Mikhail sentenced to five years in jail for writing the truth
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Russian court’s sentencing of Mikhail Afanasyev, founder and publisher of online magazine Novy Fokus, to 5.5 years imprisonment for allegedly using his position to spread false information about the Russian army.
Currently The Committee to Protect Journalists has informations on 19 journalists emprisoned in Russia.
A Russian court has sentenced Siberian journalist Mikhail Afanasyev to more than 5 years in prison for spreading “fake news” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Afanasyev, the chief editor of the republic of Khakasia’s Novyi Fokus outlet, was among the first to be detained on Russia’s wartime censorship laws in the spring of 2022.
Investigators accused Afanasyev of publishing “inaccurate information” in an April 2022 report on 11 Khakasia riot police officers refusing to be deployed in Ukraine.
The City Court in the Siberian city of Abakan on Thursday sentenced editor Mikhail Afanasyev to 5,5 years in jail for publishing information about police officers from the region refusing to participate in Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine.
