A journalist in far eastern Russia has been sentenced to four years in prison for alleged collaboration with a foreign entity, a ruling made by the Zabaikalsky Regional Court in Chita on Tuesday.
This case centers on Nika Novak, aged 24, who was found guilty of working with a representative from a foreign media organization. According to the court, Novak received monetary compensation to assist in creating disinformation aimed at discrediting both the Russian military and government agencies.
The court contended that her actions were designed to tarnish Russia’s reputation and create instability within the country. Memorial, a noted human rights organization, has categorized Novak as a political prisoner.
While the precise reasons behind her arrest remain unclear, it is known that Novak had previously been a freelance journalist for the U.S. government-funded outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as reported by Siberia.Realities, which is affiliated with RFE/RL.
Additionally, she served as the editor-in-chief for a local news website called Zab.ru in Chita and was involved in organizing cultural events featuring music and poetry. Chita itself is a small city in eastern Russia, closer to Japan than to the capital, Moscow.
The Russian government has enacted foreign agent laws to restrict freedom of expression, with RFE/RL being one of the prominent targets of these regulations.
In 2017, Russian authorities mandated that RFE/RL register as a foreign agent, a decision that has been contested by the organization in the European Court of Human Rights. Since then, RFE/RL has faced fines totaling millions of dollars as a result of its operations in Russia.
In February, the organization was declared undesirable and subsequently banned from operating within the country.
Earlier this year, journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, a U.S. citizen working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was convicted of disseminating false information about the Russian military. She was later released in a prisoner exchange with the U.S.
Reports from OVD-Info, a prominent Russian rights group that monitors political detentions, indicate that over 1,000 individuals have been prosecuted under criminal cases related to their opposition to the war. However, Memorial has noted that Novak had previously shared posts on social media that appeared to support Russia’s military actions.
Novak was detained in Moscow in December 2023 and faced a trial over 6,000 kilometers (about 3,728 miles) away in Chita, conducted behind closed doors.
In a recent message posted on her behalf via the social media platform Telegram, Novak shared her experience of being transported from the infamous Lefortovo prison in Moscow to Chita, a journey that took approximately seven hours. She expressed concerns about her lack of communication with her mother, who has been named as a witness in her case, and indicated that all her interactions are likely being monitored.
“I feel some pressure, but I try not to lose heart,” she wrote in her message.