Kremlin reacts to Kadyrov's call to punish "Novaya Gazeta"

The "Roskomnadzor" has obliged the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper to restrict access to the publication on coronavirus spread in Chechnya that angered Ramzan Kadyrov.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 6, Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, made a remark to the heads of regions who had introduced a ban on leaving and entering their regions. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that Mishustin had been misled about Chechnya. Kadyrov's public debate with the Russian Premier has affected the official statistics on coronavirus infection in the republic, the "Novaya Gazeta" has noted.

On April 15, the "Novaya Gazeta" closed readers' access to the article by its observer, Elena Milashina, "Death from a coronavirus is a lesser evil". The article published on April 12 described the spread of coronavirus in Chechnya.

The newspaper had to remove the article from the website by the demand of the "Roskomnadzor" – the agency demanded to remove the article within 24 hours "threatening to block the entire website." The "Roskomnadzor" referred to the conclusions of the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO), which, in its turn, demanded blocking the article on the basis of the law on fake news, the "Novaya Gazeta" reported on April 15.

On April 13, Kadyrov commented on Milashina's article in his Telegram channel, accusing the "Novaya Gazeta" of "anti-Chechen bullying." On the same day, Kadyrov, speaking to his subordinates, expressed threats against the author of the article and her colleagues from the newspaper.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 16, 2020 at 01:18 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.