Journalists Under Threat Around the World: Russia

 

 

 

Iran is a dangerous place to be a journalist, particularly when it comes to reporting on sensitive topics, from religion and politics to gender and society. Dozens of journalists are in prison, and many others face intimidation, harassment and threats. Media freedom in Iran is in a poor state, ranking 165 out of 180 in this year’s Reporters Sans Frontiers’ World Press Freedom Index, which assesses media freedom around the world.

But how does Iran compare to other countries, in the region and further afield?

In this series, we look at four countries where press freedom is under threat, where journalists are targeted and silenced, and the rights of ordinary citizens are undermined. 

 

 

 

REPORT ON FREEDOM OF PRESS & EXPRESSION: RUSSIA
Freedom in the World score, 2017 (Freedom House)	178th (out of 211 countries: "not free")
Freedom of Information ranking, 2016 (RSF)	148th (out of 180 countries)
Journalists in prison in Dec 2016 (CPJ)	2
Journalists killed since 1992 (CPJ)	56 (7th highest in the world)

 

Freedom of the press and expression has deteriorated in Russia in recent years, along with freedom of association, assembly and belief. Military campaigns in the Ukraine and Syria have prompted tighter controls over the media and produced an increasingly dominant propaganda machine. Persecution of independent journalists has intensified, through both intimidation and draconian legal penalties, and most outlets practice extensive self-censorship. 

The Kremlin controls all the national TV networks and much of the print media through a mixture of state-owned companies, direct ownership and business connections. Its powerful political and economic leverage allows it to set the national editorial agenda and restrict discussion of “sensitive” topics, such as the annexation of Crimea, Chechnya, LGBTI rights and criticism of state officials.

Popular social media sites in Russia are often blocked, and automated accounts are regularly created to produce content favorable to the state and to President Vladimir Putin. Under a 2012 law, dozens of independent NGOs have been labeled “foreign agents” to restrict their activities, and 2016 saw the first criminal prosecution for failure to comply with this law. 

In July 2016, anti-extremism legislation was significantly strengthened through a series of amendments known as the “Yarovaya package.” These have been used to stifle free speech through their broad definition of “extremism,” which is applied loosely in court. Journalists rarely receive a fair trial due to the lack of judicial independence, and under this legislation they could face lengthy prison terms.

Despite these pressures, the internet remains an effective platform for activism and political discussion, and is frequently used to organize protests. However, police brutality and criminal penalties continue to act as a strong deterrent for unsanctioned demonstrations.

No journalists have been killed in the last two years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). However, 56 murders have been documented since 1992, including two in 2013, and violent assaults are commonplace. Russia ranks 178th out of 211 countries in Freedom House's Freedom in the World list, below Afghanistan and Iraq. According to Human Rights Watch, “Russia is more repressive today than it has ever been in the post-Soviet era.” 

 

Economic Climate

The Kremlin controls all five major national TV networks, the main news source for most citizens. It also controls national radio stations, the largest national newspapers and 60 percent of regional and local newspapers. Independent media coverage is generally limited to websites, weekly magazines and a shrinking handful of radio programs and newspapers. 

The government is also strengthening its hold over foreign media groups. A 2014 law limited foreign ownership stakes in Russian media assets to just 20 percent, to be achieved by early 2017. Finland’s Sanoma sold its stakes in the newspaper Vedomosti and the English-language Moscow Times, while Germany’s Axel Springer group sold the Russian edition of Forbes. All three publications have since cut down political coverage.

Legal amendments signed into law in February 2015 allow subscription cable and satellite channels to broadcast advertisements if their share of foreign programming does not exceed 25 percent. While the changes were an improvement on the law's previous advertising ban on all pay channels, concerns remain about foreign stations’ decreasing competitiveness in the Russian marketplace.

Most media institutions are heavily economically dependent on the state. The government directs its media subsidies and advertising revenue to loyal publications, and provides printing, distribution and broadcast facilities. Its close ties with the business community acts as a form of indirect leverage, with companies generally preferring to advertise in pro-Kremlin publications.

The government's powerful hold over the press makes meaningful political debate almost impossible. Critical coverage by TV Dozhd (Rain), the only independent TV station, caused many cable and satellite broadcasters to drop it in early 2014, though it survived as an online channel. 

