Nemtsov “I cannot understand why the West is sanctioning Russian business people and politicians but not media managers who lie all week and then travel to their expensive houses in Europe”

It is time that the European Commission and the EEAS return to the EaP-CSF assembly resolution and consider the imposition of sanctions on Russian propagandists. It would be a fitting tribute to the memory of a brave and honest Russian politician who died because he was ready to speak out to defend democracy, freedom and justice in his country.

There are many reasons for Nemtsov’s death. One of them is the paranoid atmosphere currently being whipped up by the Russian media which underpins Russia’s war in Ukraine and makes such killings at home possible. On October 5, 2014, at a conference organized by the Jarl Hjalmaron Foundation entitled “How to restore peace in Europe?”, Boris Nemtsov said “I cannot understand why the West is sanctioning Russian business people and politicians but is not touching media managers who lie all week and then travel to their expensive houses in Europe for a rest”.

At this same conference, Nemtsov sketched out the names of those most responsible for creating the atmosphere which ultimately led to his death and who in his view should be sanctioned. The following people figure on Nemtsov’s list: Konstantion Ernst(Director General of Channel One); Oleg Dobrodeev(Director General of All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting); Vladimir Kulistikov(Director General of NTV); Aram Gabrelyanov(creator of the Newspaper “Life” and CEO of News Media); Vladimir Solovyev(Russian TV journalist); Arkady Mamontov(Russian TV journalist). The list is an element of his last will and testament. The list was the inspiration for a resolution overwhelmingly adopted by the annual assembly of the Civil Society Forum in Batumi in November 2014 which called on the EU to consider sanctioning media managers and owners responsible for Russia’s menadacious propaganda which underpins the war against Ukraine.

Resolution: Media war being conducted by the Russian Federation

Siergiej Kowaliow, a prominent Russian civil rights defender has said “there is a hysterical murderous atmosphere in our country today. Nemtsov was killed by the television run by the Kremlin”. In a sense Boris Nemtsov identified his killers. These people who are directly responsible for this propaganda must be brought to account.

Krzysztof Bobinski

CSF Steering Committee, co-chair

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