A Moscow court has placed journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova in pre-trial detention for two months on charges of “justifying terrorism” over posts she made on social, the Russian capital’s court system announced Tuesday.
Kevorkova, 65, is a Russian war correspondent, author, and filmmaker who has written about the Middle East and Russia’s North Caucasus for both independent and state-funded media. She currently runs a Telegram channel mainly dedicated to news about the Israel-Hamas war.
The journalist was arrested on Monday after police searched her Moscow apartment, according to prominent lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov.
Moscow’s Basmanny District Court ruled Tuesday to place Kevorkova in pre-trial detention until July 6, according to the Moscow court system’s press service.
“Investigators believe Kevorkova posted a publication in her Telegram channel containing signs of justifying the Taliban’s activities,” it said. A judge denied the journalist’s request to be placed under house arrest.
Kevorkova denies the accusations against her but is cooperating with the investigators, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Her son, independent Moscow-based video journalist Vasily Polonsky, and ex-husband, another journalist Maxim Shevchenko, both maintain that Kevorkova is innocent.
“But times have changed a lot. The country is in a major war [and] the laws in this war are harsh,” Shevchenko told reporters outside the courtroom after the ruling on Tuesday.
“I hope Nadezhda realizes the seriousness of the charges against her,” he added. “And I also hope that those who brought these charges against her will treat her with leniency, mercy, and deep human understanding… She’s not a villain in any way.”