Russian authorities have detained freelance journalist Konstantin Gabov since April 2024 on extremism charges.
Gabov has worked with Reuters, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
On April 27, 2024, Russian authorities detained Gabov in Moscow. Courts placed Gabov and freelance videographer Sergey Karelin, who was detained a day before in the northern region of Murmansk on similar charges, under pretrial detention for two months.
The general jurisdiction courts of Moscow said Gabov was charged with participating in an extremist organization for preparing photos and videos for Navalny LIVE, a YouTube channel run by supporters of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison in February. The courts described Navalny LIVE as a platform for posting content for Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which Russian authorities have banned as extremist.
Both Gabov and Karelin denied the charges. If convicted, the two journalists could each face up to six years in prison under Article 282.1, Part 2 of Russia’s criminal code. CPJ was unable to determine exactly what materials the men were accused of producing.
Reuters said Gabov is a “freelance journalist who in the past occasionally contributed to the Reuters news file,” but that he was not working for the news agency at the time of arrest.
Shortly after Gabov's arrest, the pro-Russian telegram channel Brief published a letter allegedly found in his possession during the search, in which Current Time TV, a Russian-language project of RFE/RL, confirmed cooperating with the journalist.
Gabov’s and Karelin’s pretrial detentions have been extended several times, most recently on October 2, until March 17, 2025.
In September, Gabov’s case was sent to court and combined with Karelin’s as well as the cases against Artyom Krieger and Antonina Favorskaya, journalists with independent news outlet SOTAvision who are also accused of cooperation with Navalny’s FBK. The trial of the four journalists started behind closed doors on October 2.
In early November, the journalists’ lawyers told independent news outlet RusNews that the four of them were feeling “fine.”
In late 2024, CPJ emailed the Moscow branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee for comment but received no response.