Russian independent journalists sign open letter in support of detained reporter Antonina Favorskaya

A number of Russian independent media outlets and human rights groups have signed an open letter in support of journalist Antonina Favorskaya, who was remanded in custody on Friday for alleged involvement in an “extremist community”.

Favorskaya, a journalist with SOTAvision independent media outlet that
published
the open letter on Saturday, was charged for her supposed ties to slain opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which the Russian authorities deemed an extremist organisation in 2021.

The Free Favorskaya group insists she has never been an FBK member and had simply covered the court cases against Navalny and the activities held to honour his memory after his death in February.

The letter, signed by SOTAvision, Mediazona, Novaya Gazeta Europe, Meduza, Deutsche Welle and other outlets, calls on the international community to “pay close attention” to Favorskaya’s case “within the context of the worsening anti-democratic regime in Russia”.

“The Russian authorities have developed a definitive formula that recognises not only opposition politicians as criminals and ‘extremists’, but also the lawyers who defend them and the journalists who cover their struggle,” the letter reads.

The letter also called on the international community to expand the emergency evacuation programs for Russian independent journalists, volunteers and human rights activists.