Berlin, January 14, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to stop persecuting the regional news site Komi Daily and the independent media outlet Asians of Russia, which the Federal Security Service (FSB) added to its list of “terrorist organizations.” This marks the first time media publications have been labeled as such in Russia, according to news reports.
“Labeling Komi Daily and Asians of Russia terrorist organizations is a serious attack on press freedom and the public’s right to information about the culture and current affairs of Russia’s Komi Republic and Asian peoples,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Journalism is not terrorism. Russian authorities must immediately unblock Komi Daily’s website and social media channels, and stop silencing independent voices.”
Komi Daily, an online publication covering regional issues in Russia’s northern Komi Republic, has been blocked inside Russia since March 2024 for its “LGBTQ propaganda” which was banned in the country in 2022. Asians of Russia reports on the Asian peoples of Russia.
In a November 22, 2024 ruling, the Supreme Court labeled the Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum and its 172 “structural divisions”—which allegedly included Komi Daily and Asians of Russia—as terrorist organizations at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The Forum, which seeks “decolonization” of the Russian Federation and independence for regional states, regularly hosts conferences around the world to discuss the “national liberation struggle against the Kremlin.”
Komi Daily reported about the ruling on January 11. Both media denied any connection with the forum.
“We are currently consulting with human rights defenders to determine next steps. Our primary focus is to protect you, and, of course, we will continue our work,” the outlet stated in a Telegram post.
On May 24, 2024, the Syktyvdinsky District Court in the Komi Republic fined the outlet’s editor Valery Ilyinov 10,000 rubles (US$ 97). He was found guilty of inciting hatred or enmity and humiliating human dignity.
“This decision by the authorities carries no rational logic other than a desire […] to undermine our work, to discredit our name, jeopardize our relatives and thus tie our hands, [and] of course, to leave you without us, the largest media of indigenous peoples in Russia,” Asians of Russia said in an Instagram post.
CPJ’s emailed a request for comment to FSB did not receive any replies.