Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor has filed a lawsuit in a Moscow court to revoke the registration of the independent Novaya gazeta newspaper, less than a year after its editor in chief, Dmitry Muratov, won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
The lawsuit was filed in the Russian capital's Basmanny court on July 26. The judge has three days to make a ruling on the move against the paper, which began publishing in 1993 and was one of the most respected publications in post-Soviet Russia.
Novaya gazeta, one of the last of Russia's independent media, suspended operations inside the country in March after being forced to remove material from its website on Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Some members of the paper’s staff left Russia after it stopped publishing and launched the newspaper Novaya gazeta.Europe from Latvia's capital, Riga. Russia's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has blocked that website inside Russia as well.
Muratov has remained in Russia despite his vocal opposition to the conflict in Ukraine.
Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Moscow quickly adopted a law criminalizing the dissemination of “false” information that “discredits the armed forces.” The law has been central to a massive crackdown against dissent over the war in Russia.
Roskomnadzor's latest move comes days after it blocked the website of the magazine Novaya rasskaz-gazeta -- also produced by Novaya gazeta staff -- for allegedly “discrediting the Russian armed forces.”