Russian authorities are trying to “silence” Nobel laureate Dmitri Muratov by adding him to the list of “foreign agents”. So says Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Prize committee.
On Friday, Russia announced it had included Dmitri Muratov, the editor-in-chief of opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta and co-winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, on its list of “foreign agents.” That label is used by Moscow to suppress criticism.
Politically motivated
According to Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairman of the Nobel Prize committee, it is “sad” that the Russian authorities are trying to “silence” Muratov in this way. “The allegations against him are politically motivated,” she added. According to Reiss-Andersen, the Nobel committee will “continue to support the important work” of Muratov and his independent newspaper.
‘Enemy of the people’
The Russian Justice Ministry said Muratov had “used foreign platforms to spread opinions aimed at forming a negative attitude towards the domestic 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 label imposes administrative restrictions on the persons involved and is accompanied by regular checks on funding sources.
Since 2000, six journalists or employees of the Novaya Gazeta have been murdered, including investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. She was murdered in the lobby of her Moscow apartment building on Vladimir Putin’s birthday. One of the newspaper’s journalists, Elena Milashina, was hospitalized in July after being beaten in Chechnya.
(Re)see also: Russian investigative journalist beaten up (04-07-2023)
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