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Former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty contributor Nika Novak, who was sentenced to prison last year by a Russian court for carrying out her professional duty, has disappeared from a correctional center in Siberia, her lawyer said Monday.
Julia Kuznetsova said in a post on social media that it appears Novak was being transferred from Penal Colony No. 11 to the village of Bozoy, in the Irkutsk region, although her destination remains unknown.
"This week, a fellow lawyer tried to visit Nika, but was denied entry," Kuznetsova wrote.
"He noticed a lot of noise and a large number of Investigative Committee officers in the prison. The prison staff is not explaining exactly what happened," she added.
Kuznetsova said that on November 30 she called the prison to ask about Nika, but her request was denied and she was asked to submit a formal request, which she subsequently did.
Novak was sentenced to four years in prison after a closed-door trial for "confidential cooperation with a foreign state, international or foreign organization," a sentence that she and human rights organizations consider unjust.
She was transferred to Penal Colony No. 11 on March 1, where she complained of torture-like conditions, before going on a hunger strike.
She said she was placed in solitary confinement after refusing to give interviews to the media where she was supposed to claim that “everything is fine in the penal colony and the prisoners are happy” and for refusing to work as a seamstress.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's president, Steve Capus, has called on Russian authorities to release her, saying her conviction on "politically motivated charges" is intended to silence and intimidate individual journalists.
Before her arrest, Novak worked for ChitaMedia and was the editor-in-chief of the Zab.ru website. She contributed to REL's Siberia.Realities programs in 2022.
The 33-year-old's case marked the first time a journalist was convicted under Article 275.1, an offense that was only introduced into law in 2022, months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began./ REL
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