BCL partner Shaul Brazil and associate Evgeni Voznoi represented the well-known Ukrainian journalist and political commentator Dmytro Gordon in his successful application to the European Court of Human Rights.
The case of Novaya Gazeta and Others v. Russia (applications nos. 11884/22 and 161 others) concerned legislation introduced in Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, making it an offence to "discredit the military" or spread "fake news" about its actions. All the individual applicants in the case were convicted under the new legislation either in criminal or administrative proceedings and Novaya Gazeta and Dozhd TV, two independent media organisations, were shut down. In a unanimous judgment, the Court has today (11 February 2025) found Russia to be in breach of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Court found in sum that there had been a systemic and widespread pattern of reporting restrictions related to the war in Ukraine, revealing a coordinated effort to suppress dissent rather than counter any threat to national security. Essentially, the national courts had criminalised any reporting/statements that contradicted the official narrative describing the invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation". No effort had been made to balance the competing interests at stake, in particular, to take into account a matter of crucial interest to the public, namely a major armed conflict and allegations of war crimes.
In Mr Gordon's case, he had been prosecuted in his absence by a military court in Russia following remarks he made during an interview with a Ukrainian news channel in March 2022, shortly after Russia commenced its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. His name was added to the List of Terrorists and Extremists on the grounds that he was charged with "extremist" offences, and he was designated as a "foreign agent". He was ultimately tried, convicted and sentenced to fourteen years' imprisonment in absentia.
The Strasbourg Court held that while certain statements made by Mr Gordon were undeniably violent in their content, the Russian courts failed to undertake any analysis of these statements within their specific context. They did not take into account that the remarks were made by a Ukrainian journalist shortly after the commencement of Russia's full-scale invasion of his country, during a time when Ukrainian cities were shelled and bombarded, and civilian casualties were rising. When viewed in their proper context, it is evident that his statements were specifically directed at Russian military personnel engaged in active combat operations and the political leadership responsible for initiating the hostilities rather than at Russian civilians or the Russian population as a whole.
The Court held that such an undifferentiated approach indicates that Mr Gordon's prosecution was not directed at preventing genuine incitement to violence but rather at suppressing any criticism of Russian military actions, irrespective of its nature or context.
The Court also held that Mr Gordon's designation as a
"foreign agent" and the inclusion of his name on the list
of terrorists and extremists amounted to a manifestation of the
"chilling effect" resulting from criminal prosecution
in
connection with his expressive conduct and likewise constituted an
interference with his Article 10 rights.
Principal facts
The 162 applications were lodged by two Russian independent media organisations, Novaya Gazeta and Dozhd TV (Rain TV), and 178 individual applicants, including, in addition to Mr Gordon, various well-known Russian oppositionists such as Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has been convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years imprisonment following a closed trial.
On 24 February 2022, the President of Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which he described as a "special military operation".
Reporting restrictions were immediately set in motion. The authorities announced that only official sources should be used to report on the "operation", while new legislation was adopted on 4 March 2022, within one working day, making it an offence to "discredit" or "disseminate knowingly false information about" the deployment of the Russian Armed Forces.
Under this new legislation, the individual applicants were convicted in criminal (seven applicants) and administrative (171 applicants) proceedings. The two applicant media organisations were shut down for their coverage of the war.
They were, in particular, sanctioned for expressing critical views of Russia's military actions in Ukraine or disseminating information that diverged from official accounts. Their statements and/or reporting fell into several categories: peaceful anti-war protests, such as displaying the slogan "No to war"; expressions of support or solidarity with Ukraine; drawing historical parallels between the current conflict and past wars, in particular comparing the "Z" symbol used by Russian forces with the Nazi swastika; sharing information about civilian casualties and alleged war crimes, in particular the Bucha massacre and the Mariupol theatre bombing; and, general criticism of Russian Government policy and support for international sanctions against the Russian leadership.
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