The Kremlin’s war on independent Russian journalism escalated because Proekt investigating media was outlawed as an act of revenge for a series of deeply embarrassing revelations. Vladimir Putin And high-ranking officials of the Kremlin.
The rare decision to ban key media by decree is the vane of a new wave of investigative news media in Russia, which are racing to publish destructive scoops about senior officials, and are now preparing for the Kremlin to put similar pressure on them to shut them down.
The official media announced on Thursday that the Russian Ministry of Justice had included Proekt on the list of “bad organizations”, which meant that its reporters must stop working for the site or face criminal prosecution, and added eight reporters, including Proekt’s editor-in-chief Roman Ba Daning, to the “Foreign Agents” register. Several reporters from Radio Free Europe/Radio Free and Open Media have also been declared foreign agents.
It is illegal for other news organizations to link to or directly quote materials from unpopular organizations, which means that in theory, they must remove any references to Proekt’s work from their archives or they may face criminal charges. This state will also prohibit Proekt from making any crowdfunding efforts; their donors may also face charges.
Russian criticism and independent media’s attacks on Proekt have seen news sites such as jellyfish with VTimes announces foreign agent (The latter has been closed), a reporter from the student journal DOXA is on trial, the investigative arm of the Alexei Navalny Anti-Corruption Fund Declared “extremists”, Millions of people demand fines for US-funded RFE/RL.
But this is the first time that news media is explicitly prohibited under the law (the closest example is the closure of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s “Open Russia” media department), which seems to indicate how Proekt passed Investigating senior officials touched the nerves of the Kremlin and sensitive topics like Russia Bad Covid-19 response And deploy mercenaries to Africa.
Last week, two other employees of Badanen and Proekt were targeted by the police in a house search. The police said they were investigating a four-year-old defamation case. But Proekt’s employees linked the search to their planned stern investigation of Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, who claimed that since he took office in 2012, his family has become very serious. Rich, and he is suspected of being involved in organized crime.
Proekt also announced an investigation into some of Putin’s most feared associates, including Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and the businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin. Using leaked property and passport information, the site also argued In an article last year Putin has the daughter of a secret mistress.
Over the years, Kremlin-friendly businessmen bought out or controlled important media, warning reporters not to cross the “double line” or be fired.
However, the emergence of new investigative agencies like Proekt has reduced their footprint in Russia to avoid government pressure, which allows the government to control their assets in addition to declaring them as foreign agents, making them bankrupt, or seeking other ways to close them. Fewer tools are available.
Proekt did not immediately comment on the government’s decision on Thursday.
