State prosecutors are pursuing a 13-year prison term for a journalist and activist in Bashkortostan, citing her connections to Alexei Navalny’s outlawed political group and allegations of disseminating “false information” regarding the Russian military.
Olga Komleva had volunteered for several years at the regional branch of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) before it was declared “extremist” in 2021, as reported by the exiled news organization Mediazona. She was detained during pro-Navalny demonstrations that same year and faced multiple fines.
Additionally, Komleva has worked as a journalist for the independent media outlet RusNews, where she reported on a series of protests in Bashkortostan last year.
Her case is currently being examined in a closed session at the Kirovsky District Court in Ufa, with a verdict anticipated on July 24.
Komleva’s husband, Vyacheslav, expressed to RusNews that he was not shocked by the prosecution’s sentence request for his wife.
“She is being punished because they have no other options,” he remarked following Friday’s hearing. “When the prosecution has nothing substantial, they resort to requesting these cruel, inhumane sentences… Any rational person can see what kind of trial this really is.”
Previously, Komleva was included in Russia’s registry of “terrorists and extremists” and was designated a “foreign agent.”