The US violated its own laws on freedom of the press by detaining a group of Russian journalists earlier this week, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday. She was commenting after an incident involving a crew of Izvestia reporters who had arrived in the US to cover the upcoming election.
The crew arrived in Washington DC late on Monday. Despite having the necessary entry permits and credentials, they were detained at the airport, stripped of their filming equipment, and interrogated, Izvestia reported.
One member of the crew, cameraman Vladimir Borovikov, said he was questioned for ten hours, then denied entry and expelled from the country after having his visa annulled. US authorities cited “administrative reasons” for his expulsion, according to Zakharova.
She claimed that the incident was a clear example of Washington’s “global campaign” against Russian media.
“We regard what happened as yet another gross violation by Washington of its obligations in the area of ensuring freedom of access to information and media pluralism,” Zakharova said in a statement published on the Foreign Ministry’s website. The action was “demonstrative” and intended to show Washington’s “readiness to use its repressive apparatus to block information that is inconvenient for them,” she added.
“Such actions are fully consistent with the logic of the global campaign against Russian media declared by the current [US] administration, which directly contradicts not only America’s international obligations, but also the provisions of its own constitution,” Zakharova stated, warning that “the tyranny of the American authorities will not remain without a proper response.”
In an interview with Sputnik Radio on Tuesday, Zakharova explained that Russian media outlets are being targeted for working as a “mirror that reflects what is really happening in the world” instead of the Western-approved narrative, especially when elections are involved.
Everyone knows that the US elections are a circus. Accordingly, everyone wants to look at them… Our journalists went through all the procedures [but] were detained and interrogated for hours… This is their democracy in action. Where are all these journalists’ rights?
Zakharova noted that besides other violations involving the detention of the Izvestia crew, the US authorities failed to notify the Russian Embassy in Washington about the incident. Diplomats were therefore unable to intervene in the proceedings and provide assistance.
The US has placed multiple sanctions on Russian media, with the latest introduced last month. In mid-September, Washington sanctioned RT and its parent company TV-Novosti, accusing them of “functioning as a de facto arm of [Russian] intelligence.” Following the move, US tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, banned several Russian news networks. Multiple media reports also claimed that Russian media crews have repeatedly been denied access to international events.