The Russian attorney general’s department has declared The Moscow Times, a common online news among Russia’s expatriate society, as an “undesirable organisation”, essentially banning its activities within the country. People who cooperates with the newspaper is subject to possible criminal prosecution as a result of this designation, which could result in five-year prison sentences.
The action is a part of a wider onslaught on opposition and important news outlets in Russia. It is a more serious measure than the news outlet’s “foreign agent” designation, which required more fiscal scrutiny and notable public information labeling.
In 2022, The Moscow Times had already moved its editor activities outside of Russia as a result of a law that harshly punished material that deemed the Russian military’s conduct and its behavior in Ukraine. The news has articles in both Russian and English, but its Russian-language website was blocked in Russia a few months after the Ukrainian war broke out.
The Moscow Times ‘ publication stated in an editors ‘ note addressing the decision that” the publication’s publication is the most recent attempt to suppress our reporting on the truth in Russia and its war in Ukraine. This title does make it even more challenging for us to perform our duties, putting Russian journalists and fixers at risk of being charged with crimes and making sources yet more reluctant to speak to us.
” We refuse to give in to this stress. We refuse to get silenced,” the newspaper said.
The Moscow Times was established in 1992 as a regular print publication that was offered for free in popular tourist destinations. Since the Soviet Union’s fall, the presence there has increased dramatically. It eventually changed to a regular print run, and it finally became an online resource in 2017.
In recent years, Russia has consistently targeted individuals and organizations that are critical of the Kremlin, labeling many of them as “external agents” and some as unsavory. The independent news Novaya Gazeta, whose director Dmitry Muratov is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the virtual news website Meduza are among the publications labeled as unsavory.
Moreover, Russia has imprisoned popular opposition numbers, such as anti-corruption advocate Alexei Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin’s most persistent regional rival, and dissidents Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.
( With AP inputs )
