Tackle against Independents: Russia imprisons more journalists

The Kremlin's clamp is tightening a bit further: Two esteemed journalists, known for their collaborations with significant Western news organizations, recently found themselves behind bars in Russia. According to official Russian media reports, following a grave charge, they were linked to participation in an extremist group. Their alleged offense: providing content for the late dissident Alexei Navalny’s publications. The incriminated material appears to have been destined for Navalny’s YouTube channel, ‘Navalny Live’, whose vibrant heart ceased to beat with the founder’s death in February of this year. The preliminary detention, it was reported, extends into the warm early summer. Among the detainees is a cameraman who had until now lent his skills to the American news agency AP, among others. His freedom abruptly ended in the cool northern Russian city of Murmansk, reports AP with a look of concern. As if that was not enough misfortune, authorities in Moscow have led away another prominent member of the profession who had similarly devoted his expertise to numerous foreign media institutions. The tightening censorship coincides with Vladimir Putin's reelection in March and marks an intensified crusade against what remains of the Russian opposition and free press. The growing resistance is also covertly directed against those who cast light from the outside into Russia's dark interior. Not to be overlooked: the Friday before witnessed the arrest of a Forbes contributor accused of defaming the military, and a journalist who filmed Navalny’s swan song. Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation is likewise attracting the state’s gaze as it spotlights rampant corruption in the 1990s through a new documentary - a decade marked by Boris Yeltsin and during Putin’s rise to power.