The Russian Civic Chamber will address the OSCE with a request to respond quickly to the situation with a recent publication of a list of employees of Sputnik's UK bureau in The Times newspaper, Elena Sutormina, the head of the chamber's commission for public diplomacy, humanitarian cooperation and preservation of traditional values, told Sputnik on Monday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th December, 2018) The Russian Civic Chamber will address the OSCE with a request to respond quickly to the situation with a recent publication of a list of employees of Sputnik's UK bureau in The Times newspaper, Elena Sutormina, the head of the chamber's commission for public diplomacy, humanitarian cooperation and preservation of traditional values, told Sputnik on Monday.On Sunday, following the example of Ukraine's Mirotvorets website, which is known for publishing private information of people who allegedly pose a threat to Ukraine's sovereignty, The Times published a list of eight journalists working at Sputnik's UK office in Edinburgh, complete with their photos, Names and job titles. The article also featured an appeal of Alex Cole-Hamilton, a member of the Scottish parliament from Scottish Liberal Democrats, to deprive Russian nationals living in Scotland and engaged in "information warfare" with the aim of destabilizing the United Kingdom of their assets in the country.
"On behalf of the Commission of the Civic Chamber, we are turning to the OSCE representative on freedom of the media Mr Harlem Desir with a request to respond quickly to the situation with the publication of photos of Sputnik journalists and their personal data, as well as with an appeal to punish them for allegedly waging an information war," Sutormina said.
She added that the situation looked like to inciting hatred toward journalists or a "witch hunt."
"In connection with the extremely aggressive anti-Russian policy in the country, which is constantly purposefully led by the UK political elite, we fear for health and safety of journalists. We will also send appeals to the International Federation of journalists, Reporters Without Borders, the World Press Freedom Committee and other major media organizations to respond to such harassment of their colleagues," Sutormina stressed.
In response to The Times article, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik and the RT broadcaster, on Monday congratulated the United Kingdom on the "upcoming 1933," a reference to the year Nazi leader Adolf Hitler became German chancellor and ordered a decree enabling government control over the press.
Ukraine's Mirotvorets website started the practice of publishing lists containing the personal information of individuals who are considered to be "enemies of Ukraine," including Ukrainian and foreign journalists who covered the military conflict in Donbas, public figures who visited Crimea, and others. Following the publication of their personal data, some of these people faced personal threats. Such actions have been widely criticized in Russia and some other states.
In early December, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) issued a decision on the safety of journalists, reaffirming "all relevant OSCE commitments on the right to freedom of expression." Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said the document "reflects concerns about the illegal interference in journalists' private lives that could threaten their safety." She used Mirotvorets as an example of a website that "contained personal data of journalists of a number of OSCE countries."
