justice declares “undesirable” the independent channel Dojd, already blocked and in exile

Since March 1, 2022, this channel was no longer officially broadcast in Russia. His team has since taken refuge in Latvia and then in the Netherlands.

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The former premises of the Dojd channel in Moscow (Russia), February 4, 2014. (VASILY MAXIMOV / AFP)

Russian justice declared, Tuesday, July 25, “undesirable” the independent television channel Dojd, already in exile, paving the way in particular for criminal proceedings against its journalists, but also its subscribers and donors. Founded in 2010, this channel embodied the main opposition television media in Russia, but its independence and the choice of its reports led to its marginalization by cable operators from 2014.

It was then blocked on March 1, 2022, in the wake of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, widely condemned by its journalists, and settled in Latvia, like many editorial staff. Last December, the Latvian regulator, however, blocked her, accusing her of showing support for Moscow, a decision she deemed “unfair and absurd”. Since then, Dojd has been broadcasting live from the Netherlands.

On Tuesday, the Russian prosecutor’s office justified its decision by “systematic violations of media and information laws” and by the fact that Dojd employed persons declared “foreign agents” in the country. The channel has “disseminated material from extremist organisations”, including the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK), the organization of imprisoned opponent Alexei Navalny, closed in 2021 for “extremism”. In fact, this decision potentially threatens the channel’s Russian subscribers and donors with criminal prosecution.


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