Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday revoked the broadcaster’s website license Novaya Gazetaannounced the latter, a new blow against this bastion of investigative journalism which criticized the intervention in Ukraine.
On his Telegram account, Novaya Gazeta reported that the Supreme Court had upheld a complaint by Russian media constable Roskomnadzor. The newspaper’s website provides free access to the archives and investigations published by Novaya Gazeta.
The newspaper said it would appeal. If this decision is confirmed, it does not specify whether this measure will mean a closure of the website, or only a ban on publishing new journalistic content.
This decision is part of three complaints filed at the end of July by Roskomnadzor and approved in quick succession by the Russian courts.
At the beginning of September, a Moscow court thus revoked the license of the paper version of the newspaper, then that of a new magazine launched in Russia by Novaya Gazeta.
In fact, the newspaper has not appeared since the end of March in the country, when it decided to suspend its publication for fear of reprisals, in the midst of a crackdown on criticism of the attack in Ukraine.
But, in recent weeks, the media site has resumed publishing content. In early August, the editorial staff of Novaya Gazeta also launched a new site, Novaya.mediawhich makes it possible to read its content anonymously in Russia.
The newspaper’s editor, Dmitry Muratov, was co-winner in 2021 of the Nobel Peace Prize.
During the hearing at the Supreme Court, Mr Muratov denounced the “murder” of his newspaper, according to his remarks quoted by Novaya Gazeta. According to him, this measure will deprive Russian readers of the “right to information”.
According Novaya Gazetathe Supreme Court ordered the revocation of its website’s license on the grounds that it had mentioned organizations declared as “foreign agents” without explicitly mentioning that they had this status.
In Russia, dozens of organizations and individuals have been declared “foreign agents” and their status must be systematically mentioned in any publication, on pain of sanctions.
The pressure against the independent media was already growing, but the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine since February has marked a sharp acceleration. Dozens of media websites have been blocked and journalists have fled the country en masse.
On September 5, the former Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, a recognized specialist in defense issues, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for “treason” in a case he considers to be revenge for his work.