Kurt Pelda: Russian proceedings against Swiss reporters

The Russian secret service has opened a case against the Swiss journalist Kurt Pelda. He is accused of illegally crossing the state border of the Russian Federation in the Kursk region. The editor-in-chief of CH Media protests against the “attempts at intimidation”.

Pelda, who regularly reports from Ukraine for CH Media, faces a prison sentence of up to five years, several news agencies reported on Monday, based on a communiqué from the Russian domestic secret service FSB, which was also available to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

“The Kremlin is intensifying the fight against independent journalism,” said Patrick Müller, editor-in-chief of the central editorial team at CH Media and “Switzerland at the Weekend,” when asked. Pelda is also accused of concealing war crimes committed by the Ukrainian army in the Kursk region.

“We are protesting against the actions of the Russian government and the attempts at intimidation,” Müller continued. Pelda found out about the opening of the criminal proceedings through the media and was not officially informed about it.

A total of 14 media professionals were charged

The FSB has also opened proceedings against journalist Catherine Norris Trent, who works for the French television station France 24. A total of 14 foreign journalists have been charged with the same accusation since August 17th.

The Ukrainian army launched a surprise offensive in the Kursk border region on August 6, the first by a foreign army in Russia since World War II. Russian forces have since launched a counteroffensive and claim to have regained ground.

However, Ukraine still claims to control dozens of towns, and several foreign media outlets reported from the territory occupied by Kiev forces.

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