Alexei Navalny’s team has condemned the case (File)
Moscow, Russia:
A Moscow court on Friday ordered a journalist who covered the trials of late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to be held in pre-trial detention on “extremism” charges.
Prosecutors say Antonina Kravtsova, a correspondent for the independent SotaVision outlet, participated in an “extremist organisation”, charges which carry up to six years in prison.
The Kremlin outlawed Navalny’s organisations as “extremist” before his death and has carried out a crackdown against his allies who stayed in Russia.
“The Basmanny District Court ordered Antonina Kravtsova to be remanded in custody for a period of two months,” the press service for Moscow courts said in a post on Telegram.
Kravtsova, who also goes by the name Antonina Favorskaya, regularly covered Navalny’s trials. She filmed a court hearing of him a day before he died in an Arctic prison colony last month.
She was arrested upon leaving jail earlier this week, where she had already served a 10-day sentence on charges of disobeying police orders.
She had originally been detained hours after visiting Navalny’s grave in southern Moscow during the Russian presidential election.
Prosecutors say Kravtsova posted materials on Navalny’s social media platforms that are banned in Russia.
In court on Friday, Kravtsova said the case was retribution for an article she wrote about how Navalny was “tortured” in prison, SotaVision reported.
The article was shared on X by Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, who described it as an “important text”.
Navalny’s team has condemned the case and on Friday said the Russian regime was trying to create a “new wave of fear” among its critics.
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