Status: 07/28/2021 11:59 a.m.
In Russia, the police ransacked the home of investigative journalist Dobrokhotov. His news site “The Insider” was recently declared the 16th independent medium to be a “foreign agent”.
The authorities in Russia continue to crack down on independent journalists. This time, Roman Dobrochotow, editor-in-chief of the news website “The Insider”, is affected. The Ministry of Justice declared her a “foreign agent” as the 16th independent media platform last week.
“The police are knocking”
Shortly before the search, the Dobrochotov tweeted: “It looks like it’s a raid. The police are knocking.” Just a few minutes later, he published his address in another tweet to ask for legal assistance in a third message. “A lawyer couldn’t hurt,” wrote Dobrochotov.
The OVD-Info group, a legal aid group that monitors political arrests, said Dobrochotov’s wife had also called the organization’s hotline and reported a police raid. Then suddenly she could no longer be reached. A lawyer was on the way to the apartment, added OVD-Info.
Lawsuit from a Dutch blogger
“The Insider” points out on Twitter a defamation lawsuit against Dobrochotow that the Dutch blogger Max van der Werff had filed in January. It goes back to a report by “The Insider”, according to which the Russian military intelligence service GRU was helping foreign media workers spread disinformation about the crash of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine.
Van der Werff’s lawyer confirmed to the state news agency RIA Novosti that the police searches are related to the lawsuit and that van der Werff has personally sued Dobrochotow. The Moscow police initiated criminal charges of defamation in April, according to “The Insider”. Searches would also be carried out on Dobrokhotov’s relatives.
Crackdown on independent media
The website, founded in 2013, works together with the international research platform “Bellingcat”. “The Insider” provided information on MH17, the poison attacks on the Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny and the former double agent Sergej Skripal, as well as the murder of a Georgian of Chechen origin in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten. “The Insider” has received numerous awards for its investigative work, including the Henri Nannen Prize and the “Free Media Award” from the Zeit Foundation and the Norwegian Fritt-Ord Foundation.
Media are classified as “foreign agents” if the authorities see it as proven that they are receiving money from abroad and engaging in activities that are broadly described as political. Those affected have to accept additional state controls and public degradation. Russians who work for “undesirable” organizations face fines or imprisonment.
Before the parliamentary elections in September, Russian authorities are steadily increasing pressure on the opposition and independent media. The polls are seen as an important test of sentiment in Vladimir Putin’s efforts to consolidate his power ahead of the 2024 presidential election.