SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 3.13.2025
UPDATE
On Thursday, Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin were set to deliver their closing arguments. The verdict must be handed down within five days.
Now, this deadline has been pushed back by a week, with the defendants now scheduled to make their final statements on March 20. The circumstances for the delay were unknown at the time of publishing.
The trial has taken place behind closed doors. Few details are known, but the imprisoned journalists (outlined below) have been writing letters to stay in touch with the outside world.
3.12.2025
The convicted felon Donald Trump must be salivating as four Russian journalists stand trial and face six year prison terms for alleged “extremist” ties. The entire assault on the press is nothing more than a show trial so Vladimir Putin can show the Russian people who’s boss.
Two thugs agree the Press is an “Enemy of the State.”
Trump’s thug buddy Vladimir Putin treats journalists in a manner the criminal American president wishes he could introduce to America. Harassment, kangaroo court and imprisonment.
Fortunately there is the First Amendment in America which protects all journalists, including bloggers. Even the wannabe dictator Trump will be trumped in his rhetorical assault on the free press.
One has to hope that a free press in America survives Donald Trump.
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 3.12.2025
Four Russian journalists are currently on trial in Moscow, charged with involvement in an “extremist” group.
The group in question is the Foundation for Fighting Corruption, founded by the late opposition leader Alexei Navanly, who died in early 2024 in an Arctic penal colony under unclear circumstances. In 2021, Russian authorities designated and banned the foundation as extremist.
All four defendants deny the charges and argue they did not work for the foundation but rather were reporting on it independently.
On Thursday, Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin will deliver their closing arguments. The verdict must be handed down within five days.
If found guilty, the defendants face up to six years in prison. The Russian human rights project Political Prisoners Memorial has classified them political prisoners.
The trial has taken place behind closed doors. Few details are known, but the imprisoned journalists (outlined below) have been writing letters to stay in touch with the outside world.
Top photo: Antonina Kravtsova in handcuffs being taken to court is more widely known under her pseudonym Antonina Favorskaya
https://www.dw.com/en/undue-process-russian-journalists-await-verdict-in-moscow/a-71901887
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