Russia expands attack on critics

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As the September 19 parliamentary elections in Russia approach, each day begins with new reports of arbitrary arrests, interrogations and other attacks on critical voices. Today there are three new victims of the Kremlins’ war on free speech. Independent media outlets MBKh-Media, Open Media and Open Rights announced that they would shut down after the government communications watchdog Roskomnadzor blocked their websites.

The media reported extensively on public protests, corruption, persecution of civic and political activists, and other abuses. Thousands read them.

When authorities blocked their posts on August 4, the website editors hoped they could remove any offending material and be allowed to function again. But that night, Roskomnadzor said the orders came from the prosecutor’s office and related to alleged involvement with banned foreign organizations linked to exiled Kremlin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The repressive Russian law on unwanted foreign organizations allows prosecutors to ban as unwanted any foreign or international organization deemed to undermine the security, defense or constitutional order of Russia. It allows courts to impose a maximum sentence of six years in prison on anyone found guilty of involvement with unwanted people. On August 5, the three news outlets announced their closure due to the high personal risk to journalists and other staff.

Two weeks earlier, Team 29, one of Russia’s leading associations of lawyers and human rights journalists, had to close under similar circumstances. Authorities blocked their website, saying they saw the group as closely linked to an undesirable Czech organization.

Also in July, the Justice Department added The Insider, which together with Bellingcat published an investigation into the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, allegedly by Russian security services, to its media log. foreigners. Now they must label any publication as foreign agent material and file regular, detailed reports on their work and funding.

The media register of foreign agents currently includes 17 people and 16 media projects. Some have already stopped working while others are finding it increasingly difficult to stay afloat due to the stigma that drives readers and advertisers away and overwhelming reporting requirements. Among those on the register are five members of The Project, an investigative outlet that authorities banned as junk last month because of its high-profile corruption reporting.

The space for freedom of expression in Russia is shrinking considerably. The authorities should end their crackdown, otherwise the Russians will find themselves in an information vacuum.

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