Roman Ivanov, a Russian journalist and blogger, was sentenced today to seven years in prison for a message on social media criticizing Russia’s attack on Ukraine, according to a statement from the employees of the media outlet RusNews where he worked.
A court in the small town of Karoliov, located 6 kilometers northwest of Moscow, found 51-year-old Ivanov guilty of “spreading false information” about the Russian military, according to a RusNews Telegram post. The prosecutor had requested that he be sentenced to 8 years in prison.
The journalist on his personal Telegram channel had written in one of his posts about the killings of civilians in Butsa, citing a relevant UN report and articles from The New York Times newspaper, while in another post he had mentioned the Russian missile attacks in Ukraine. At the court, as the Mediazona website writes, about 50 people came to show their support for Ivanov.
Immediately after the verdict was announced, his supporters in the corridors of the court shouted: “Roman, we are with you. You are not alone,” according to an AFP journalist who was in court.
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced journalist Roman Ivanov to seven years in prison for criticizing the war in Ukraine on social media.
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“It’s my duty”
His mother, Alla Ivanova, who gave an interview to the press, was quick to denounce the fabricated accusation. “He was fighting for people, helping them,” he said.
Ivanov pleaded not guilty. “I am a journalist and my duty is to provide information to the readers. And I provide these. Whether or not they undermine the authority of the military, that is up to the man himself, who takes the information and analyzes it,” Ivanov said at one of the court’s sessions.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, hundreds of journalists and media workers were forced to leave Russia, while 15 journalists have been arrested.
During his apology, the Russian journalist knelt down and apologized to the Ukrainian citizens. “I want to apologize to all Ukrainians, to whom our country has caused grief,” Ivanov said.
Source: RES-MPE
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