A Moscow court has sentenced Meduza military analyst Dmitry Kuznets to 2.5 years in prison in absentia on charges of participating in the activities of an “undesirable organization.”
The case was based on six audio recordings posted on Meduza’s social media in which Kuznets allegedly “disseminated information about economic, political, and social developments in the Russian Federation.”
According to Mediazona, it only took about half an hour for the court to deliver the verdict. “All of this suggests that the trial was a formality and that the text of the verdict was probably prepared by the judge in advance,” the outlet noted.
Kuznets currently lives outside of Russia. In addition to the prison sentence, the court banned him from managing websites for five years.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office declared Meduza an “undesirable” organization in January 2023, claiming that its activities “pose a threat” to national security. Since then, the Russian authorities have issued dozens of misdemeanor fines to journalists, experts, and readers for allegedly cooperating with the newsroom.