Russian authorities are trying to “silence” Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov by adding him to a list of “foreign agents.” This is what Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee, says.
Russia announced on Friday that it had included Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta and co-winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, on its “foreign agent” list. Moscow uses this label to suppress criticism.
Political motives
According to Berit Reiss-Andersen, head of the Nobel Prize Committee, it is “sad” that the Russian authorities are trying to “silence” Muratov in this way. She added, “The allegations against him are politically motivated.” According to Rhys Andersen, the Nobel Committee will “continue to support” the important work being done by Muratov and his independent newspaper.
“Enemy of the People”
The Russian Ministry of Justice said that Muratov “used foreign platforms to publish opinions aimed at forming negative attitudes towards the internal and foreign policies of the Russian Federation.” The term “foreign agent” is somewhat reminiscent of the term “enemy of the people” from the Stalinist era. The designation imposes administrative restrictions on the persons involved and is accompanied by regular checks of funding sources.
Since 2000, six journalists or staff at Novaya Gazeta have been murdered, including investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. She was murdered in the lobby of her building in Moscow on Vladimir Putin’s birthday. In July, one of the newspaper’s journalists, Elena Milashina, was hospitalized after being beaten in Chechnya.
(re) See also: A Russian investigative journalist was beaten (04-07-2023)
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