Vladimir Putin breaks Nobel Peace Prize silence to threaten Russian laureate Dmitry Muratov

The president urged the journalist to be careful about using the award ‘like a shield’ to violate Russian laws
Muratov said he would not renounce the prize regardless of the Kremlin leader‘s remarks

Nobel Prize

dpa

Published: 1:58am, 14 Oct 2021

Why you can trust SCMP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a thinly veiled threat against the journalist Dmitry Muratov, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for his investigative journalism as editor-in-chief of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.

Putin broke his silence on the prestigious prize to urge Muratov to be careful: “If he covers himself with the Nobel Prize like a shield to violate Russian laws, he does so consciously,” Putin said at the Russian Energy Week event in Moscow on Wednesday.

“If he doesn't break Russian law and there’s no reason to declare him a ‘foreign agent’, then that won’t happen.”

Muratov himself later said he would accept the award regardless of the Kremlin leader’s remarks: “The state can do what it wants, but we will accept the prize, we will not renounce the prize,” the 59-year-old told the Interfax new agency.

Colleagues congratulate editor Dmitry Muratov (centre) at the Novaya Gazeta newspaper in Moscow, Russia on Friday. Photo: AP

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly to Muratov and Filipino journalist Maria Ressa on Friday. Giving the prize to two journalists was intended to underline the importance of protecting freedom of expression and freedom of the press in any democratic and peaceful society.

The recognition for Muratov came as dozens of Russian journalists and a number of leading independent outlets have this year been hit with the “foreign agent” designation.

A term with Soviet-era undertones, the status forces individuals or organisations to disclose sources of funding and label all their publications, including social media posts, with a tag or face fines.

Kremlin critics say authorities are waging a campaign against independent and critical media, with many branded foreign agents and others forced to shut down.

‘Thank you Duterte’: Ressa’s Nobel Peace Prize win stuns Philippines

Muratov was among a group of journalists who founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993 after the fall of the Soviet Union. The paper has become one of the few remaining independent voices in a tightly controlled media landscape.

The editor has said he would be dedicating the award to the six journalists at his newspaper who have been killed over the years.

Despite Putin’s silence until now, the Kremlin has actually congratulated Muratov on his award.

The journalist said he had been assured that the prize money was no reason to declare him a “foreign agent”.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse