International

Russia journalist jailed for seven years for criticizing Ukraine war

A Russian court on Wednesday, March 6, sentenced a journalist to seven years in prison for criticizing the Ukraine offensive in social media posts. Roman Ivanov, 51, was found guilty of spreading "false information" about Russia's armed forces and punished under Moscow's strict military censorship laws, AFP reports.

Moscow has used laws against "discrediting" the armed forces or publishing "false information" to stamp out public criticism of its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine.

"Peace and freedom," Ivanov shouted as he left the courtroom after the sentence. "We're with you. You are not alone," his applauding supporters shouted back.

In social media posts published in 2022 on the Telegram and VKontake sites, Ivanov criticized Russia's military offensive in Ukraine and its actions in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.

He was arrested last year and pleaded not guilty in court. In a final statement at a previous hearing, he said: "Journalism no longer exists in Russia." "We must ask ourselves why we are sowing suffering and unhappiness all around us, why our country has turned into an avalanche of suffering and unhappiness", he added.

Ivanov used to work for a local state-run TV channel but was fired in 2021 after reporting on alleged corruption, electoral fraud and ecological problems in Korolyov, a town northeast of Moscow.

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