by Fabrizio Dragosei
Former KGB agent convicted in UK. Now among the supporters of an amendment that also affects the media based abroad
The recent law, which allows authorities to impose sentences of up to 15 years on anyone found spreading false news or disparaging the military in Russia, is likely to be amended to target media outside the Russian Federation as well. And maybe even the correspondents of foreign newspapers who write or speak in media not intended for the Russian public.
The latest news about the war in Ukraine
The amendment, which will be debated by the Duma in the coming weeks, includes the signature of Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB agent convicted in Britain for the 2006 poisoning and murder of former agent Aleksandr Litvinenko who fled Russia . The new rule, if passed, could allow prosecutors to take immediate action against the correspondent who reports on the armed forces or the Moscow government in an “disrespectful” way.
A conviction by a judge would not even be necessary, since the prosecutor’s decision would have the character of an administrative measure. The media law, which came into force in March immediately after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, affects those who do not follow the official version of the military authorities and may even call the operation by a different name. In recent times, all publications and independent radio and television stations have ceased operations in Russia, possibly after being labeled “foreign agents”, a definition provided for in another law also passed by Parliament.
Some media have moved their employees abroad and broadcast articles and programs from there, which are then read and listened to in Russia. Above all, this new standard wants to hit these means of communication. It also wants to be a response to the laws passed in Europe and the US against television and news agencies that spread government propaganda, such as RT and Sputnik.
April 28, 2022 (change April 28, 2022 | 17:09)
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