The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow rejected the claim of Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov demanding that he be removed from the register of “foreign agents,” Novaya Gazeta reports.
At the meeting, a representative of the Ministry of Justice named Vorobiev (Novaya Gazeta does not name him) said that Muratov gave interviews to foreign media from “unfriendly” countries, which means he could not speak positively about Russia.
“Great Britain, Latvia—foreign structures are located on the territory of states that have committed unfriendly actions against the Russian Federation, which precludes the plaintiff from distributing materials and opinions about the Russian Federation in a positive or neutral light,” Novaya Gazeta quotes a representative of the Ministry of Justice.
Muratov himself explained going to court with the need to defend his rights.
If you do not go to court when the state confiscates your rights, then you consent to this forced confiscation. They’re stealing your job, your dignity, your freedom, and you don’t even write a statement about getting your rights back? I’m a fool, of course, but I believe that we have a chance. Because my beloved Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy correctly noted: obscurantism is terrible, but obscurantists are funny.
As Muratov emphasized, he never had foreign funding. In addition, as the former editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta noted, quoting materials from “foreign agents” is not prohibited by law.
The Ministry of Justice added Muratov to the register of “foreign agents” on September 1, 2023. The department’s justification stated that the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta created and distributed “materials from foreign agents,” and also used “foreign platforms” to express opinions “aimed at creating a negative attitude” toward Russia’s foreign and domestic policies.
According to the law, “negative” statements about Russia in themselves, no matter on what platform they were made, cannot serve as a basis for recognition as a “foreign agent.”
On September 4, Muratov announced his resignation as editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta pending a trial challenging his status as a “foreign agent.” His deputy Sergei Sokolov was appointed acting editor-in-chief. On November 16, Sokolov was elected editor-in-chief, and Muratov remained at Novaya Gazeta as a publisher.
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2023-11-21 19:19:37
