Journalism is a crime there! A journalist who collaborated with Radio Liberty gets sentenced in russia

A court in Chita, russia, has sentenced journalist Nika Novak to four years in prison, finding her guilty of “collaborating with a foreign organization on a confidential basis.”

This was reported by the newsroom of the Sybir.Realii project, citing sources familiar with the Nika Novak case. It is noted that the defendant did not commit any violation of russian laws except for cooperation in the field of journalism. Thus, in russia, the very profession of a truthful journalist is already treated as a crime.

As can be seen from Nika Novak‘s creative path, she is a gifted, professionally mature journalist who has no relation to activities dangerous to the state. Nika Novak reportedly worked for the ChitaMedia publication in Western Siberia. She later was the editor-in-chief of the Zab.ru website. Since 2021, she has been managing the Gifted Center in Chita, where she held musical and poetic evenings. Since 2022, she has been working as a freelance correspondent for Radio Liberty.

Nika Novak was detained in Moscow in 2023. In the fall of 2024, she was transferred to Transbaikalia, where the trial was held in closed session. As reported, Nika Novak‘s case is classified, and the details of the trial and charges are not disclosed. Thus, true journalism in russia is equated by its officials with anti-state intelligence classified activities, which is nonsense since journalism is a completely open legal activity for the collection, processing, and publication of socially important information.

The Memorial project called Support for Political Prisoners recognized Nika Novak as a political prisoner.

The article on cooperation with a foreign organization on a confidential basis appeared in the russian Criminal Code in 2022. It allows prosecution for transferring information to foreign organizations despite the fact that it does not even contain state secrets.

The first person prosecuted under this article in russia was activist Pavlo Pishchulin from the Penza region. The case against him was opened in October 2022. In July 2024, Pishchulin was sentenced to five years in a general regime colony.

According to the investigation, he corresponded with representatives of the Ukrainian special services. The press release specified that having learned about his contacts, russian law enforcement officers began communicating with Pishchulin on behalf of Ukrainian special services; thus, they simply resorted to provocation, for which Pishchulin was later convicted. Such provocative methods are used quite often by russian special services.

NUJU Information Service