Six journalists were arrested in Russia in March, according to Reporters Without Borders. The British newspaper The Guardian reported that they are targets of a government campaign against the press and opposition.
Antonina Favorskaya is one of the cases. A Moscow court ordered her to remain in prison until May 28. Favorskaya was arrested while laying flowers at the grave of Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader who died in an Arctic penal colony in February.
Favorskaya covered Navalny’s hearings in Russian courts for years, as well as those of other critics of Vladimir Putin’s regime. The accusation alleges that the journalist gathered material, edited and produced videos for the Foundation to Combat Corruption, led by Navalny. The organization was declared extremist by Russian authorities.
Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokeswoman, denied Favorskaya’s involvement in producing materials for the organization. She stated that Favorskaya became a target of the Kremlin for carrying out her work as a journalist.
Alexandra Astakhova and Anastasia Musatova, colleagues of Favorskaya, were also arrested, according to SOTAvision, an independent Russian outlet.
Favorskaya’s arrest coincides with the first anniversary of the arrest of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, from the Wall Street Journal, on charges of espionage.
O The New York Times reported that Russia signaled that it was open to an exchange of prisoners with the United States, but only after the verdict of the journalist from Wall Street Journal.