The State Duma appealed to the parliaments of European states with an appeal to condemn the oppression of Russian-speaking journalists and the violation of the principle of freedom of speech by the Latvian authorities. The information follows from the decision, which was adopted at the meeting on Wednesday, December 23.
“Deputies of the State Duma appeal to the parliaments of European states with an appeal to condemn the gross violations by the Republic of Latvia of its international obligations to observe freedom of speech, as well as to support the free work of the media, to oppose the use of force and censorship as tools of political struggle and information confrontation” , – the document says.
It follows from the text of the resolution that the lower house of the Russian parliament condemns the actions of the Latvian authorities “associated with the incessant politically motivated repressions against Russian-speaking journalists and public figures.” It is noted that cases of harassment of journalists who speak Russian have become “more frequent and wider.”
The State Duma stressed that “the policy of the Latvian authorities aimed at infringing on the interests of the so-called non-citizens and national minorities, the actual destruction of the Russian-speaking educational space.” At the same time, the policy followed by the Latvian authorities “is accompanied by an open violation of the rights to freedom of speech and obstruction of the exercise by journalists of their professional activities.”
The State Duma Committee on International Affairs submitted to the State Duma a draft appeal to European parliamentarians on December 17.
Earlier, on December 3, employees of the portals Baltnews and Sputnik Latvia were charged with violating the EU sanctions regime, they were interrogated. The next day, December 4, the journalists of Russian portals detained in Latvia were released on recognizance not to leave.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the actions of the Latvian authorities “a blatant example of violating the foundations of a democratic society.” The agency considers it unacceptable to refer to the violation of the EU “sanctions” regime by the “Sputnik Latvia” collective, since these restrictions “are of a personal nature, relate personally to the Director General of MIA“ Russia Today ”Dmitry Kiselev and cannot apply to everyone who cooperates with the media holding” …
In June, Latvia imposed a ban on the broadcasting of seven RT TV channels, explaining that they are under the “sole control” of Russian TV presenter, CEO of MIA Rossiya Segodnya, Dmitry Kiselev, against whom the Council of the European Union imposed sanctions in 2014.
For the same reason, the Radio and Television Commission, subordinate to the Lithuanian parliament, banned the broadcast of Russian RT channels on July 8.
In March, the authorities of Latvia and Estonia forced the First Baltic TV Channel (PBK) to close the program “News of Estonia”, which was considered the most popular news program among the Russian-speaking population in these countries.