The independent media outlet “Barents Observer”, covering the problems of the Russian-Norwegian border territories, was blocked by Roskomnadzor in 2019. The reason for blocking the “Barents Observer” was “propaganda of suicide” in a published article about Dan Eriksson, a representative of the Saami people, who managed to accept his homosexual orientation and overcome the psychological crisis caused by discrimination from society.
ADC Memorial supported the appeal against this illegal restriction of freedom of speech: after the exhaustion of the opportunity to obtain justice in Russian courts, in August 2021, a complaint was filed with the European Court of Human Rights about the violation of Article 10 of the European Convention (freedom of speech, expression, dissemination of information ) and Art.13 (right to an effective remedy) in conjunction with Art.10.
On May 26, 2023, the ECtHR announced that The Independent Barentsobserver As v. Russia complaint is in communication. The Russian Federation was notified about the complaint, and by July 7, 2023, the Government of the Russian Federation was invited to send its comments on the complaint. Since the Barents Observer is a Norwegian legal entity, the Norwegian government was also notified by the Court about this communication; it was asked to state in writing its comments on the complaint to the ECtHR.