Russia editor jailed over Ukraine report

A Russian court  ordered the pre-trial detention of a Siberian media person for alleging that 11 riot cop members had refused to join Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine on Friday.

Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, authorities have stepped up measures to silence critics of the military operation in Russia’s seasoned-Western neighbor.

The Investigative Committee, which probes essential instances, said the chief editor of a news internet site in Siberia’s Khakassia place had been placed in pre-trial detention for spreading “intentionally fake records”.

If convicted, the journalist faces up to 10 years in prison, investigators said.

Earlier this week investigators raided his apartment and seized $15,000 and over 1,200 euros in cash, the Investigative Committee said.

The Khakassia branch of the Investigative Committee did not release the name of the journalist but he is understood to be Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of “Novyi Fokus” (New Focus), a news website in Khakassia.

In early April, Afanasyev, citing sources, reported that 11 members of Russia’s OMON riot police faced pressure from authorities after refusing to go to Ukraine.

Afanasyev’s report was widely cited on social media, and on Friday Russia’s media regulator blocked the Russian-language website of the independent news outlet The Moscow Times after it cited the report in an article.

Afanasyev, 45, previously said he was not planning to leave Russia.

“I am not going to flee the country, I am stubborn and want to put up a fight,” he told AFP in early April.

Afanasyev is an award-triumphing editor recognized for overlaying touchy issues in Khakassia. He has for years been embroiled in multiple libel proceedings over his impartial reporting.

Russian government have imposed prison terms of up to 15 years for spreading records about the Russian navy deemed false by the authorities.