Trudeau Accuses Russia Of 'Silencing' Media After CBC Office Shut In Tit-for-Tat Move

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2022) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Russia of "silencing" media after Moscow closed the local bureau of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in retaliation for Ottawa banning tv service providers in the country from distributing RT.

"Putin's decision to expel Canadian media from Moscow is an attempt to silence them from reporting the facts, and it is unacceptable," Trudeau said. "Journalists must be able to work safely - free from censorship, intimidation, and interference. That is something Canada will always stand up for."

In March, the state telecommunications commission announced that Canada is banning the transmission of Russian broadcasters RT and RT France, citing the alleged exposure of Ukrainians to hate on the basis of race or national origin. The ruling came just weeks after Trudeau asked the commission to review RT's license in the country.

While the ruling officially put a halt to RT's presence on Canadian airwaves, the state Russian broadcaster had been pulled from all major television packages weeks earlier.

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that in response to Canada's actions, Russia is closing the CBC office and is canceling the accreditation and visas of its journalists.

Since the start of Russia's military operation, a number of countries, including those in the European Union, have banned Russian media and introduced sanctions against journalists affiliated with the news outlets.

RT and Sputnik Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has said Western countries always wanted go get rid of Russian media because the latter provided informative and balanced reporting, and are now using Russia's special operation in Ukraine as an excuse to do so.