Six journalists working for independent media in Russia were arrested in just a few hours this week, on the eve of the anniversary of the detention of American reporter Evan Gershkovich in the city of Yekaterinburg.
Among the journalists is Antonina Favorskaya, who covered the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Thursday.
Favorskaya, who works for independent Russian media company SOTA Vision, is accused of “extremist activities” over her reporting on Navalny and his work, the media freedom organization said in a statement.
On Friday, Gershkovich marked the grim milestone of a year in Russian detention. Shortly after his arrest, the Wall Street Journal reporter was accused of espionage – a charge strongly denied by Gershkovich, his employer and the US government. He was the first journalist to be arrested on such charges since the Cold War, and the Russian government has yet to provide any evidence to support its claim.
Favorskaya is the journalist who filmed what would become Navalny’s last video before he died. The opposition activist could be seen laughing and joking as he appeared at a court hearing via video link from the penal colony where he was serving his sentence.
The Investigative Committee, Russia’s equivalent of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, had requested Favorskaya’s arrest for “participation in an extremist organization,” Russia’s state news agency TASS reported.
According to the independent media outlet Mediazona, Favorskaya has covered all of Navalny’s court hearings in the past two years and traveled to the penal colonies where he served his sentence. She also followed developments at the cemetery where Navalny was buried.
The six journalists, including Favorskaya, were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday, RSF said.
“With six new arrests in the space of a few hours, accompanied by violence, threats and searches, the authorities are stepping up their persecution of the last independent journalists and media in Russia,” said Jeanne Cavelier, head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Middle East. Asia desk.
“RSF condemns the arbitrary arrests and unacceptable violence against these journalists,” Cavelier added.
Favorskaya was arrested while being released after being held in Moscow for 10 days on charges of “disobedience to the police,” RSF said.
She was detained along with two other journalists, Alexandra Astakhova and Anastasia Musayeva, who came to meet her and are now “involved in the case as witnesses,” according to SOTA Vision. “All three were searched.”
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