 

Legal Climate

 

The Russian Constitution includes provisions for freedom of the press and expression, and free access to public information. However, accessing state information is extremely difficult in practice, while a broad set of laws adopted in recent years has granted the authorities significant discretion to silence anyone who fails to toe the government line. If taken to court, few journalists are likely to be granted a fair trial within a highly politicized system that lacks independence and impartiality. 

Under a 2012 law, amended in 2016, NGOs that receive foreign funding and engage in broad political activity must register as “foreign agents” — a loaded term with strong connotations of Cold War-era espionage. Once registered, organizations are subject to additional audits and are obliged to disclose their foreign agent status on all official statements, undermining their public credibility. 

Between 2012 and 2016, 148 organizations were put on the registry, of which 27 closed down, according to Amnesty International. The Russian PEN Center and other signatories condemned the law in a statement on February 1, 2016: “It has become obvious that this piece of legislation is destructive and repressive by its very nature. It has caused significant damage to public life in Russia and, as a result, nullified the opportunity to engage in meaningful civic activism.” 

A further law signed in May 2015 allows certain NGOs to be labeled as “undesirable”, after which they must close their Russian offices or face up to six years in prison. Seven American NGOs have already been blacklisted, including the National Endowment for Democracy, Open Society Foundation and Media Development Investment Fund. 

Following mass anti-government protests in 2011 and 2012, a law was passed that allows the blocking of websites that call for vaguely- defined “extremist” activities or illegal protests. Nearly 21,000 websites were being blocked at the end of 2015, according to the independent Russian watchdog RosKomSvoboda. 

In May 2015, authorities banned publishing information about military casualties during “special operations” in peacetime, further restricting independent reporting on Ukraine and Syria. Two months later, in July, a “right to be forgotten” law was signed that allows people to request the deletion of unfavorable online information, raising concerns it could be used to whitewash the reputation of corrupt state officials. 

In September 2015, a law requiring companies to store Russian citizens’ data on local servers came into effect, bolstering the Kremlin's ability to conduct online surveillance. In December, a law was passed empowering the Constitutional Court to determine whether international human rights bodies’ rulings contradict the constitution and could be deemed “non-executable” — legislation with worrying implications for Russia's human rights commitments.

In June 2016, legislation was introduced to make internet search engine companies with more than one million daily users legally accountable for content hosted on their platforms. It also requires Russian-language search engines and those advertising for domestic audiences to be owned by Russians. The legislation would “result in governmental interference of online information and introduce self-censorship in private companies,” according to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe media freedom representative Dunja Mijatović. 

In July, a series of counter-extremism amendments known as the “Yarovaya package” were signed into law, increasing the maximum jail term for extremism to eight years, and for encouraging mass unrest to 10 years. The amendments, which attracted widespread criticism, also require cellular and internet providers to store communications data for six months and meta-data for up to three years, as well as placing limits on religious expression.

In addition to the new laws outlined above, Russian users may be prosecuted under a host of older criminal legislation, including defamation, insulting the authorities, insulting religious feelings, calls for extremism or separatism, repeated protests and incitement of hatred.

 

Key Events

 

—2015 —

 

Independent journalism in 2015 was generally overpowered by a highly nationalistic media narrative stressing the success of Russia’s military campaigns in Ukraine and Syria. Political pressure mounted on critical media outlets, with many forced to close, and online censorship strengthened. Russia authorities submitted 1,735 requests for Twitter content removal between July and December, a 25-fold increase on 2014, of which only five percent were found to have constituted a breach of rules. Although no journalists were killed, harassment and physical assaults were common. Over the course of the year there were 70 attacks on journalists, according to the Glasnost Defence Foundation.

 

January: 

• Journalist Sergey Vilkov was badly beaten by two unidentified assailants following the publication of articles by him that criticized local officials and businessmen. 

• Journalist Sergey Reznik's 18-month prison-term was extended for three years on new charges of insulting and misleading authorities following allegations he made about government corruption.

• New legal amendments came into force that prohibited foreign citizens and organizations from owning more than a 20 percent stake in Russian media. 

 

February:

• Political pressure forced regional broadcaster TV-2 to shut down its cable reporting and transfer all operations online. 

March:

• Independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced the end of its print edition. 

