Dutch media authorities have granted a broadcasting license to TV Rain, a Russian news channel suspended in Russia and then also forced to leave Latvia following a row over its coverage of the Ukraine war.
Latvia’s decision last week to take away independent Russian TV channel Dozhd’s permission to broadcast in much of Europe started with a slip of the tongue and quickly escalated into this year’s biggest media scandal. It led to the “cancellation” of a major anti-war Russian media source based outside of the country.
A Ukrainian journalist considers the controversy over the shutting down of exiled, independent Russian television station TV Dozhd. Can Russians be opposed to Putin's war and yet support the troops?
IFJ 25 January 2021
Russia: Union takes up cases of journalists beaten and arrested while covering protests
Dozens of journalists and media workers were arrested and beaten by the police on January 23 while covering protests in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Russia. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) in condemning violence against media workers and urges the authorities to respect freedom of information. Credits: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP
On Saturday, across Russia, tens of thousands of people defied a heavy police presence to join some of the largest rallies against President Vladimir Putin in years. OVD Info, an independent NGO that monitors rallies, said about 3,100 people had been detained, more than 1,200 of them in Moscow alone.