On 27 December 2023, Mikhail Lebedev, a correspondent for independent Russian media outlet SOTAvision, was detained in Moscow while filming a one-person picket by activist Oksana Osadchaya in support of political prisoner Igor Baryshnikov. A court in Kaliningrad had earlier sentenced the pensioner and activist to 7.5 years in prison on charges of disseminating “fake news” about the Russian army and its invasion of Ukraine. Baryshnikov was found guilty for having published social media posts denouncing Russian war crimes.
According to SOTAvision, Lebedev was detained by police in front of the office of the Prosecutor General of Russia on charges of allegedly repeatedly violating Russian laws on public protests, with authorities likely assimilating the reporter to a protester despite his distinct function.
Later in the day, SOTAvision reported that Lebedev had been sentenced to 20 days in jail on the basis of allegedly repeatedly violating Russian laws on protests, which ban the organization of any demonstration involving more than one person if this was not previously explicitly permitted by authorities.