Prosecutors in Moscow announced today that they have opened a criminal investigation into journalist Anna Loiko of the online news outlet SOTA, which has consistently angered authorities for “publicly justifying terrorism”.

Moscow’s Investigative Committee, which deals with serious crimes, says in a statement that it has opened an investigation against journalist Anna Loiko of the independent state-run online media outlet SOTA, which mainly publishes on the Telegram messaging app.

SOTA, whose founder and director have been labeled “foreign agents” by Russian authorities, has often covered protests and trials of Kremlin critics that state media sometimes ignore.

Investigators said in their statement that an article Loiko had in 2021 about the Islamist group Hizd ut Tahrir, which is banned in Russia, drew their attention because it justified the ideology of an organization Moscow considers “terrorists.”

Loiko, who is outside Russia, told SOTA that she denies justifying terrorism and will “gladly” study the conclusions of the investigators’ experts on her alleged wrongdoing.

SOTA, which wrote that Loiko’s mother’s apartment was being searched by investigators, said in a statement: “The editorial board notes that, given the date of the article, the approaching presidential elections and the numerous threats we have received from various supporters of principles, we are talking about political pressure on the media.”

Russia, which is due to hold presidential elections next year and is waging a war in Ukraine, has launched a sweeping crackdown on media it considers hostile to the country’s interests, as well as an opposition it views as dangerous and foreign-backed. .