Detention of journalist in Russia over Ukraine conflict sparks international concern News
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Detention of journalist in Russia over Ukraine conflict sparks international concern

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday called on Russian authorities to halt legal action against a journalist who criticized the invasion of Ukraine and faces a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years.

CPJ program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna said the case against journalist Ekaterina Barabash “demonstrate[s] how Russian authorities are weaponizing ‘fake’ news legislation to silence those who dare to contradict Kremlin-approved narratives on the Ukraine war.”

Barabash, a film critic for independent media outlet Republic, was detained on February 25 and then put under house arrest the next day by a Moscow court for posting “fake news.” Barabash is to remain under house arrest until April 25, according to her son. She is also reportedly prohibited from publishing anything or communicating via phone or social media.

Barabash was charged under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which relates to the “public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” The case concerns several posts on the journalist’s personal page on social networks published in 2022 and 2023 in which she criticized the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine.

Rights organizations have reported that the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression have decreased significantly in Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In an effort to eliminate criticism of their actions, the Russian government implemented restrictive laws to control the information space. The law on “foreign agents,” for example, provides a fairly broad definition of a “foreign agent” that targets practically any individual deemed to be “under foreign influence” and sentences opposition activists. According to the CPJ’s latest annual data on prisoners, a fifth of detained journalists in Russia had been jailed for “spreading fake news” as of December 1, 2024.

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