Dmitry Muratov
Dmitry Muratov, a distinguished journalist and Nobel Prize co-recipient, was placed on Russia’s list of foreign agents on Friday, a classification authorities frequently use to silence critics.
The action against the editor of Russia’s most independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, is part of a broader onslaught on recognized civil society organizations that has increased in tandem with Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine.
To support the judgment, Russia’s justice ministry stated that Dmitry Muratov used foreign platforms to disseminate opinions aimed at forming a negative attitude towards the Russian Federation’s foreign and domestic policy.
Dmitry Muratov was also accused by the government of developing and disseminating content created by other foreign agents.
The classification, which is evocative of the term ‘enemies of the people’ used during the Soviet era, imposes severe administrative limits and requires funding sources to be reported.
It also requires foreign agents to tag all publications, including social media posts.
This exposed foreign agents and those who shared their content to severe fines.
Along with the harsher undesirable organization label, the designation is part of a slew of legislation used by the Kremlin to muzzle dissidents.
Moscow has up its efforts to suppress dissent in Ukraine since sending troops there in February 2022.
Most prominent opponents are imprisoned or in exile.
While many independent journalists work from other countries, Dmitry Muratov was recently spotted in Russia. He is a member of the legal team defending his buddy Oleg Orlov, co-chair of Russia’s human rights organization Memorial.
Orlov is on trial for lone pickets in Ukraine and an op-ed in the French journal Mediapart titled ‘They wanted fascism, they got it’.
He was charged with undermining the army, which is one of the weapons Moscow used to silence critics of the military operation.
Thousands of ordinary Russians have been detained as a result of their protests against the Ukraine conflict.
Many prominent opposition figures, like Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, have been imprisoned since the offensive began.
Alexey Navalny, Putin’s main opponent, has been imprisoned since 2021.
The assault in Ukraine has exacerbated repression, but the space for free expression in Russia has been diminishing for years.
When Dmitry Muratov co-received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, he dedicated it to the fallen journalists of Novaya Gazeta who gave up their lives for their profession.
Six of Novaya Gazeta’s journalists and writers have been slain since 2000, including investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in Moscow on President Vladimir Putin’s birthday.
Novaya Gazeta, co-founded in 1993 by former Soviet leader and another Nobel Peace winner Mikhail Gorbachev, is one of the few media sources in Russia that criticizes Putin.
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