This week, Sergey Smirnov, editor-in-chief of Russian outlet Mediazona, was sentenced to 25 days of administrative arrest. His crime: retweeting a joke that also contained information about an upcoming anti-government protest.
This was, according to the authorities, a call to “an unlimited number of participants to take part in the unauthorised protest on January 23”. He is now serving his sentence – alongside participants of recent protests – at a immigration detention facility outside of Moscow.
So far, more than 30 Russian media outlets have expressed their solidarity and support for Smirnov and the Mediazona project, demanding that he be freed. The team at openDemocracy join this call.
