Russia: 5 independent journalists arrested. The Kremlin is open to the release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich

Russian authorities have arrested five journalists working for some independent media, while the Kremlin has opened up to the release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich through a prisoner exchange.

A wave of arrests
Between yesterday evening and the early hours of today, according to the NGO Ovd-Info, the police arrested the journalists of SOTAvisionAntonina Favorskaia, Alexandra Astakhova, Anastassia Moussatova and Ekaterina Anikievitch, and the chronicler of RusNewsKonstantin Jarov.

Antonina Favorskaia, as reported from the Russian portal Mediazonehas been following the trials involving Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's opponent, for years died in prison on February 16th in circumstances yet to be clarified. It was she who shot the last video showing Navalny still alive during a court hearing on February 15. Second MediazoneFavorskaya was arrested on March 17, a few hours after placing flowers on the grave of the deceased opponent.

But last night, according to Ovd-Info, after spending 10 days in detention for disobedience to the security authorities, she was arrested again immediately after being released. The woman's lawyer, Mikhail Birioukov, told SOTAvision that after the arrest the authorities searched both the journalist's apartment and that of her parents.

Two other journalists from the same newspaper, Alexandra Astakhova and Anastassia Moussatova, who came to meet their colleague after her release, were also arrested and taken to the barracks for questioning. Then during the night the authorities also arrested Ekaterina Anikievitch, also from SOTAvisionand Konstantin Jarov by RusNews. The latter, according to the Russian newspaper, would have filmed the arrest of Antonina Favorskaia near her home.

Not only that, according to a witness quoted by the NGO Ovd-Info, Jarov was beaten and threatened with sexual abuse for having carried out those shots. “They kicked me, put their foot on my head, twisted my fingers and laughed at me when I tried to get up,” said Jarov, according to RusNews. Following the beatings, the journalist suffered a head injury, several wounds, the dislocation of some fingers and the distortion of at least one limb.

The Gershkovich case
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has opened up to the possible release of the journalist Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia since March 29th on charges of espionage and who will remain under arrest until at least June 30th, through a prisoner exchange.

“Regarding issues related to the exchange, we have repeatedly emphasized that there are some contacts, but they must be carried out in absolute silence,” Russian government spokesman Dimitri Peskov said at a press conference today in response to a question on when it will be examined. the case of the American reporter and whether a prisoner exchange is possible. So far, added the Russian official, “public statements (on the case, ed.) have been an obstacle (to the exchange, ed.)”.

The 32-year-old, accredited by the Moscow Foreign Ministry to work in Russia as a journalist, was arrested by the Federal Security Service in March last year while he was reporting in the city of Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains region. Russian authorities claim that Gershkovich, who has since been held in Lefortovo prison in Moscow, is a spy, an accusation always denied by both the reporter and the United States. This week, a Russian court extended Gershkovich's detention until June 30, and he faces up to 20 years in prison.

In February, during a long interview with the former host of Fox News Tucker Carlson, it was Russian President Vladimir Putin who had opened up the possibility of freeing the journalist Wall Street Journal, fearing an agreement with the USA. Gershkovich, Putin said without providing any evidence, “worked for the US secret service and some other agencies.”

But then, without mentioning him, he suggested a possible exchange with the hitman Vadim Krasikov, convicted of killing a Chechen militiaman in Berlin in 2019, defining him as “a person serving a sentence in a country allied with the United States, a man who, out of patriotic sentiment, he eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals.”

Since then, the White House has refused to comment on the Russian leader's statements, reiterating that “Evan Gershkovich should never have been arrested”, indeed he should be released immediately.

Without an agreement, however, the reporter risks spending a long time in prison. Russian law gives judicial authorities wide discretion in matters of pre-trial detention while a conviction for espionage can result in a prison sentence of between 10 and 20 years.