Five journalists working for independent media have been arrested in Russia, where a crackdown on any challenge to the government is in full swing, AFP reports.
Overnight, police arrested Ekaterina Anikievich of the SOTAvision media outlet and Konstantin Dzharov of RusNews, according to OVD-Info, an NGO specializing in monitoring the crackdown in Russia.
According to a witness at the scene quoted by the organization, Dzharov was beaten and threatened with sexual violence by police officers.
"They kicked me, put their foot on my head, twisted my fingers and mocked me when I tried to stand up," Dzharov was quoted as saying by his media organization RusNews. He said he suffered head trauma, abrasions, dislocated fingers, and sprains.
He said the violence was provoked by the filming of a movie near the home of another journalist, Antonina Favorskaya of SOTAvision, who was arrested as soon as she was released after a 10-day administrative detention for disobeying police.
That journalist's home was searched, as was that of her parents, said her lawyer, Mikhail Biryukov, quoted by SOTAvision.
According to the same source, two other journalists, Alexandra Astakhova and Anastasia Musatova, who came to meet their colleague upon her release from custody, were also arrested and taken away for questioning by investigators.
According to the news website Mediazona, which specializes in tracking court cases, the case against Favorskaya is linked to the activities of the movement of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who died in prison in February. His organizations are classified as "extremist" by the Russian justice system.
Antonina Favorskaya covered the trials of Alexei Navalny for years. It was she who filmed the latest video showing the opposition leader still alive on 15 February during a court hearing.
According to Mediazona, she was arrested on 17 March, a few hours after she had laid flowers at her opponent's grave. / BGNES
