Nemtsov's daughter blasts Kremlin propaganda as she leaves Russia
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 10 June, 2015, 1:25am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 10 June, 2015, 1:27am
Agence France-Presse in Moscow
Zhanna Nemtsova, a journalist, likened the Kremlin's propaganda to that used during the Rwandan genocide. Photo: AFP
The eldest daughter of slain Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov has left Russia, slamming the climate of hatred whipped up by pro-Kremlin propaganda in an apparent "farewell letter" published on Tuesday.
"Russian propaganda kills," Zhanna Nemtsova, a 31-year-old journalist, wrote in a column published by Russia's liberal business daily Vedomosti.
"Many of the texts of Kremlin-controlled media recall the rhetoric of African propagandists," she said, stressing that state propaganda played a crucial role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
"Putin's information machine - similar to those in Nazi Germany and Rwanda - is using criminal methods of propaganda and sowing hatred which generates violence and terror."
She compared state-controlled media to Rwanda's notorious Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines, a broadcaster which incited hatred against the Tutsi minority, saying media bosses in Russia should be brought to justice.
Nemtsova, herself a journalist with Russian business news TV channel RBK, warned that aggression towards dissenters fanned by state media could spin out of control and claim new victims in the future.
"People infected with hatred begin committing new crimes on their own initiative.
"The information terror must be stopped, otherwise its consequences could be even scarier," she said.
Nemtsova's lawyer said she had left Russia for Europe and had no plans to return.
"I think that she won't be back in the near future," Vadim Prokhorov said, without revealing her whereabouts.
