More than 200 media colleagues from around the world have signed an open letter calling on Putin’s authorities to stop persecuting independent media and expressing support for a group of Russian media and journalists in trouble this year on World Press Freedom Day.
Open Letter Focuses on Russian Press Freedom Just After Worst January
On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, more than 250 journalists from more than 60 countries issued a joint open letter calling attention to the state of press freedom in Russia. The letter urges the Russian government to abide by the human rights conventions it signed in 1998 and to take responsibility for protecting and defending freedom of expression.
The open letter was signed by journalists from Europe, the United States and the Middle East, including many of the world’s leading media outlets, including the Guardian (UK), the Washington Post (US) and Le Monde (France).
The letter specifically mentions three independent Russian media outlets that are currently being persecuted by the authorities, the online magazine DOXA, the online media MEDUZA, and another online media outlet, Important History. The open letter was published in the online magazine “Insight”.
The past April was the darkest and worst month for the Russian press. The three media outlets mentioned above bore the brunt of it. Four editors of Insight magazine are currently under house arrest. Police searched the homes of the editors and their parents on April 14. Authorities have charged them with encouraging minors to engage in activities harmful to their health, and they could be sentenced to three years in prison. The authorities’ evidence was a video published by Insight magazine in January that criticized the university administration for illegally expelling university students who participated in a demonstration in support of opposition leader Navalny in January.
Opinion magazine is highly influential among young people, especially on college campuses. The magazine’s editors are all college students in their 20s who have graduated or are currently studying. The magazine’s editors believe that the allegations are merely a pretext for the authorities to resent the magazine’s long-standing concern about the expulsion and dismissal of students and teachers from Russian schools and universities for participating in opposition activities.
Photo on luxury yacht gets journalist in trouble
Police searched the home of Anin, editor-in-chief of the online media outlet History Matters, on April 9. After a seven-hour search, police seized computers, cell phones and numerous documents and interrogated Anin, who is well known in Russian journalist circles for his investigative reporting on organized crime and corruption and has won numerous international and Russian journalism awards.
The police operation against Anin originated from allegations five years ago that he had violated someone’s privacy, which could lead to his formal arrest at any time. Anin, then a reporter for the major Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, had published a lengthy investigative story involving Rosneft president Sechin and the use of a luxury yacht by Sechin’s then-young wife, Olga Rozhkova. The $100 million luxury yacht was specifically named the “Princess Olga”.
In the story, journalist Anin used a social media photo of Olga Rozhkova posing on the yacht in a swimsuit. Authorities believe Olga Rozhkova, who is now Sechin’s ex-wife, has had her privacy rights violated. Sechin followed Putin back when he was in St. Petersburg city government and is considered one of the most central members of Putin’s cronies, and some have even called him the most powerful and influential person in Russia today after Putin.
Journalist Anin recently wrote that for several years he and some of his journalist colleagues at Novaya Gazeta have been under surveillance by Russian security services, including their phone calls and emails.
Ongoing moves to limit influence put prominent media outlets on the spot
The online media outlet Medusa made an urgent plea for help a few days ago, appealing to readers to be able to pay for regular or temporary subscriptions to the outlet. Murdusa said it was facing an existential crisis after the authorities put it on the list of foreign agents on April 23, and most advertisers immediately terminated their cooperation. The media outlet said they have stopped leasing offices and cut staff salaries by 30 to 50 percent to reduce expenses.
Russian authorities first added Radio Liberty, which is funded by the U.S. government, to the list of foreign agents last year. Next, several journalists, including those who write for Radio Liberty and human rights activists, were listed as foreign agents. Murdusa thus became another major media outlet to be listed as a foreign agent.
Medusa recently reported that in an effort to limit the influence of some media outlets, the authorities plan to classify the vast majority of foreign media outlets targeting Russian audiences as foreign agents. This was discussed at a recent meeting of Russia’s National Security Council, chaired by Putin. Putin also signed an order on April 30 imposing varying fines and other penalties on media outlets, institutions, directors and individuals who redistribute these media materials without labeling them as foreign agents.
Neighboring Eastern European countries turn into exile ghettos
Murdusa was registered in the Latvian capital Riga in 2014. As the Putin regime intensifies its political persecution, the three Baltic states and the Czech Republic, which also belongs to the Slavic cultural sphere, are becoming gathering places for many Russian exiles and media.
Current affairs commentator Nikolski argued that Latvia’s membership in NATO and the European Union and its proximity to Russia, as well as Riga’s excellent transport links to Moscow, make it easier and safer for the media to operate there.
Nikolski said some of Murdusa’s journalists work in Russia, while the backbone remains in Riga, all of whom left for Latvia after the anti-Putin wave in 2011.
Nikolski: “This is probably one of the few media outlets that has the most influence in Russia at the moment. Although Murdusa has its editorial offices abroad not far from Russia, it’s actually an authentically Russian media outlet.”
The president and founder of “Murdusa” is Galina Timchenko, a well-known Russian media personality. She was years ago the editor-in-chief of the then influential online media “Ribbon.com”. But the owner of the Russian outlet, the pro-Kremlin plutocrat Mamut, did not like Timchenko’s editorial stance and dismissed her. Most of Ribbon’s journalists resigned with Timchenko, and they went to Riga to start their own newspaper, Murdusa.
Local media in a more difficult situation
Compared to media outlets such as Medusa, some local Russian media are in a more difficult situation because they are less known and less noticed.
In the Kemerovo region of Siberia, Russia’s coal base, Zubkova, the editor-in-chief of a local media outlet, was forced to flee the country in April due to constant threats to her personal safety. Zubkova has long been concerned about environmental pollution from coal mining in the region and the resulting health and disability issues, and has exposed corruption and organized public demonstrations.
Slavina, a journalist based in Nizhny Novgorod-on-Volga, set herself on fire in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs last October in an incident that was a national sensation. Slavina, who was the editor-in-chief of a local online media outlet, was accused by the authorities of publishing articles that insulted the government and was also unhappy with her participation in opposition demonstrations, and she was constantly fined and her residence was searched several times. Under great pressure and in total despair, Slavina’s last words said that Russian Federation was responsible for her death.
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