Seven RT channels are prohibited in Latvia

The National Council for Electronic Media (NSSMI) Latvia decided to ban on the territory of the country the broadcast of the seven RT channels, which was previously known as the Russia Today channel, and called on other EU countries to act in a similar way.

According to NSSMI, channels RT, RT HD, RT Arabic, RT Spanish, RT Documentary HD, RT Documentary and RT TV are prohibited, as they are under actual control and management of Dmitry Kiselev, in which the sanctions of the EU Council are applied.

"RT, like other channels of Kremlin propaganda, is trying to introduce Latvia as an insolvent country," explains his decision to NSSMI.

The editor -in -chief of RT and MIA Russia Today is Margarita Simonyan, Interfax reports. And Kiselev holds the post of General Director of MIA "Russia Today".

"Russia Today" and RT are two separate legal entities, and information about this is in the public domain. Therefore, Dmitry Kiselev considers the decision of the Latvian media regulator funny and brightly demonstrating the ignorance of those who accepted it, reports Sputnik Latvia .

“We sincerely laughed at this announcement, the Latvian authorities elementarily got into trouble. But to speak seriously, the foundation they declared for the ban does not have any legal meaning, so Latvia should immediately return RT broadcasting and apologize to our colleagues,” Dmitry Kiselev emphasized.

The ban on RT in Latvia was also commented on in the Union of Journalists of Russia (SDR). The organization will contact the International Federation of Journalists on this matter.

As the head of the SDR, Vladimir Soloviev, noted, such a decision of the NSSMI is worthy of regret. "This is another case of violation of freedom of speech and freedom of dissemination of information," Soloviev believes.

He recalled that discriminatory measures against Russian media in the Baltic countries have been taken for a long time and regularly, and it is necessary to pay attention to these cases of journalistic human rights structures at the international level.

The unconditional act of discrimination of the Russian media was called the ban on RT in Latvia and the secretary of the SDRI Timur Shafir. "The official basis for such a solution, as well as calls for other media regulators of the EU countries, act in this way only bewilderment and questions about how much words diverge about the principles of freedom of journalism and their practical application in Latvia," said Shafir.

Sputnik Latvia adds that he also encounters "manifestations of discrimination against Russian media in the Baltic countries." Since January 1, Estonia actually banned the work of the Sputnik editors in Tallinn, threatening employees with criminal prosecution. And in Latvia, Sputnik employees also "is also the pressure in the form of" conversations "with representatives of the special services, but also through an informal ban on opening bank accounts."