Russian journalist under investigation for suspicion of publicly justifying terrorism
Anna Loiko, journalist at the Russian independent media outlet-SOTA, has been put under investigation by the Moscow Investigative Committee, for allegedly justifying terrorism in one of her articles.
On 1 November, the Moscow Investigative Committee stated that it had commenced an investigation of Anna Loiko, a journalist at a Russian independent online news outlet, SOTA. SOTA publishes mainly on the Telegram platform and covers protests and trials of Kremlin opposers, topics that are sometimes overlooked by state media.
The Moscow Investigative Committee claims that Loiko publicly justified the ideology of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is deemed an Islamist terrorist group by Moscow, in one of her articles published in 2021. Investigators had already searched her mother’s apartment. Loiko has denied all claims.
SOTA’s founder has been labeled as a ‘foreign agent’ by authorities, and its editorial board thinks the public statement of Moscow’s Investigative Committee is related to upcoming elections, as SOTA has been receiving threats from other actors who support the authorities, as well.
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