Reports of violence
Russian police arrest five journalists
March 28, 2024, 2:42 p.m
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Russia is more dangerous for journalists than ever before. They are monitored, intimidated and imprisoned. Five reporters are now arrested in Moscow within one day. The police officers are said to have used violence against them or threatened to do so.
Within 24 hours, police in the Russian capital Moscow arrested five journalists working for independent media. A reporter was beaten in custody, the human rights organization OVD-Info said, citing an eyewitness. The police also threatened him with sexual violence.
Journalist Antonina Favorskaya, who works for the news portal Sotavision, was brought in for questioning late on Wednesday after she had already served a ten-day prison sentence for laying flowers at the grave of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Her colleagues Alexandra Astakhova and Anastasia Musatova were also arrested by the police. In the morning, police also arrested Sotavision reporter Ekaterina Anikyevich and Konstantin Sharov from the RusNews news portal while they were filming near Favorskaya’s apartment.
According to Scharow, that could be the reason for the arrest. OVD-Info stated that the allegations were unclear. “They told us that we were drug addicts and that we were hanging around here for no reason,” Sharov was quoted as saying by the RusNews portal. According to him, no arrest report was made. “They kicked me, put a foot on my head, twisted my fingers and laughed at me when I tried to get up,” he said.
The journalist said he suffered a head injury, abrasions, dislocated fingers and sprains. Since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, reporting for journalists in Russia has become increasingly dangerous. If they defy the Kremlin’s representations, they face fines and prison sentences. Almost all independent media organizations have now been banned or blocked.