Russia declares critical news outlet Meduza 'undesirable'

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities declared the independent Russian news website Meduza as an undesirable organization Thursday, the latest in a series of actions against groups and publications that are critical of the country.

The decision by the prosecutor-general's office came on the same day that the publisher of the Mediazona website, which reports on the legal system and law enforcement, said he was charged in absentia with spreading false and defamatory information about the Russian military.

Also Thursday, a human rights center named in honor of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov said Moscow city authorities had ordered it to vacate its premises.

Meduza, based in Latvia, has reported extensively and critically on Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

The Russian prosecutor-general's order said Meduza's “activities present a threat to the foundations of the Russian Federation's constitutional order and national security.” The decision applies specifically to the Medusa Project organization, which publishes Meduza.

A law passed in 2015 allows Russia to declare foreign organizations undesirable and to subject Russians who are tied to them to fines and imprisonment. The law is a companion to a measure under which organizations in Russia that receive foreign funding must identify themselves as “foreign agents,” potentially undermining their credibility.

Meduza already had been declared a “foreign agent” and was obliged to publish a banner acknowledging the designation on its stories.

Both laws have been used to stifle or discredit dissent. The crackdown intensified after Russia sent troops into Ukraine 11 months ago and passed another law penalizing information that is seen as discrediting Russian troops.

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