OSCE Representative Désir, in Moscow, calls on Russian Federation to urgently step up efforts to ensure safety of journalists and media freedom

MOSCOW, 23 November 2017 – During his visit to Moscow, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir expressed deep concern about the media freedom situation in the Russian Federation.

“In my official meetings I emphasized that it is the government’s responsibility to ensure journalists’ safety and combat impunity of crimes against media workers. The situation is very alarming as journalists are increasingly confronted with intimidation, threats and violence as we have seen with the recent attacks on Tatiana Felgenhauer at the Ekho Moskvy radio station, Yuliya Latynina from Noveya Gazeta and others," he said.

The Representative also highlighted that all measures and legislative initiatives affecting media must be in full conformity with international legislation on the freedom of expression. “Unfortunately, the legal provisions to combat extremism are lacking clarity and remain open for arbitrary application,” the Representative said.

Stressing that freedom of the media applies online as much as offline, Désir stated that the government’s efforts to increase control over information online remain reason for concern. Only last week, the State Duma adopted amendments to legislation allowing authorities to block websites of so-called ‘undesirable organizations’ without a court decision. Désir also reiterated his concern about the consequences of recent amendments to the mass media law, which require certain media outlets to register as “foreign agents”. Read his previous statement here: www.osce.org/fom/357111

“This requirement will both impose additional administrative burdens upon the concerned media organizations, affect the journalists' work and stigmatize them as ‘foreign agents’", he said.

“If the authorities continue down this path, they risk strangling the free and independent voices that are still there. What is needed now is to urgently step up efforts to ensure that media freedom is guaranteed in the country. As mentioned in my official meetings, my Office and I stand ready to support the Russian Federation in safeguarding a diverse and pluralistic media landscape,” Désir said.

During his visit to Moscow, the Representative visited the offices of the Ekho Moskvy radio station and the investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta, where he paid tribute to murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya. He also met with media freedom defenders from civil society.

In his official meetings he met with Alexey Volin, Vice-Minister of Telecommunications and Mass Communications; Maria Zakharova, Director of the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Alexey Pushkov, Chair of the Committee of the Federal Council on Information Policy and Co-operation with the Media; Leonid Levin, Chair of the Committee of the State Duma on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communication; and Mikhail Fedotov, Chair of the Presidential Council on Civil Society and Human Rights.

With the authorities, the Representative raised the cases of Ukrainian journalists Mykola Semena, convicted in Crimea, Ukraine, Roman Sushchenko, arrested in Moscow and Stanislav Aseev, detained in Donetsk. He also raised the cases of Igor Rudnikov, arrested in Kaliningrad and the Uzbek journalist Khudoberdi Nurmatov (Ali Feruz) in Moscow.

Prior to his visit to Moscow, Désir attended the Dialogue of Cultures: XII Media Forum of Young Journalists in Saint Petersburg on 21 November.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. He provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on www.facebook.com/osce.rfom.