Journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova was fined in a criminal case for «justifying terrorism». Judge Roman Vladimirov of the Second Western District Court sentenced the journalist to a fine of 700 thousand rubles. Taking into account the time spent in pre-trial detention, the fine was reduced to 600 thousand rubles, reported a correspondent of «Mediazona»** from the courtroom.
The prosecution requested six years in a penal colony for Kevorkova, a half-million ruble fine, and a ban on administering websites for five years.
The case against Kevorkova was initiated due to two posts on a Telegram channel. The first post was a reprint of a 2010 text by journalist Orkhan Dzhemal. Kevorkova posted it two months after Dzhemal's murder in Africa. In the short text, he spoke about the repression of Muslims in Kabardino-Balkaria and recalled his acquaintance with Anzor Astemirov, who was killed by security forces and had transitioned from peaceful preaching to armed resistance. The second post was about the «Taliban», which is currently recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia. However, Russian authorities plan to remove the «Taliban» from the register of terrorist organizations, as they have repeatedly stated publicly.
In her closing arguments, Nadezhda Kevorkova noted that the expression «The Taliban are handsome» was ironic. In 2018, her channel had 800 readers. Orkhan Dzhemal's article had existed for 8 years at that point and was not banned or recognized as «justifying terrorism».
«I do not have special knowledge of what constitutes justifying terrorism and what does not. This circumstance cannot hinder journalistic coverage of certain events. If constantly afraid, a journalist will start submitting press releases of various states under their signature», Kevorkova stated.
Lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov supported his client, noting that there is no evidence that the publications had any impact on the readers. He believes that operative officer Maxim Britsyn deliberately sought material that could compromise Nadezhda Kevorkova.
The prosecution stated that it considers Kevorkova's guilt fully proven. The court also found the journalist guilty, but in an uncharacteristic manner, limited itself to a fine instead of a real sentence. Kevorkova had been in pre-trial detention since May last year.
* Included in the list of «terrorists and extremists».
** Recognized as a «foreign agent» in Russia.
Photo: Mediazona