangerous for the current regime,” Ageyeva said.