Journalist of «7x7» was not allowed to attend another meeting of the Mari El State Assembly

On December 26, journalist of «7x7» Dmitry Lyubimov could not get to the meeting of the State Assembly – according to the officer of private security, he was not on the list of guests.

On October 23, Dmitry Lyubimov also came up against such a situation. On the eve, the first deputy chairman of the legislative body Vladimir Mukhin informed that accreditation of the journalist "was deemed inexpedient".

After that, the editorial office of «7x7» appealed to the republican prosecutor's office. In response to the appeal, deputy chairman of the Mari El State Assembly Anatoly Ivanov said that according to the law on mass media, a journalist has the right to visit state bodies, and "the lack of accreditation does not hinder the exercise of the right to access to information". Ivanov wrote that in November the «7x7» journalist visited the State Assembly twice.

According to the lawyer of the Media Rights Protection Center Svetlana Kuzevanova, the law on the media states that a journalist has the right to attend government events, and accreditation or permits are not obligatory for admission. Accordingly, the government is obliged to ensure the observance of the rights of media representatives, even if journalists do not have an invitation from the body or an accreditation document.

In October, «7x7» published an investigation called "Minakov’s car" about how the speaker of the Mari El State Assembly Yuri Minakov used a company car for personal purposes.

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