Neo-Soviets kill newspaper

Evil.

A newspaper for expats living in Russia has been shutdown by government intimidation over its criticism of Vladimir Putin. When The Exile was informed it was to have an "unplanned audit" of its content by the "Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications, and the Protection of Cultural Heritage" (an Orwellian title if ever there was one), their supporters and financiers dropped them like a "polonium-filled potato".

'They're here,' my colleague whispered. It was 11am, exactly the time the Russian ministry officials said they would arrive at our office to carry out an 'unplanned audit' of our newspaper's articles.

A film of sweat hit my back.

The officials from what is known as the Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications, and the Protection of Cultural Heritage had specifically requested my presence for the questioning, so that I might 'explain' our articles.

I had seriously considered absconding - and now that I was there, I wondered if I hadn't just made the biggest mistake of my life.

[ ... ]

A visit by four government officials to question you about your editorial content would be strange and worrying in any country. But in Russia, where over the past decade journalists and media outlets have been subjected to relentless pressure, brutality, forced exile and even death, it's much more serious.

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