The editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Muratov, filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice over his status as a foreign agent.

The editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov (included in the list of foreign agents), filed a lawsuit in the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow lawsuit to the Russian Ministry of Justice. In it, he demands to cancel the department’s decision to include him in the register of foreign agents.

According to the court file, the lawsuit was filed by Mr. Muratov on October 18. The date for the hearing of the case has not yet been set.

As reported TASS The press service of the court, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, demands that the decision of the Ministry of Justice be declared illegal and annulled.

The Russian Ministry of Justice added the Nobel Peace Prize laureate to the list of foreign agents on September 1 of this year. Department reportedthat Mr. Muratov participated in “the creation and dissemination of messages and materials of foreign agents to an unlimited number of people,” and also used foreign platforms to disseminate opinions “aimed at creating a negative attitude towards Russia’s foreign and domestic policies.”

Dmitry Muratov received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 along with Filipino journalist Maria Ressa. In September 2022, Russian courts canceled licenses for the printed version of Novaya Gazeta and Novaya Rasskaz-Gazeta, as well as the publication’s website. In June 2023, the Prosecutor General’s Office declared the publication Novaya Gazeta Europe, created by the editorial staff of Novaya Gazeta (registered in Latvia), undesirable.

Alexander Kislov