Alleged work for foundation
Journalist has to be in custody for reporting on Navalny
March 29, 2024, 6:12 p.m
The Kremlin has long been repressive against journalists. Now it hits Antonina Favorskaja, a woman who has been reporting for a long time on the trials against Alexei Navalny. The court orders her to be taken into custody because she is allegedly involved in his foundation. Kremlin critics reject this as a pretext.
After years of reporting on Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who has now died, a journalist has been arrested in Russia. The Basmanny Court in Moscow justified Antonina Favorskaya’s pre-trial detention on the grounds that she is said to have been involved with Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, which Russia banned as an “extremist organization” a long time ago. However, both her media outlet “SotaVision” and Navalny’s team reject this as an excuse to silence the critical journalist. She faces up to six years in prison.
Contrary to what is alleged in the indictment, Favorskaya never published materials for the Navalny fund FBK, wrote Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysch on the X platform. “A journalist is being accused because of her journalistic activities,” she added. “It’s no surprise, but what a darkness.” Since the war of aggression against Ukraine began more than two years ago, Russia has become increasingly repressive against critical voices in its own country.
According to her media, Favorskaya reported on almost all of the trials that continued against Navalny even after his imprisonment at the beginning of 2021. After his death on February 16, she also visited the opposition politician’s grave in Moscow several times and documented how people continued to come in droves and leave flowers for days after the funeral.
Arrested on day of release
After one of these visits to the cemetery, she was arrested by police officers in a café on March 17th and initially put in a holding cell for ten days for allegedly resisting police officers. On the day of her scheduled release, Favorskaya was arrested again – this time on charges of involvement in the Navalny organization.
Several of the journalist’s colleagues and a representative of another media outlet critical of the Kremlin were also arrested. He later reported that he was beaten by security officers and threatened with sexual violence, as the civil rights organization OVD-Info reported.