Russia Describes In OSCE PA Pressure On Sputnik Estonia As Human Rights' Breach - Lawmaker

VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2020) The Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) told the organization that Tallinn's pressure on Sputnik Estonia was a blatant violation of human rights, Deputy Speaker of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament Pyotr Tolstoy told reporters.

From Thursday-Friday, the Austrian capital of Vienna hosted the 19th Winter Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, with Tolstoy having headed the Russian delegation.

"We have informed our colleagues in the Assembly about this position and will further insist on putting an end to the blatant violations of human rights that are taking place in Estonia.

Otherwise, we will put an end to them ourselves," Tolstoy said on late Friday.

Employees of Sputnik Estonia were forced to terminate their contracts starting from January 1, after receiving threats of jail terms of up to five years from Estonian police, which cited the 2014 EU sanctions, imposed on Dmitry Kiselev � the head of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency � as the grounds for prosecution. However, the outlet itself has not appeared in any sanctions lists.

Commenting on the situation around Sputnik Estonia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would do everything possible to help Sputnik operate in foreign countries.