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Tit for tat: Russia Registers 9 US Media Outlets as 'Foreign Agents'
[AnNahar] Russia's justice ministry on Tuesday named nine US media outlets including Voice of America as "foreign agents" after President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...signed a law last month allowing international media to be slapped with the controversial label. The ministry on its website posted a statement saying that US-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty and seven of their media affiliates have been recognised as "carrying out the functions of a foreign agent." Russia last month hastily issued legislation allowing the measure to target media in a retaliatory move after Kremlin-funded RT television registered itself as a "foreign agent" in the United States under official pressure. Radio Free Europe  ...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...and Voice of America had already been formally warned by the justice ministry that they risked recognition as "foreign agents." The justice ministry has now formalised this, naming them and their affiliates, including Radio Free Europe's news sites dedicated to regions including Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine, and the Caucasus and a television channel run jointly by Radio Free Europe and Voice of America called Telekanal Nastoyashchyeye Vremya. The 2012 law previously applied only to non-governmental organizations that had international funding. Those branded "foreign agents" have to present themselves as such on all paperwork and submit to intensive scrutiny of their staffing and financing. Many NGOs have closed down as a result, saying the measure made it too difficult for them to operate. Rights groups fear the measure applied to media could have a chilling effect on the ability of outlets to carry out independent reporting. Posted by: trailing wife 2017-12-06 |
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