Vyshinsky Once Again Urges International Bodies To Protect Journalists In Latvia

Kirill Vyshinsky, the executive director of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, on Wednesday sent a follow-up letter to various international organizations, to draw attention and elicit a response to the persecution of writers working for the agency's Baltnews and Sputnik Latvia news outlets

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2021) Kirill Vyshinsky, the executive director of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, on Wednesday sent a follow-up letter to various international organizations, to draw attention and elicit a response to the persecution of writers working for the agency's Baltnews and Sputnik Latvia news outlets.

In early December, several Russian-speaking journalists working in Latvia, including those who wrote articles for the Baltnews and Sputnik Latvia outlets, have been accused of violating EU sanctions. Their apartments were searched, with them being put under their own recognizance to not leave the country. Sputnik Latvia and Baltnews are part of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, whose director general, Dmitry Kiselev, is on the EU sanctions list. On December 10, Vyshinsky penned a letter to the United Nations, UNESCO, OSCE, the Council of Europe, the International Federation of Journalists and the Reporters Without Borders, asking them to use their influence to compel the Latvian authorities to respect human rights and the freedom of speech.

No response followed, however.

"It is baffling to see how, in the 21st century, in the middle of Europe, in a EU country they violate the foundational values, which Latvia, by joining the EU, committed itself to support and defend - the right to freely carry out professional duties, the right to free speech. And it is even more incomprehensible why our colleagues are being discriminated against in Latvia and threatened with criminal prosecution for feeling themselves Russian and want to express their views in Russian outlets in the Russian language," Vyshinsky wrote.

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned Riga's actions, calling them "a blatant example of undermining the foundations of a democratic society, and said it was ready to raise the issue at the OSCE Ministerial Council.