MOSCOW: The editor-in-chief of Russia’s top opposition magazine, The New Times, has been accused of disobeying traffic police and faces up to 15 days in jail amid ever-shrinking tolerance for dissent.

Writing on Twitter, Yevgenia Albats said a court would hear her case on Tuesday.

“Over what?” she said in a tweet late on Saturday. “Over nothing”.

She said earlier that traffic police had stopped her car on a busy Moscow street on Saturday and requested to see her identification.

She said she had complied but had nevertheless been accused of disobeying police.

“I have not violated a single law,” Albats said on the popular Echo of Moscow radio where she also hosts a show.

She indicated her case may be politically motivated but declined to elaborate.

Albats would be represented in court by her lawyer, she said.

A spokesman for Moscow police confirmed said that Albats had committed an administrative offence but declined to provide further details.

Disobeying police or other representatives of the Russian authorities is punishable by a fine or up to 15 days in jail.

State-controlled television channel NTV aired what it said was “exclusive” footage showing the journalist’s exchange with a traffic policeman.

The channel, which has been behind a number of smear campaigns against anti-Kremlin figures, said that Albats was returning from a “party at a Georgian restaurant”.

NTV said she initially refused to pull over and police were forced to give chase, adding that the editor then bickered with officers.

With a relatively small print run, the weekly magazine known for its searing covers and uncompromising anti-Kremlin stance, punches above its weight.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2014