Moscow declares the Barents Observer an ‘undesirable organisation’

The newspaper publishes "anti-Russian materials" that are aimed at "igniting protest among the people of Northern Russia," the Russian General Prosecutor says.

The General Prosecutor's office announced on Friday morning that the journalist-owned newspaper based in northern Norway has been added to Russia's list of so-called 'undesirable organisations.' “A significant part of the newspaper's materials have a clearly expressed anti-Russian character,” the Russian state authority writes. “The articles are aimed at stimulating protest actions among the population in north Russian regions, tightening anti-Russian sanctions [and] boosting NATO's military presence along our borders,” the notice reads. Furthermore, the Barents Observer is “discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” In addition, the newspaper's journalists are propagating “untraditional values,” the General Prosecutor argues. The repressive Russian authority also underlines that the editorial staff of the Barents Observer includes Russian journalists in exile, among them people who are on Russia's so-called 'foreign agent' list and the list of “extremists and terrorists.” The announcement by the General Prosecutor comes only one day after the small Norwegian newspaper won a court case in the European Court of Human Rights against Russia's censorship agency Roskomnadzor. Editor Thomas Nilsen underlines that the Barents Observer will continue to publish independent and investigative news about the situation in the region.

“The Barents Observer will continue to report, in Russian and English, about important developments in the Russian north,” he says. “This shows that the Kremlin's repressive authorities know that we are doing a good job. Journalism is no crime; the crime stopping free media and freedom of expression.” The timing of the General Prosecutor's announcement is well prepared, Nilsen argues. “There is no such thing as a coincidence in time in regard to actions taken by Kremlin's repressive authorities. Yesterday afternoon, the Barents Observer won against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights.

This morning the Procurator General designates us undesirable.”