The investigative media had already been forced to suspend publication in March. The UN denounces anew shotbrought to the independence of the Russian media.
A Russian court on Monday revoked the broadcast license of the paper edition of the media Novaya Gazeta, stalwart of investigative journalism in Russia, forced to suspend publication in March in the face of a crackdown on critics of the conflict in Ukraine.
“The Basmanny court in Moscow recognized as invalid the certificate of registration (as a medium) of the paper version of Novaya Gazeta”, indicated on Telegram the newspaper, whose editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, was in 2021 co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. This announcement comes just after the death and funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR who died last week at the age of 91 and who was a historic supporter of Novaya Gazeta. Dmitri Mouratov had also taken the head of the funeral procession on Saturday.
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The Basmanny court, which confirmed this decision in a press release, was responding to a complaint filed at the end of July by the policeman of the Russian media, Roskomnadzor. The latter affirms that the newspaper had not transmitted according to the rules in force “editorial statutesduring an administrative re-registration in 2006. In two other separate complaints, also filed in July, Rozkomnadzor requested the cancellation of authorizations for the website and a new Novaya Gazeta magazine. These complaints must be studied by the Russian justice in the course of the month.
This judgment isa further blow to the independence of the Russian media whose activities have already been impaired by the legal restrictions and increased state controls imposed following the attack by the Russian Federation in Ukrainesaid a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, in a statement.
At the end of March, Novaya Gazeta, which covered the conflict in Ukraine critically, decided to suspend its online and print publication, for fear of reprisals in Russia. De facto, the newspaper had therefore not been printed for months. The authorities also accuse him of having broken the law by not always clearly identifying in his articles the organizations and individuals designatedforeign agentsquoted in the newspaper.
Founded in 1993, Novaya Gazeta is renowned for its thorough investigations into the corruption of Russian elites and serious human rights violations, particularly in Chechnya. Six of its journalists have been killed since its creation.