A Siberian news editor said 11 riot police members had refused to join Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine. A Russian court on Friday (April 15) ordered the pre-trial detention of a Siberian news editor for alleging that 11 riot police members had refused to join Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine. Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on Feb 24, authorities have stepped up measures to silence critics of the military operation in Russia’s pro-Western neighbour. The Investigative Committee, which probes major cases, said the chief editor of a news website in Siberia’s Khakassia region had been placed in pre-trial detention for spreading “deliberately false information”. If convicted, the journalist faces up to 10 years in prison, investigators said. Earlier this week, investigators raided his apartment and seized US$15,000 (S$20,000) and over €1,200 (S$1,700) in cash, the Investigative Committee said. The Khakassia branch of the Investigative Committee did not release the name of the journalist but he is understood to be Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of “Novyi Fokus” (New Focus), a news website in Khakassia.
via straits times: News editor jailed in Russia over Ukraine report