On Wednesday 10 July 2024 Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office (Генеральной прокуратурой Российской Федерации) labeled The Moscow Times (https://www.themoscowtimes.com/) as an “undesirable organization,” effectively banning its activities within the country. This designation subjects anyone cooperating with the outlet to criminal prosecution, further stifling independent voices and press freedom.
You can read the statement here: https://epp.genproc.gov.ru/web/gprf/mass-media/news?item=96249378
The decission in Russian is: Принято решение о признании нежелательной на территории Российской Федерации деятельности иностранной неправительственной организации The Moscow Times.
According to a statement by the Prosecutor General’s Office, The Moscow Times was targeted for allegedly discrediting the Russian government’s decisions in both domestic and foreign policy.
The Moscow Times, which has been providing news in English and Russian since 1992, relocated to Amsterdam in 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Moscow Times has been a vital source of news and a training ground for numerous journalists who have gone on to become prominent foreign correspondents. However, the Russian government’s designation places its staff and collaborators at significant risk, making it increasingly difficult to maintain their operations and protect their sources.
Despite this crackdown, The Moscow Times’ founder Derk Sauer, a citizen of the Netherlands, emphasized their commitment to continue practicing independent journalism, a task increasingly perilous in Putin’s Russia. The outlet joins a growing list of media organizations, including Meduza (https://meduza.io/en), TV Rain, The Insider (https://theins.ru/en), iStories (https://istories.media/en/), and Radio Liberty (https://www.rferl.org/Russia), which have all faced similar repression under the “undesirable organization” label.
In an editorial note, The Moscow Times reaffirmed its commitment to truthful reporting despite the increasing pressures and threats. The outlet called for continued support from readers to defy the Kremlin’s (Московский Кремль), Russia, efforts to suppress independent journalism.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the Russian government’s decision to label The Moscow Times as an “undesirable organization,” a move aimed at silencing journalism and stifling free expression. SEEMO is deeply concerned about this blatant attack on press freedom and will be closely monitoring the situation to ensure that the rights of journalists and media outlets are protected.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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