Vienna, 17/03/2017
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was disturbed to learn that in the previous days there have been several attacks and violations of media freedoms in Russia.
On 15 March, editor-in-chief of the Analytical Edition Yuri Baranchik was detained by authorities. This was reported by the Moscow-based news agency Regnum, who are the administrator of the publication. Baranchik was placed in detention by the instruction of Belarus authorities, as the editor is a citizen of Belarus. He claims that several journalists and media workers of Regnum were put on a surveillance list in December 2016 for allegedly “inciting inter-ethnic discord”.
The following day it was reported that correspondent of the independent paper Novaya Gazeta, Ali Feruz, was detained by police members. This time the request came from Uzbek authorities, a country Feruz left several years ago. On the day of his arrest, a pro-Kremlin TV station accused Feruz of having ties with a “radical organization”.
SEEMO members expressed deep concern and disapproval of these detentions, and call on authorities in Russia to release the media workers immediately.
SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe.