DISINFO: Swedish media are more concerned with the fate of Navalny than Swedish citizens in foreign prison
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: swedinfo.ru ( archived) *
  • Date of publication: May 06, 2021
  • Article language(s): Russian
  • Countries / regions discussed: Sweden

DISINFO: Swedish media are more concerned with the fate of Navalny than Swedish citizens in foreign prison

SUMMARY

The name Alexey Navalny is mentioned far more often in the largest Swedish media outlets that the names of Swedish activists in foreign prisons.

The names of Gui Minhai and Dawit Isaak are known in Sweden, but the fate of Alexey Navalny, know for his criticism towards the Russian authorities, concerns the Swedes much more, even though he, at least officially, has no ties to Sweden.

Alexey Navalny is mentioned in the Swedish Daily Degens Nyheter 218 times, beginning in May 2018, i.e. 72 times annually

Dawit Isaak: 237 times since 2004, i.e. 13 times per year

Gui Minhai: 136 times since 2017, i.e. 34 times per year.

RESPONSE

An entirely false claim and an attempt to claim an unreasonable interest in Western media for the Russian dissident leader Alexei Navalny.

Gui Minhai is a publisher and a play write and a political prisoner in China since 2015; Dawit Isaak is a dissident journalist, imprisoned Since 2001 in Eritrea without trial. Both cases are carefully followed by Swedish media.

The Lund University Media Database Retriever (open only for subscribers) shows the following numbers of articles in the Swedish leading daily Dagens Nyheter on the three political prisoners.

Period:2004-01-01 till 2020-07-31

Gui Minhai: 278 articles

Dawit Isaak: 884 articles

Alexey Navalny (with Swedish spelling - Aleksej Navalnyj) : 109 articles

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Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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