Russia Blocks Aleksei Navalny’s Website, After His Inquiry Into an Oligarch
- 6 years ago
Russia Blocks Aleksei Navalny’s Website, After His Inquiry Into an Oligarch
Mr. Navalny used Ms. Vashukevich’s material to compile a video investigation, posted last week, claiming
that the trip was a bribe from Mr. Deripaska to Mr. Prikhodko, that Ms. Vashukevich was a high-class escort and that she was one of "several" prostitutes aboard the yacht.
The order against the opposition leader, Aleksei A. Navalny, extended to the American service providers Instagram
and YouTube, with Instagram coming under criticism from Mr. Navalny after some content was deleted from its accounts.
That an order from a local court in Russia’s politicized judiciary would be dutifully followed by a major government agency raised immediate questions among Kremlin opponents about whether Mr. Deripaska, who has close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin
and other Kremlin officials, had been acting on behalf of the government to silence Mr. Navalny.
The spokesman denied any ulterior motives in the actions of the government agency, Roskomnadzor, asserting: "Any suggestion
that it acted at the instruction of the Russian government is ludicrous." But Mr. Navalny’s supporters asked why, if there had been no political motive, the agency did not just block the webpage carrying the investigation itself, rather than the entire website and some related ones.
Mr. Deripaska, who has emerged as a central figure in the investigations of Russian meddling in the 2016 United States presidential campaign, said through a spokesman
that Mr. Navalny’s allegations of bribery and prostitutes were a "hot story that appears far from being the truth." He also denied that the lawsuit had been a veiled attempt to muzzle Mr. Navalny.
15, 2018
MOSCOW — The Russian authorities blocked the website of a prominent opposition leader Thursday after he refused a court
order to remove a posted video accusing a high-ranking official of accepting a bribe from a rich businessman.
Mr. Navalny used Ms. Vashukevich’s material to compile a video investigation, posted last week, claiming
that the trip was a bribe from Mr. Deripaska to Mr. Prikhodko, that Ms. Vashukevich was a high-class escort and that she was one of "several" prostitutes aboard the yacht.
The order against the opposition leader, Aleksei A. Navalny, extended to the American service providers Instagram
and YouTube, with Instagram coming under criticism from Mr. Navalny after some content was deleted from its accounts.
That an order from a local court in Russia’s politicized judiciary would be dutifully followed by a major government agency raised immediate questions among Kremlin opponents about whether Mr. Deripaska, who has close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin
and other Kremlin officials, had been acting on behalf of the government to silence Mr. Navalny.
The spokesman denied any ulterior motives in the actions of the government agency, Roskomnadzor, asserting: "Any suggestion
that it acted at the instruction of the Russian government is ludicrous." But Mr. Navalny’s supporters asked why, if there had been no political motive, the agency did not just block the webpage carrying the investigation itself, rather than the entire website and some related ones.
Mr. Deripaska, who has emerged as a central figure in the investigations of Russian meddling in the 2016 United States presidential campaign, said through a spokesman
that Mr. Navalny’s allegations of bribery and prostitutes were a "hot story that appears far from being the truth." He also denied that the lawsuit had been a veiled attempt to muzzle Mr. Navalny.
15, 2018
MOSCOW — The Russian authorities blocked the website of a prominent opposition leader Thursday after he refused a court
order to remove a posted video accusing a high-ranking official of accepting a bribe from a rich businessman.