• Journalists at Novaya Gazeta and Moy Rayon newspapers published an investigation into the activity of pro-Kremlin “trolls,” revealing more than 500 accounts on the LiveJournal blogging platform. 

 

April:

• In April, four masked men violently assaulted My Derbent owner Vyacheslav Starodubets after he exposed state officials  in Dagestan had been involved in corrupt activities. 

 

May:

• The Internet Research Agency, a “troll factory” based in St. Petersburg, was sued by a former employee, bringing the activities of the agency to global public attention.

• Novaya Gazeta reporter Elena Milashina (below) fled Chechnya after receiving death threats for reporting that a 17-year-old girl was being forced into marriage with a police commander. Milaashina’s colleagues Anna Politkovskaya and Natalya Estemirova were murdered in 2006 and 2009, respectively.

 

June:

• Russian consumer protection group Public Control was subject to a criminal investigation, and authorities blocked its website after it referred to Crimea as an “occupied territory.”

 

July:

• President Putin approved a law on the “right to be forgotten,” allowing individuals to request the removal of false or outdated information about them on search engines. Free speech activists and civil society raised concerns that powerful and influential individuals would abuse the laws to censor reporting on their activities. 

• The Dynasty Foundation, which supports and funds science and education projects, was shut down after being designated a “foreign agent.” By the end of 2015, 111 Russian NGOs had been classified in this way, and been shut down or had their work severely hampered as a result. 

• On 9 July, 28 human rights organizations called for an investigation into the murder of Russian journalist Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev, who was shot dead two years previously after reporting on authorities carrying out human rights violations against Muslims.

 

September:

• Under a new law, companies were required to store Russian internet users' personal data on local servers. 

• Tatar Public Center director Rafis Kashapov was jailed for three years for criticizing  Russian actions in Ukraine online

• The man behind the violent attack on journalist Oleg Kashin in 2010 was released from pre-trial detention. Writing in an open letter in October 2015, Kashin claimed that Pskov Governor Andrei Turchak ordered the attack against him, and hired an assailant to carry it out. It was widely believed Turchak was released and spared accountability for the crime because of his connections with President Putin. 

 

October:

• Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow director Natalya Sharina was charged with “inciting hatred and enmity charges” in connection with alleged anti-Russian propaganda held in the library. The charges carry a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment. 

 

November:

 

• Journalist Aleksandr Kholodov was badly beaten by unknown assailants after reporting on abuses by St. Petersburg’s road police. 

 

December:

 

• Blogger Oleg Novozhenin received the first non-suspended sentence of one year in a penal colony for posting alleged Ukrainian nationalist propaganda on social media. 

• Darya Polyudova received two years in a penal colony for posts on social media, while blogger Vadim Tyumentsev was jailed for five years, the maximum sentence available.

• Activist Ildar Dadin (below) was sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for repeated peaceful protests, the first and only conviction under a draconian 2014 public assembly legislation. He later alleged that penal colony staff had beaten him and subjected him to degrading treatment.

 

 

—2016 — 

 

Anti-extremism laws continued to be used excessively throughout 2016, including an unprecedented crackdown on social media users. Direct censorship of web content also increased: By the end of May 2016, 1,587 sites were blocked on grounds of “extremism” or for calling for protests, according to RosKomSvoboda. Meanwhile, the blacklisting of NGOs continued, along with harassment of journalists and bloggers. During the year, Index on Censorship's Mapping Media Freedom project verified 200 reports of threats, limitations and violations to press freedom in Russia.

 

January:

• The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that Yevgeniy Frumkin’s detention and punishment had been “grossly disproportionate” following his participation in the Bolotnaya Square protest. 

 

February:

• Human rights lawyers’ association Agora was alleged to have violated the “foreign agents” law and undertaken work beyond its mandate.

• Shop assistant Yekaterina Vologzheninova was found guilty of “inciting hatred and enmity” following her online criticism of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine.

 

March:

• A group of masked men attacked a group of journalists and human rights activists who had joined together for a Committee Against Torture demonstration in the Caucasus. 

• Social media group Yandex released data revealing it had received 3,600 removal requests under the new “right to be forgotten” law, 51 percent of which related to true but outdated information. Just over a quarter were approved.

• Aleksandr Markov, an administrator of the anti-Kremlin VKontakte group “Criminal Regime,” was brutally assaulted by two strangers at his apartment.

