BREAKING NEWS

Russia blocks internet sites of Putin critics

By REUTERS

MARCH 13, 2014 22:24

MOSCOW - Russia blocked access to the internet sites of prominent Kremlin foes Alexei Navalny and Garry Kasparov on Thursday under a new law critics say is designed to silence dissent in President Vladimir Putin's third term.

The prosecutor general's office ordered Russian internet providers to block Navalny's blog, chess champion and Putin critic Kasparov's internet newspaper and two other sites, grani.ru and ej.ru, state regulator Roskomnadzor said.

The move was the latest evidence of what government opponents see as a crackdown on independent media and particularly the internet, a platform for dissenting views in a nation where state channels dominate the airwaves.

Ej.ru editor Alexander Ryklin called it "monstrous" and a "direct violation of all the principles of freedom of speech," radio station Ekho Moskvy reported. He said he did not know why the site was blocked.

The blockages will increase concern that Putin is seeking to tighten control over Russian society as he faces off against the United States and European Union in a bitter dispute over the future of Ukraine.

It came a day after the editor of independent news site Lenta.ru was dismissed after it received a warning over publication of remarks by a Ukrainian far-right leader in what dozens of its staff members alleged was Kremlin censorship.

"This is the latest political decision taken as part of the cleansing of the media space," Navalny's spokeswoman Anna Veduta said on Twitter. Another Twitter user called it "Black Thursday".

The Kremlin denies allegations of censorship or pressure on the media.

IDF attacks Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

05/02/2024 03:40 PM

Hamas delegation to visit Egypt soon for further hostage negotiations

By REUTERS

05/02/2024 03:38 PM

Straus raises dairy product prices, following Tnuva

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

05/02/2024 12:43 PM

El Al flight lands back in Tel Aviv, passenger arrested

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF