Lower thirds: 

00:02 Report by A. Saraste & G. Szymanowski
00:48 October 2, 2024
01:07 Sergei Davidis | Memorial Human Rights Center

Script:

They reported from Russian courtrooms. Now the cameras are turned on them.
These four Russian journalists were sentenced  in a Moscow court after being on trial since last October. 

The verdict was no surprise. Each of them was sentenced to 5-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of working for the banned organization of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
 
Antonina Favorskaya, Sergei Karelin, Konstantin Gabov and Artem Kriger all deny belonging to an extremist group. Amid the Russian state's tightening grip on the media landscape, they say the sentence constitutes a further crackdown on free speech.

00:48
(FILE pix - add date!)

Favorskaya and Kriger ((art-YOM KREE-ger)) have worked for the Russian independent outlet SOTAvision. Sergey Karelin is a videographer and Konstantin Gabov a journalist and producer. Both have worked in Russia for international media, including Deutsche Welle.
01'06
+++ SOT Sergei Davidis, Memorial Human Rights Centre (Russian, male)
They are being persecuted for their journalistic activities, which is a reason to consider them political prisoners. Dissemination of any information that doesn't correspond to the state narrative is perceived as dangerous. In this sense journalists are at risk.

DW Director General Peter Limbourg expressed solidarity with the journalists and issued a statement:

The Russian regime is doing everything in its power to distort facts, treating courageous journalists like hardened criminals.

The four journalists were applauded by supporters during earlier stages of the trial, whose outcome many observers say was predetermined by the Kremlin.
They are the latest to face court sentences - and add to a growing list of opposition figures, independent journalists, and ordinary Russians feeling the backlash for being critical of the government and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.