Naša Niva website blocked in Russia

March 14, BPN. The website of Naša Niva was blocked in Russia, as reported Naša Niva itself citing its readers on the territory of the Russian Federation.

According to Roskomsvoboda, a Russian digital rights organization, the Russian-language version of the website has been added to the registry of prohibited websites (https://Nashaniva.com/?lang=ru ).

It is noted that the decision was made by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office on February 24 (the day when Russia started the war against Ukraine), while the website was blocked for the first time on March 12.

On January 27, the Interior Ministry’s press service announced that “a group of citizens from among the staff of the private publishing unitary enterprise “Surodzičy” (Naša Niva newspaper), including their social networks and messengers,” were recognised as an “extremist formation.” Naša Niva became the fourth media outlet with this status along with BelaPAN, Radio Svaboda, and Belsat TV channel.

On February 28, the trial of Jahor Marcinovič, the editor-in-chief of Naša Niva, and Andrej Skurko, the former editor of the newspaper website, both recognized as political prisoners, started in the Zavadzki District Court of Minsk. They are accused under Article 216, part 2 of the Criminal Code of “causing damage to property without signs of theft, committed by a group of persons by prior agreement, on a large scale.”

Marcinovič and Skurko remain in custody since July 8, 2021. 

As reported previously, Belarusian portal Zerkalo.io (formerly tut.by) was blocked in Russia on March 9. The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) informed Zerkalo.io that the decision was made by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office on February 24 for publishing news stories “about Russia’s alleged attack of the Ukrainian territory.”

Earlier, Zerkalo.io was blocked in Belarus.