Russia Declares Independent VTimes News Site a ‘Foreign Agent’ Updated: May 14, 2021 VTimes was launched last October by former senior editors and journalists from the Vedomosti business daily. MT
Russia has declared The Moscow Times’ Russian-language partner VTimes a “foreign agent” on Friday amid what critics call the Kremlin’s ongoing crackdown on free speech and independent media.
The designation puts the independent news site s future in jeopardy as it risks cratering its advertising budget and levying steep fines for auditing violations.
VTimes was launched last October by former senior editors and journalists from the Vedomosti business daily after the appointment of a pro-Kremlin editor-in-chief sparked an exodus from their previous employer. The news website has vowed to keep alive Vedomosti’s tradition of independent and objective journalism.
Russian Artist s Lawsuit Against Foreign Agent Label Denied
May 13, 2021 18:32 GMT
Artist and activist Darya Apakhonchich
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A St. Petersburg court has upheld the legality of the Russian Justice Ministry s decision to designate feminist performance artist and activist Darya Apakhonchich a foreign agent.
The Leninsky District Court wrote in a press statement on May 13 that Apakhonchich s lawsuit had failed to satisfy requirements for a case to be heard.
Apakhonchich was among the first individuals in Russia to be included on the Russian government s list of media organizations fulfilling the functions of foreign agents.
First passed in 2012, Russia s foreign agent legislation initially targeted nongovernmental organizations accused of having received foreign funding. But it has undergone numerous modifications to include foreign media organizations as well as individuals.
As U.S.-Russian relations plumb new depths, opposition-minded Russian activists are getting a painful taste of an experience that was very familiar to Soviet-era dissidents: The worse relations got between the USSR and the West, the harder the Kremlin cracked down on its domestic critics.
In recent months, Russian authorities have introduced what many are calling a new paradigm of authoritarian repression. Many activists who had hitherto been officially tolerated have been arrested, and formerly acceptable civil society groups shut down.
Why We Wrote This
Russia may not be at war with the West, but it is increasingly using a warlike sensibility in its domestic rhetoric and policy. And that’s having a real cost for civil society.
Russian lawmakers want to strengthen legislation against undesirable organizations Here s why the Supreme Court is pushing back — Meduza meduza.io - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from meduza.io Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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VIDEO - When Journalism is Considered a Crime: The Risks of Covering Protest Movements in Eastern Europe and Eurasia
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A Moscow court has agreed to hear a libel lawsuit filed by Aleksei Navalny against Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov over comments he made linking U.S. spies with the jailed opposition politician. Open Media group quoted a representative of the Presnensky district court on May 5 as saying that Navalny, who is serving a prison term in a penal colony, will be able to take part in the hearing if he wishes and if the judge agrees to it. The date of the hearing into the lawsuit filed by Navalny in late March is yet to be determined. It is the second lawsuit Navalny has filed against Peskov in defense of his honor, dignity, and business reputation.