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Russian authorities have detained and fined the editor-in-chief of renowned independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta over accusations that he “discredited” the military, according to reports.
Sergey Sokolov was arrested outside of his Moscow home and found guilty by Russia’s Center for Combating Extremism of violating wartime censorship laws in court hours later, Novaya Gazeta reported.
Sokolov will pay a fine of 30,000 rubles ($330). If charged again, Sokolov might face jail time.
The paper said the charges — which are “administrative” and are usually punishable by a fine or a short prison sentence — are related to material posted on the outlet’s Telegram channel.
The Telegram post was found in an examination by the authorities to contain “linguistic and psychological signs of verbally discrediting the actions of power structures,” the paper said.
Novaya Gazeta is internationally recognized for its investigations into government corruption and the Chechnya war, with seven of its reporters murdered in alleged connection to their reporting.
Sokolov assumed the role of editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta in November, succeeding Nobel Prize Winner Dmitry Muratov who had resigned to appeal a “foreign agent” designation by Russian authorities.
Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group, said on X that Sokolov’s detention is “further evidence of the draconian censorship in Russia.”
Sokolov’s case comes two days after a Moscow court sentenced Oleg Orlov – the 70-year-old co-chair of Memorial, a group that won a share of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 – to two years in prison over “repeatedly discrediting” the Russian military.
Russian officials banned Novaya Gazeta in March 2022, weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine.
At the time, the Russian parliament had passed legislation outlawing criticizing the Russian military or spreading “false information” regarding the country’s actions in Ukraine.
After several government warnings that the newsroom’s coverage of the war could lead to criminal prosecution, authorities blocked its website and revoked its print and online media licenses.
Nevertheless, Novaya Gazeta has continued publishing reports through its channel on the messaging app Telegram and YouTube.
Novaya Gazeta – one of Russia’s last independent media – is among dozens of Russian independent media outlets to be banned. Other publications have said they are in danger of going bankrupt because of government fines and restrictions.
Russian newspaper Sobesednik reported last week that its print issues – portraying deceased opposition leader Alexei Navalny on the front page – were yanked from newsstands by Moscow officials.
Sobesednik found out its 154,000 weekly copies were being yanked through a phone call and with no official notice, BBC Russia reported.
“They can always say: ‘No censorship, the newspaper shut down because it couldn’t sustain itself financially,” the publication’s editor-in-chief said in an interview with Reuters.