Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of persecuting Russian journalists as he claimed that Russian media is completely “free.” Putin also argued that the West keeps silencing media outlets from his country.
According to the Russian leader, the Western world always brags about free speech, but it continues to persecute Russian journalists in order to suppress “truthful information” and “inconvenient facts.”
Putin made these remarks a day before his visit to Mongolia, a country that was obliged to arrest him as a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) but defied its obligations and welcomed the Russian supremo.
Putin’s rant against the Western world came days after banning 92 US citizens, primarily journalists, lawyers, and businessmen, from entering Russia as he blamed them for promoting anti-Russian narratives.
This ban came at a time when Russia was already crushing dissent by cracking down on both local and international media outlets.
Previously, Russia even tried to silence people who referred to its aggression in Ukraine as a “war,” insisting it was only a “special military operation.” However, Russia eventually claimed that it had entered a “war” because the West had made itself a party to the conflict.
Putin has also advised international media to comply with “Russian legislation,” adding that organizations working in the country have to obey local laws. He claimed that Russian media always tries to advance the “Russian point of view” on contemporary issues and happenings in the world but faces “direct censorship” in the Western world.
Earlier this year, Russia enacted a new bill that allows the government to ban international media outlets from Western countries that are “unfriendly” to Russian journalists.
Since the start of the war, the US has also banned several Russian state-owned media networks after accusing them of propagating misinformation.
In order to suppress dissent, Russia has largely relied on its 2015 Russian Undesirable Organizations Law.
George Clooney’s NGO, Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ), was the latest notable organization to be banned under this chronic law after Russia accused the group of supporting members of terrorist and extremist organizations. Russia suggested that the CFJ was campaigning to “discredit Russia” on a massive scale and that it was busy suppressing free speech in the country.
Russian authorities further claimed that the CFJ was terrorizing Russian journalists after the controversial statement of the senior official of the foundation, who suggested that the CFJ was seeking the arrest of Russian journalists.
Amal Clooney, the co-founder of the CFJ, later dismissed Russian claims, stating that an official of her organization “misspoke” and that they never prosecute journalists irrespective of their opinions.
CFJ claims to “actively investigate” Russian war crimes in Ukraine alongside providing legal assistance to women and journalists who are the victims of political persecution just because of speaking the truth.
While the law was primarily enacted to control “foreign agents,” it has mostly targeted independent Russian media networks that try to crush the Russian official narrative in the ongoing war.
