The head of the Baltnews news agency, Andrei Starikov, sent a video message from journalist Andrei Yakovlev to UN Secretary General Anthony Gutterres, who spoke about the persecution of media representatives by the Latvian authorities.
It is specified that the video message is timed to coincide with the World Press Freedom Day.
“On Press Freedom Day … we want to remind the Secretary General and other UN representatives about the egregious situation in Latvia, where the country’s authorities are persecuting journalists who cooperate with Russian news agencies – Baltnews and Sputnik,” Starikov said.
He also stressed that this appeal is a kind of test for the UN.
“Will the Secretary General … react to the situation in Latvia, will the basic principles on which the United Nations Organization was created stand up? Or will he follow the political situation?”, The journalist asks.