Two Russian journalists charged over involvement with ‘extremist’ organisations

Two Russian journalists have been arrested for their alleged involvement with “extremist” organisations, the Associated Press reported Sunday.

Sergey Karelin, 41, a dual Russian-Israeli citizen who has worked for the Associated Press and Deutsche Welle, among others, was arrested on Friday in the Murmansk region in Russia’s far north. He is accused of “involvement with an extremist organisation” for alleged ties to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) of slain opposition politician Alexey Navalny. The Associated Press issued a statement saying that it was very concerned by his detention.

Reuters producer Konstantin Gabov was arrested Saturday and charged under the same articles. The Moscow court press service said Gabov had “prepared photo and video materials for the Navalny LIVE YouTube channel”. He will be held in pretrial detention until 27 June.

If found guilty, the men face prison sentences of between two and six years. Both Gabov and Karelin denied the charges, according to AP.

The arrests follow Forbes journalist Sergey Mingazov being placed under house arrest on Saturday after he reposted a two-year-old post on his Telegram channel about the civilian massacre in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.

SOTAVision journalist Antonina Favorskaya, who had covered the Navalny trials, was remanded in custody on the same charge in March. She too was alleged to have ties to the FBK, which was designated extremist in June 2021.