April 10, 2021 12:47:22 pm
Russian authorities on Wednesday fined U.S.-backed news broadcaster Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe (RFE) more than $70,000 for violating Russia’s new foreign agent laws. New legislation requires foreign-funded media outlets to register as foreign agents and failure to do so can result in criminal liability for unpaid fines. Registering as a foreign agent requires organizations to disclose their funding sources and use the “foreign agent” label on all publications.
The media outlet has been fined for allegedly failing to designate itself as a foreign agent in violation of the law. RFE believes the new legislation is part of a nation-wide effort to drive them out of Russia. “The indications are that they want us to leave the country,” RFE president Jamie Fly said in a recent statement. She added that Russian authorities could “force” RFE “into bankruptcy” for failing to pay the fines, which would cause them to breach foreign agent laws.
Journalists in Trouble Newsletter
April 09, 2021
RUSSIA A view shows the newsroom of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) broadcaster in Moscow,, April 6, 2021 /
The newsroom of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) broadcaster, Moscow bureau, April 6, 2021.
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An RFE/RL freelance correspondent arrested in Ukraine s Russia-annexed Crimea has told a court he was tortured with electric shocks, beaten, and threatened with death unless he confessed to spying on behalf of Ukraine. Vladyslav Yesypenko s lawyer on April 6 said his client testified during a closed-door court hearing that the torture lasted two days after his arrest in March on what the defense calls false charges. On Wednesday, April 7, Yesypenko was
Jailed Crimean Journalist Tells Court He Was Tortured, Coerced To Confess On Russian TV
April 06, 2021 13:17 GMT
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SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine An RFE/RL freelance correspondent arrested in Ukraine s Russia-annexed Crimea
has told a court he was tortured with electric shocks, beaten, and threatened with being killed unless he confessed to spying on behalf of Ukraine.
Vladyslav Yesypenko s lawyer Aleksei Ladin said on April 6 that his client testified during a closed hearing in court that the torture lasted two days after his arrest in March on what both men say are false charges. [Yesypenko] told the court that he was tortured in a basement, most likely somewhere in the area of Balaklava, from the moment of his detention until his transfer to the detention center in Simferopol, Ladin said after the hearing.
Rights Court Backs RFE/RL Journalist In Case To Protect Phone Data From Ukrainian Officials
April 01, 2021 09:56 GMT
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April 01, 2021 10:39 GMT
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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled in favor of a journalist from RFE/RL s Ukrainian Service who has battled against the handover of her smartphone data to authorities in what the court agreed is an essential defense of a free press and privacy in democratic society.
Natalia Sedletska, who hosts the award-winning investigative TV program Schemes, has been locked in a three-year effort to protect her phone data from seizure by Ukrainian prosecutors investigating a leak of state secrets nearly four years ago.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. (Photo via CherryX/Wikipedia)
STRASBOURG, France (CN) The European Court of Human Rights ruled for a Ukrainian journalist Thursday in a battle with government authorities over the seizure of her cellphone data.
The ECHR found that the Ukraine authorities had violated Natalia Sedletska’s right to freedom of expression when they demanded 16 months of data from her smartphone after she reported on senior Ukrainian officials.
“The court is not convinced that the data access authorization given by the domestic courts was justified by an ‘overriding requirement in the public interest’ and, therefore, necessary in a democratic society,” the Strasbourg-based court wrote.