All major TV channels are under the control of the state in Russia. (Representative)
Moscow:
Moscow angrily told the US embassy to “take care of its own affairs” after the Washington diplomatic mission expressed concern over restrictions on media freedom in Russia.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Ross said on Tuesday she was concerned about the crackdown on journalists in Russia.
“Watching the arrest after the arrest of Russian journalists – it is starting to look like a concerted campaign against #MediaFreedom,” she tweeted.
“Watch your stuff,” the Russian foreign ministry tweeted on Tuesday.
Earlier today, the FSB security agency, the Soviet KGB successor, arrested a respected former journalist, Ivan Safronov, 30, on suspicion of treason.
His detention sparked an outcry among supporters and journalists who say his arrest is a punishment for his coverage of the Russian defense sector.
Safronov defense team member Yevgeny Smirnov said the former journalist, who worked for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, has been suspected of cooperating with Czech intelligence since 2012.
FSB investigators believe that the Czech intelligence services are acting under the direction of the United States, Smirnov told AFP.
The FSB says that Safronov collected confidential data on the Russian army, defense and security and passed it on to the intelligence services of a NATO member country.
On Monday, a journalist from the northwestern city of Pskov was fined nearly $ 7,000 for “justification of terrorism” in a case that sparked an uproar.
Prosecutors had requested that Svetlana Prokopyeva be sentenced to six years in prison for commenting on a bomb attack.
All major TV channels are under the control of the state in Russia.
Journalists working for print and online media have recently complained about increased restrictions on press freedom and pressure from the Kremlin.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
