Dmitry Muratov said Nobel Peace Prize should have gone to jailed Russian opponent Alexei Navalny

The brand new Nobel Peace Prize, the Russian Dmitry Muratov, said on Friday that reportedly awarded the prestigious prize to imprisoned Russian opponent Alexei Navalny.

“I would have voted for the person the bookies were betting on, and that person has the whole future ahead of them. I mean Alexei Navalny”said the editorial director of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

Muratov was awarded in full wave of repression in Russia against the opposition, independent media and NGOs critical of the Kremlin.

“I don’t know how (the Nobel) will affect censorship“said Muratov, who assured that will give part of the prize to Russian “independent and autonomous media”.

Russian authorities appointed Friday afternoon to nine people, including journalists, as “foreign agents”, which subjects them to heavy administrative procedures and controls of your expenses, with the threat of being jailed if they don’t comply.

Several organizations were included in the list, as well as the research community Bellingcat, What revealed the names of many Russian agents involved in assassination attempts, such as the poisoning of Navalny last year.

Muratov es one of the founders of the independent newspaper Novaja Gazeta, “An important source of information on the reprehensible aspects of Russian society which are rarely mentioned by other media,” said the Norwegian Academy which awarded him the Nobel Prize.

“I can’t take credit for it. It’s from Novaya Gazeta. He is among those who died defending people’s right to freedom of expression“Muratov said, listing the names of the six people killed, including Anna Politkovskaya, according to the Russian news agency. TASS.

Muratov, born 59 years ago in Samara, headed the newspaper between 1995 and 2017. Novaya Gazeta has been listed as “The only truly critical newspaper with national influence in Russia today” by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

On January 18, 2010, he received the order of the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France, in the rank of knight. On May 29, 2010, he was awarded the Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Expression in Middelburg (Netherlands).

Your work has contributed to put pressure on the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and served to give a voice to the country’s minority parties. He also exerted an influence on publicize the situation in Chechnya and the North Caucasus.

(With information from AFP)

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