Russia’s state financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring has added journalist Artyom Kriger to its list of “terrorists and extremists,” his employer SOTAvision reported on Thursday.
Kriger, 23, was arrested last week on charges related to the “extremism” case against late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, according to SOTAvision, an independent news outlet.
The journalist was accused of “participation in an extremist community” and placed in pre-trial detention until Aug. 18.
Russian authorities designated Navalny’s activist network, including the disbanded Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), as “extremist” in 2021, placing employees, volunteers and supporters at risk of criminal prosecution.
If found guilty of participating in an “extremist” organization, Kriger faces up to six years in prison.
Another SOTAvision journalist, Antonina Favorskaya, was arrested in March on the same charges after she was accused of “collecting material, preparing and editing videos for FBK.” She was also placed in pre-trial detention until Aug. 3.
SOTAvision has repeatedly denied the accusations against Kriger and Favorskaya, saying that the journalists never worked for Navalny’s organizations.