France, April 17 -- France has urged Russia to immediately release four journalists sentenced to long prison terms for their association with the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Antonina Favorskaya, Kostantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin and Artyom Kriger were found guilty of involvement with a group that had been labelled as extremist.

All four had maintained their innocence, arguing they were being prosecuted for doing their jobs as journalists.

Tuesday's closed-door trial at Moscow's Nagatinsky district courtwas part of an unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has reached an unprecedented scale after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

"France condemns the five-and-a-half-year prison sentences handed down yesterday," ...