INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Updates with Timchenko commentsRussias General Prosecutors Office has included the independent news outlet Meduza to the nations list of
unwanted organizations, a sanction designed to force entities to dissolve and which puts its staff and monetary donors at risk of
significant prison time.The General Prosecutors Office said on Thursday that it thought the activities of Meduza constitute a danger to the
foundation of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation
Among the most popular independent Russian-language news sites, Meduza was founded in the Latvian capital Riga in 2014 by a cumulative of
previous workers at the popular Russian news website Lenta.ru
The reporters who established Meduza had actually all just resigned en masse following a choice by Lenta.rus Kremlin-linked billionaire
owner Alexander Mamut to fire editor-in-chief Galina Timchenko.Timchenko, who stays Meduzas CEO almost a years later, told The Moscow Times
on Thursday that the choice was not totally unforeseen
Since the start of the war [in Ukraine] we understood it was simply a matter of time
So we were ready and it has not frightened us
Our primary concern is our readers
Individuals can still read Meduza, well attempt to describe this to our audience, but releasing links and remarks might be considered
administrative offenses and this can impact our readers who stay in Russia, Timchenko said, including: We will not quit
Meduzas legal status in Russia was currently made complex after the Russian Justice Ministry labeled it a foreign representative in April
In July, Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner mercenary group, requested that Meduza be identified an unwanted organization right away
after it published an investigation into the activities of his mercenary group, which Prigozhin referred to as provocation disguised as
The unfavorable organization label requires an organization to cease all operations in Russia and enables its funds and properties in the
country to be confiscated.Russians are restricted from participating in the work of unfavorable organizations, even outside Russia
The charge for infraction is up to 4 years jail time
Financial contributions to such organizations also bring a charge of up to 5 years in prison.In addition, distributing or referring to
products released by an unfavorable company is a crime and can lead to legal consequences, including the blocking of any media outlet
citing an undesirable organization in Russia
The Russian security services are trying to make it tough for the publication to interact with their sources
They are attempting to daunt them in this method, political specialist and former Putin speech author Abbas Gallyamov informed The Moscow
Times on Thursday, including that there were a lot of leaks through Meduza that were unfavorable to Russian hawks
