Russian journalist charged with ‘justifying terrorism’ for writing about the Taliban

Russian journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova has been charged with “justifying terrorism” for writing about the Taliban and Islamist militant attacks in Russia’s North Caucasus on her social media, her lawyer said on Monday.

State-backed daily newspaper Izvestia posted a video of Kevorkova’s house being searched on Monday, saying the police had found posters saying “They’re Not Terrorists” and “Better To Protest” in her home.

Kevorkova’s lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov confirmed that Kevorkova had been charged over two posts made on her Telegram channel, one of them a republished article about a 2005 raid by Islamist militants on Nalchik, a city in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, and the other one about the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Akhilgov noted that while Russia formally recognises the Taliban as a “terrorist organisation”, its officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, have maintained contact with its representatives. 

Kevorkova specialises in the Middle East and North Caucasus, runs her own Telegram channel, and has contributed to numerous Russian media outlets, including independent outlets such as Novaya Gazeta and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as well as state-backed media such as RT and Nezavisimaya Gazeta.