Relatives of former RFE/RL contributor Nika Novak, who was sentenced to prison last year by a Russian court for carrying out her professional duties, have voiced alarm over what they called a "difficult" transfer to a Siberian jail.
Novak's appeal against a four-year sentence for “confidential cooperation with a foreign state, international or foreign organization” -- a sentence she considers unjust -- will now take place in the city of Novosibirsk, where she was placed in jail on March 1.
Novak was asleep in the apartment where she lives with her mother in the Siberian city of Chita, when agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) raided their home and detained her in December 2023.
She was charged under Article 275.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, before being flown to Moscow, where she was put in pretrial detention.
Since she was transferred to the jail in Novosibirsk last week, Novak has been sharing a noisy and chaotic cell with ten other inmates facing a variety of criminal charges, Novak's relatives told RFE/RL, noting that she had stopped eating as a result of stress and fear.
They described the jail as worse than any of the other facilities that she has been held in to date, including her latest stint in a jail in the city of Irkutsk, with one relative describing her 1,800-kilometer transfer to the Novosibirsk jail as "difficult."
'Reminiscent Of The Soviet-Era...'
The relatives, who did not wish to be named, said Novak's legal representatives had filed a motion to have her moved to a different cell, citing Russian laws on detentions that should separate prisoners like Novak from others accused of serious, nonpolitical crimes like murder.
Her appeal against the sentence will be heard by a court in Novosibirsk on March 24.
Before her arrest Novak had worked for ChitaMedia and was editor in chief of the Zab.ru website. She contributed to programs by RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities in 2022.
The 32-year-old's case marked the first time that a journalist was sentenced under Article 275.1, a crime that was only introduced in 2022 in the months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Rights experts have criticized the conception and wording of the law, while Human Rights Watch called the legislation "reminiscent of the Soviet-era ban on contacts with foreigners" in its 2023 World Report.
On July 22, 2024, leading Russian human rights group Memorial recognized Novak as a political prisoner.
Her detention has also been condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Coalition for Women in Journalism, and the International Press Institute, which said Nika’s sentencing was “made possible by Russia’s continued instrumentalization of its own legislation with the aim of repressing independent journalists and other critical voices.”