Russia paved the way this Friday to approve a text with harsh prison sentences and fines for those who publish “false information” about the army, one more twist of the internal repression against independent information in the midst of the invasion of Ukraine.
The deputies of the lower house of the Russian Parliament (the Duma) unanimously adopted an amendment that provides for penalties of up to 15 years in prison if information seeking “discredit” to the armed forces.
Another amendment that went ahead this Friday contemplates sanctions for those who request “sanctions against Russia”, just as the country is facing heavy penalties from Western countries for the attack on Ukraine.
These texts apply both to the media and to individuals. If they are approved by the upper house on Friday, they would come to reinforce the arsenal of the authorities in their information war, parallel to the offensive in Ukraine.
The chairman of the Duma information policy committee, Alexander Jinshtein, quoted by the Interfax news agency, indicated that the “law applies to all citizens, not just those of Russia”.
In order to further control the information that the Russian population receives about the conflict, the authorities increased the pressure on the few independent media that continued to work in the country despite the hostile climate.
On Friday, Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor announced that it had limited access to the portals of the Russian-language edition of the British BBC and German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, as well as the independent Meduza portal and Radio Svoboda. , Russian antenna of RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), a medium financed by the US Congress.
It was also difficult to access, at times, the social network Facebook, whose headquarters are in the United States.
The day before, the emblematic radio station Ekho Moskvy (Echoes of Moscow) announced its dissolution due to the harassment suffered for its coverage of the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian opposition television network Dojd also announced the suspension, after being blocked by Roskomnadzor for its coverage of the invasion.
The news website Znak announced in turn on Friday that it stopped working “due to the large number of restrictions that have recently arisen in the operation of the media in Russia”.
The Village, the reference cultural agenda in Moscow, made the decision to close its office in the Russian capital and move it to Warsaw (Poland).
Police operation against Memorial
These restrictions and closures come in a particularly tough year in Russia for the independent media, the political opposition and civil society.
Numerous publications and journalists have been labeled as “foreign agents”, a category that forces them to carry out heavy administrative procedures, with the risk of being prosecuted by law for the slightest fault.
The main opponent of the Kremlin, Alexei Navalni, was arrested on his return to Russia, having survived a poisoning attempt. His movement was dismantled.
The Russian justice decided in December to close Memorial, an NGO that was a pillar of the defense of human rights and custodian of the memory of millions of victims of crimes in the Soviet Union. A verdict confirmed after an appeal on Monday.
The NGO announced on Friday that a police operation was underway at its offices in Moscow, raising fears of its effective closure.
Another non-governmental organization, “Asistencia Cívica”, focused on helping migrants, was also the target of police raids on Friday.
At the moment, the reasons for both investigations are unknown.
arrest of protesters
According to a human rights observatory in Russia, OVD-Info, more than 8,000 people have been detained in the country (the majority in Moscow and Saint Petersburg) since February 24 for demonstrating against the invasion in Ukraine.
Although the repression affects Russians above all, there are also those who point to foreign organizations.
Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin noted on Friday to US-based social media that they were “used as weapons” to spread “hate and lies”. Something to whichwe must oppose”, he explained.
Valeri Fadeev, chairman of the Kremlin Human Rights Council, accused foreign media of spreading false news about the conflict in Ukraine.
“We have launched a project to counter the huge amount of fake news coming from Ukraine and western countries”, he declared.
Source: Gestion
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