The Russian authorities are trying to “silence” Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov by adding him to the list of “foreign agents”. So says Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee.
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, in its list of “foreign agents”. Moscow uses this designation to suppress criticism.
Political motives
According to Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair 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”
Russia’s justice ministry said Muratov “used foreign platforms to disseminate 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 designation imposes administrative restrictions on the persons involved and is accompanied by regular checks of funding sources.
Since 2000, six journalists or employees of 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. One of the newspaper’s journalists, Elena Milashina, was hospitalized in July after being beaten in Chechnya.
(re) See also: A Russian investigative journalist has been beaten (04-07-2023)
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