Four Freedoms

Citation Novaya Gazeta

Award of the

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Freedom Medal to

Dmitry Muratov and Novaya Gazeta

 

            “Freedom of Speech and Expression – everywhere in the world.” With these words, Franklin Roosevelt described the essential freedom required to assure democracy and a just society.

On this, the 29^th day of May, 2010, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom of Speech and Expression Medal is awarded to

Dmitry Muratov and Novaya Gazeta

one man and one newspaper, who so believe in the pursuit of the truth that he and his colleagues have risked their lives in the pursuit of that Freedom which stands as the foundation of democracy.

It was in 1993, just two years after the end of the Soviet Union that you founded Novaya Gazeta. Your goal was to establish an “honest and independent publication;” a paper that would publish hard-hitting reporting; that would not shy away from great controversy; a place where courageous and independent journalists would be free to hone their craft. It was your hope that such a paper would be the flagship of a newly emerging free press; a press that would help give birth to and sustain Russian democracy after centuries of autocratic rule.

And so with two computers, one printer, a couple of rooms and no money you and fifty colleagues began your work. True to your convictions Novaya Gazeta took on the great issues of the day: the need to expose and root out corruption; defending human rights; the necessity of establishing an independent judiciary and political parties accountable to the people; the fight for financial reform; documenting historical truth. The work was hard—but the chance to help shape the future of your beloved Russia sustained you. Thanks in part to the financial support of Mikhail Gorbachev, who donated a substantial portion of his 1990 Nobel Peace Prize Award to Novaya Gazeta, the paper struggled on and by 1996 its circulation had expanded to more than 70,000. Today it is close to 300,000. 

You knew that editing an independent newspaper in post-Soviet Russia demanded courage and commitment, and you refused to be intimidated by the growing forces of greed, corruption and violence. Your insistence on exposing such forces emboldened those arrayed against Novaya Gazeta. in July 2000 the paper’s special projects editor, Igor Domnikov, was beaten to death by mercenary killers for investigating fraud. Three years later Yuri Shchekochikhin, your Deputy Editor and a member of the Russian State Duma, was mysteriously poisoned as he investigated high-level state corruption.  Then came the tragedy of Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down outside in the lobby of her Moscow apartment in October 2006 for her indefatigable and brave reporting exposing human rights abuses in Chechnya; and finally, Anastasia Barburova, only twenty-five, who was killed while trying to assist the mortally wounded Stanislav Markelov, the human rights lawyer slain on a Moscow street in January 2009.

            You have called these deaths “battle casualties” in the war for truth. In the depths of your loss you thought for a time about giving up the struggle. But in the end, inspired by the determination of your fellow reporters, you decided you had no choice but to carry on the work of Domnikov, Shchekochikhin, Politkovskya, and Barburova--no matter what the price. "We will not be silent," you said. 

Today, we honor your fallen colleagues by honoring you and the newspaper you founded. Your ceaseless efforts—in spite of grave danger—to publish  the uncensored truth and to defend press freedom in Russia, are an inspiration to journalists the world over. No one would admire your courage in the cause of Freedom more than Franklin D. Roosevelt, and for this, and in his name, we thank and honor you today.