Russian court accuses veteran journalist of ‘justifying terrorism’

MOSCOW: A Moscow court Monday accused a veteran journalist of “justifying terrorism” — a charge punishable by up to seven years in prison — in the midst of a huge crackdown on independent media.

Moscow has hugely stepped up a crackdown on dissent as it fights in Ukraine and regularly accuses anyone deemed not to tow the official line of “justifying terrorism”.

Prosecutors accuse Nadezhda Kevorkova, a respected 66-year old journalist who specialises in the Middle East, of “publicly justifying and calling for terrorism … with the aim of shaping public opinion”.

The accusation is based on two social media posts — one from 2020 on the Taliban and a re-post from another journalist in 2018 about a 2005 Islamist raid on the Russian city of Nalchik.

Kevorkova, who was arrested in May, has written for Russia’s top media outlets, including Novaya Gazeta, and has also written for pro-Kremlin media such as Russia Today.

Also read: Russian ship that sank off Spanish coast was blown up in ‘act of terrorism’

At court on Monday, Kevorkova, who had her hair tied back in a bun and was wearing a black dress with white stripes on it, waved to a group of supporters from behind the glass defendant’s cage where she was held.

She told the judge she understood the charges against her and would testify later in the hearing.

Around 20 people, including fellow journalists, had come to support her.

Her lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov said a verdict could be delivered within days.

The Kremlin has exerted a tight grip on Russian media under President Vladimir Putin’s long rule, but its control of the press since launching the 2022 Ukraine offensive has drawn comparisons with Soviet-era censorship and propaganda.