COPENHAGEN, 9 September 2022 – Deeply alarmed by the recent revocation of the print license of Novaya Gazeta, the leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee today called for Moscow to immediately cease its harassment of the news outlet.
Nikoloz Samkharadze (Georgia), Farah Karimi (Netherlands), and Johan Büser (Sweden) – the Chair, Vice-Chair and Rapporteur, respectively, of the OSCE PA’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions – stressed the importance of a vibrant and independent media in Russia, especially in the context of the invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine. They aligned themselves with the concerns recently expressed by the OSCE Media Freedom Representative.
“Novaya Gazeta has long been an important voice, offering the Russian population an independent perspective to the narrative spun by the Kremlin and significant investigations, including on corruption, torture and electoral fraud,” said Samkharadze. “We were honoured to have Editor-in-Chief Muratov speak to our committee earlier this year, and our appreciation for Novaya Gazeta’s work goes back some two decades, with our awarding of the OSCE Prize for Journalism and Democracy to Anna Politkovskaya. If the Russian authorities are successful in shutting down the newspaper, it will be a dark day for media in Russia.”
In the Birmingham Declaration adopted on 6 July, OSCE parliamentarians unanimously expressed their concern about “the use of administrative, legislative and legal tools to limit the independence of the media in some countries” and called on OSCE countries to review legislation related to the media in consultation with the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media to ensure compliance with human rights standards.
“Just two months ago, OSCE parliamentarians unanimously condemned efforts by governments to misuse legal and administrative mechanisms to limit the independence of the media and civil society in some countries. Russia, unfortunately, seems to have taken this as an instruction booklet and continues its legalistic efforts to shut down independent voices,” said Farah Karimi.
Committee Rapporteur Johan Büser said: “With another legal case pending against Novaya Gazeta’s website, the media regulator Roskomnadzor and Russian authorities have an opportunity to stop their lawsuit and further damage to the news outlet. We call on the authorities to terminate their suit against Novaya Gazeta, which can only be seen as another thinly veiled effort at silencing this independent voice on spurious grounds.”
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has repeatedly expressed concern about the situation of independent media and civil society in Russia and other countries.
