Lev Shlosberg’s blog post, 9.10.2021

Photo: Dmitry Muratov and Lev Shlosberg at the Pskov Yabloko office on 2 April, 2019. / Photo by Artyom Avanesov

Dmitry Muratov received the Nobel Peace Prize as one of the last defenders of free speech in Russia. The last, not in the sense that defenders of freedom of speech in Russia will end on him, but that he is one of the last people who personally launched freedom of speech after the collapse of the USSR and who has been maintaining its level for all these 30 years.

Muratov made it a good point today saying that the murdered Novaya Gazeta journalists Yury Shchekochikhin, Igor Domnikov, Anna Politkovskaya, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasia Baburova and Natalya Estemirova received the Nobel Peace Prize along with him, that this was a prize to all his murdered colleagues at Novaya Gazeta. This is a prize with tears in the eyes.

Muratov fully realises that it was the freedom of speech in Russia that has received the Nobel Peace Prize. Freedom, which was shot many times, but survived. This is a very serious decision of the Nobel Committee, because peace is impossible without freedom of speech. When freedom of speech dies, war begins. The decision of the Nobel Committee reflects what has been happening in our country – namely, the destruction of all human rights and freedoms, but all freedoms begin with freedom of speech. When freedom of speech is destroyed, all other freedoms are destroyed.

The decision to award the 2021 Peace Prize follows the tradition of awarding Nobel Prizes to outstanding representatives of the Russian intelligentsia who were in the moral opposition to the Russian government. This award is in line with the cultural tradition of awards to Boris Pasternak and Joseph Brodsky. The award to Dmitry Muratov is in the same row. It is a prize for moral resistance to lies and violence. Culture is the main bastion of freedom. Culture is opposed to non-freedom and meanness. Freedom of speech is part of culture.

Strictly speaking, the Peace Prize is awarded not by the Nobel Committee, but by the Norwegian parliament. It is, certainly, difficult for me to assess the motives of this collegial decision. Such decisions are always discussed very deeply and seriously. The decision to award the Peace Prize always reflects what is happening in the world. Not in a single country, but all over the world. The destruction of freedom of speech in Russia is a process affecting the whole world, a process destroying peace. And the Nobel Committee is trying to protect our freedom of speech.

The decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Dmitry Muratov shows, unfortunately, that our country is very sick. A journalist or a media editor will not receive a Peace Prize in a democratic country where freedom prevails. One working in the sphere of culture can receive it – for a work literature, or for a film. But not a journalist. Because if a journalist receives a Peace Prize, it means that there is a war going on in his country.

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Dmitry Muratov is an anti-war statement by the Nobel Committee. It shows that the world realises that Russia is on the brink of a civil war. From a cultural point of view, there is a war going on in Russia for destruction of all human rights and freedoms. I take off my hat to the Nobel Committee. This decision can affect the lives of millions of people in Russia, because it can facilitate the end of the war against freedoms in our country.