MEZIESBLOG

In the latest example of a systematic campaign to restrict media freedom in Russia, the editor of an independent newspaper has reportedly been fined.

Sergei Sokolov, of the Novaya Gazeta publication, had previously been detained by authorities for discrediting the army.

Mr Sokolov said he did not agree with the charge against him.

The official Telegram channel for Moscow’s court system said the case stemmed from an article published in the newspaper in December 2023, entitled “Nobody’s boys”, about Russians orphans who signed army contracts to fight in Ukraine.

Novaya Gazeta said in an online report that Mr Sokolov’s detention was over coverage of the Russian army in an article, but did not provide more details.

A district court in Moscow subsequently fined Sokolov 30,000 rubles (£259.86) today after finding him guilty of discrediting the Russian armed forces, an administrative offence.

Russian news agency TASS reported that Sokolov had “posted material on the Novaya Gazeta Telegram channel” which showed “signs of verbally discrediting the actions” of the army.

Novaya Gazeta is known for its investigations, which have sometimes taken aim at the Kremlin, government policy and top officials.

Its former editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, a Nobel prize winning journalist, stepped down in September to challenge his designation by authorities as a “foreign agent”, a label Moscow uses for people it deems to be working against Russian state interests.