A Russian court has handed down a 17.5-year prison sentence to Abdulmumin Gadzhiev, an independent journalist, on charges of participating in and financing a terrorist organization, as reported by Mediazona on Tuesday.
Gadzhiev, the former editor of Chernovik, a prominent independent news outlet in Dagestan, a republic in North Caucasus, was arrested in June 2019 and has been in pre-trial detention ever since.
Russian authorities accused Gadzhiev of assisting in raising funds for the militant Islamic group ISIS, following the orders of the Islamic preacher Abu Umar Sasitlinsky, and disguising his activities as charitable work.
Prosecutors also alleged that evidence of the journalist’s involvement in terrorist activities could be found in his reporting. However, independent experts were unable to find any indication of criminal activity in Gadzhiev’s work.
Gadzhiev, along with his alleged accomplices, lawyer Abubakar Rizvanov and businessman Kemal Tambiev, faced trial and was sentenced to 17.5 years and 18 years of imprisonment, respectively.
Chernovik’s editorial board and other independent journalists believe that the charges against Gadzhiev are a retaliation for his professional activities. They have repeatedly compared his case to that of Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, who was arrested on fabricated drug charges in 2019 but was released a few days later due to widespread public outrage.
In court last week, Gadzhiev vehemently denied all charges, describing the case against him as “completely false.”
