09:54, 15 December 2020

Rights defenders put Gadjiev on list of repressed journalists

Abdulmumin Gadjiev. © Photo from the website of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial", memohrc.org

In 2020, Russia is one of the leaders in the number of imprisoned journalists, Abdulmumin Gadjiev, an editor of the "Chernovik" (Draft) portal among them, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported.

As of December 1, globally, at least 274 journalists have been jailed – the highest since early 1990s, when the CPJ began collecting data.

According to Gulnoza Said, the CPJ's Europe and Central Asia coordinator, there are also 10 Russian journalists currently kept behind bars.

Abdulmumin Gadjiev is under arrest since June 2019 under the case of financing terrorism. Investigators assert that he had raised money, with his accomplices, for terrorists under the pretext of building mosques and helping poor Muslims – overall, 68 million roubles and USD 200,000. His colleagues treat his prosecution as pressure on the "Chernovik".

A significant increase in detained journalists has been observed in Belarus, where journalists are detained while covering protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, who declared his victory at election treated by many as falsified.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 15, 2020 at 08:00 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.