 

April:

• The car of student Ruslan Starostin was torched several hours after he posted a satirical image of President Putin on his VKontakte page. 

• Renowned writer Ludmila Ulitskaya and others attending a student human rights awards ceremony were attacked by a group of men, who hurled green disinfectant and eggs at them.

 

May:

• One of the few remaining independent media groups, RBC, known for its investigations into state corruption, sacked key managers and reporters following reported political pressure.

• Andrei Bubeev was jailed for over two years on extremism charges based on two of his posts on Vkontakte that included a photo with a toothpaste tube saying “Squeeze Russia out of you.”

• Krym.Realii (“Crimea.Realities”), a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty project, was blocked in Russia and Crimea for allegedly inciting inter-ethnic hatred and extremism. 

 

June: 

• The first criminal prosecution was brought against an activist, Valentina Cherevatenko, on charges of “malicious evasion” of registration as a “foreign agent.” 

• Parliament adopted controversial legislation requiring internet search engine owners with more than one million daily users to prevent the dissemination of terrorist content, the disclosure of state secrets, pornography and other content. 

• Criminal Regime administrator Yegor Alekseev was attacked on the street by two men and suffered a broken nose and a fractured skull. 

 

July:

• The Yarovaya amendments were signed into law.

 

September:

• Caucasian Knot journalist Zhalaudi Geriyev was jailed for three years on charges of drug possession. Caucasian Knot is known for its reporting on state abuses and the charges were widely considered to be trumped up.

• Journalists across Russia were attacked and arrested while attempting to monitor polling stations during the legislative elections. 

• Community of Investigative Journalists director Grigory Pasko was brutally attacked by two unknown assailants. 

 

October:

• At least 16 Russian journalists and activists received a Google notification that “government-backed hackers” were trying to gain access to their accounts. 

 

November:

• A Russian court blocked the professional social network LinkedIn on the grounds that recent national legislation prohibits off-country storage of Russians' personal data. 

 

December:

• Under new amendments to the law, media outlets and publishers were required to report funding from all international sources, including Russian NGOs designated as “foreign agents.”

• Independent journalist Mikhail Afanasyev received death threats from a criminal gang because of his critical reporting on the gang's activities. 

• On 20 December, blogger Aleksei Kungurov was jailed for over two years for “calling for terrorism” after publishing a blog post criticizing Russia's actions in Syria.

 

– 2017 –

 

The first few months of 2017 saw a continuation of the crackdown on media and civil society groups, and further harassment of independent journalists. The “foreign agents” register included over 150 NGOs in February, according to a Human Rights Watch report. In one positive development, the Constitutional Court ruled in February that Russia’s Criminal Code should not be applied in cases where protesters do not constitute a threat to society. 

 

January:

• Magomed Daudov, the speaker of Chechnya's parliament, posted a threatening photograph on Instagram aimed at journalist Grigory Shvedov. It showed a dog with its tongue tied in a knot, alongside the caption: “It is past time to call a veterinarian to pull out [Shvedov's] wisdom teeth and to cut his tongue to standard size.”

 

February:

• The trial against Crimea.Realities contributor Nikolai Semena (below) began. Semena faces a prison term of up to five years on charges of making “calls to action aimed at violating the territorial integrity” of Russia.

 

• Ten security officials searched the home of prominent journalist and activist Zoya Svetova. The officers were reportedly acting on a search warrant linked to an embezzlement investigation into exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

• The Constitutional Court quashed protester Ildar Dadin’s 2015 conviction.

• President Putin approved administrative amendments that increased the fines on internet providers who failed to block web pages on request.

 

March:

• On March 20, Russian opposition leader and Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) head Alexei Navalny (below) was sprayed with green antiseptic, sparking a national campaign in which activists painted their faces green in solidarity.

• On March 26, over a dozen journalists were detained while reporting on nationwide anti-corruption protests prompted by an ACF report. Up to 93,000 people participated in the protests and around 1,800 of them were arrested, according to Reporters sans Frontieres.

• On March 27 and 28, a group of ACF members were found guilty of “administrative offences,” and Navalny was jailed for 15 days.

 

 

April:

• Journalist Elena Milashina told the Washington Post that she had fled Moscow due to threats after she reported on gay men being detained and tortured in Chechnya.