Russia: Alexei Navalny's probe ordered to be deleted after 'terrorist' classification stir

In a major development, Russia on Monday threatened to block at least 10 news outlets unless they deleted coverage of imprisoned opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s video investigations into high-level corruption which are now banned as “extremist”. According to Moscow Times, the independent Dozhd broadcaster said that it has received orders to remove six articles. The Ekho Moskvy radio station was also reportedly ordered to remove 34 articles. 

Additionally, the Meduza news website, Znak.com, Svobodnyie Novosti and several other regional outlets were also asked to remove a number of articles from their platforms. As per the media outlet, the articles’ coverage ranged from a bombshell 2017 investigation implicating former Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev in illicit property deals to videos on the elite real estate owners by senior lawmakers, regional leaders and state defence industry executives, including Putin’s alleged “palace”.

Russia’s media watchdog Roskomnadzor said that the publications distribute materials belonging to an “extremist organisation”. The media outlets, on the other hand, stated that they will comply with the removal orders in a bid to avoid being blocked in Russia. 

Court cancels Putin-critic's lawsuit challenging 'terrorist' designation

A court in Russia on Tuesday rejected imprisoned opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s request to annul his designation as a “terrorist and extremist”. According to RFERL media outlet, the Petushki district court in Russia’s Vladimir region announced its decision, saying that Navalny was tagged with the status because he had committed “administrative violations of laws and regulations”. The court also said that the Kremlin critic’s designation was also because he founded an organisation that was recognised as extremist, and because a criminal case had been launched against him on extremism charges. 

It is to mention that last week, the Russian authorities had added Navalny and several of his associates to the federal registry of terrorists and extremists, a move condemned by some Western government and Navalny’s supporters. On Tuesday, Navalny, who participated in the hearing via a video link, reiterated his previous statements, saying that there was nothing in his activities that could be defined either as “extremist” or “terrorist”. 

"I am serving a term in this prison and have been designated as a terrorist and extremist because those in power are not only thieves and hypocrites, but also some sort of pathological liars, for whom it is important to accuse everybody around them of some monstrous things and say in absolute terms -- 'That person is a terrorist,'" Navalny said, as quoted by RFERL. 

Navalny is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics. He was arrested last year in January upon his return from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin - accusations that Russian officials reject. Currently, Navalny is serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence on embezzlement charges that he says were trumped up because of his political activities.

In October 2021, he was then labelled a “terrorist and extremist”. The Moscow City Court also declared all organisations linked to Navalny as extremist, preventing people associated with the Kremlin critic and his network of regional officers across Russia from seeking public office. 

Image: AP