Andrew Osborn, Tom Balmforth

MOSCOW (Reuters), – Russian newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov devoted the Nobel Peace Prize he received on Friday to six journalists who were killed for their work. He also said he will try to make use of the award to defend journalists under threat.

Muratov proclaimed, “Igor Domnikov and Yuri Shchekochikhin Anna Politkovskaya Stas Markelov Anastasia Baburova Natasha Estemirova – these are the Nobel Prize winners today,” citing six names of slain journalistic contributors or journalists whose portraits hang at the newspaper’s headquarters.

He told Podyom that he would leverage the prize for Russian journalism, which authorities are trying to suppress.

Referring to the law that makes it compulsory for reporters to become foreign agents, he stated: “We will help those who have been recognized as agents. They are being treated as dirt and exiled from their country.”

Muratov and Maria Ressa (a Filipino journalist) were awarded the Nobel Prizes on Friday. This was described by the committee as an endorsement for free speech rights that are in danger around the globe.

Novaya Gazeta reported that Muratov will donate part of the prize money to charity for children suffering from rare or serious illnesses.

HOSTILE

Muratov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at a moment when authorities are attempting to block Russian media that they consider hostile or foreign-backed. Muratov stated that he thought the Norwegian prize committee’s call was spam, and therefore had not accepted it.

Muratov, aged 59, was instrumental in the founding of Novaya Gazeta. This newspaper had been established in 1993 after Muratov and a few colleagues left Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Novaya Gazeta was founded with the mission of conducting large-scale investigations on human rights, corruption, and abuses of power.

Mikhail Gorbachev (the last Soviet leader, and the Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner), donated some of his personal money to the award in order to fund the equipment and salary of the paper.

A number of journalists from the newspaper were among those who had been most critical of President Vladimir Putin in recent decades. Estemirova was a journalist and Politkovskaya was a rights activist. Both of them infuriated Putin by sending dispatches to Chechnya.

Politkovskaya was murdered in her apartment’s stairwell on Putin’s birthday 2006. Estemirova was kidnapped from her Chechen capital Grozny home and then murdered in 2009.

Muratov was the editor of the newspaper from 1995 to 2017, when he retired due to the demands of his job. At the request of his staff, he returned to work in 2019, as voted by them.

Muratov received congratulations from the Kremlin.

Dmitry Peskov (Kremlin spokesperson) said, “He perseveres in accordance with the principles he holds dear, he is dedicated to them, and he is skilled.” “He’s brave.”