A producer for the RT-affiliated Ruptly video agency, who was accredited to cover the NATO summit in London earlier this week, said on Thursday that he had been detained, questioned and searched by the police
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2019) A producer for the RT-affiliated Ruptly video agency, who was accredited to cover the NATO summit in London earlier this week, said on Thursday that he had been detained, questioned and searched by the police.
According to the RT news agency, the producer arrived to the press center where he was supposed to get his badge. An ununiformed individual with a police badge then approached him and asked that he wait for other officers to arrive.
"Several police officers approached me and asked to show my documents and explain what I was doing there. I said that I was a journalist who was waiting to get a confirmation of his accreditation. I showed them my passport, journalist ID and a confirmation letter on that my accreditation request had been approved. They told me that I was detained on suspicion of terrorism, and they searched me and my belongings," the producer was quoted as saying by RT.
According to the media, police told the journalist that his accreditation had been revoked.
"I said that they were wrong and showed the email. Police continued insisting; I said that I had not been informed about it so I came and entered the building. Some twenty minutes later, they left me alone," the producer said.
RT added that Ruptly had inquired to NATO about the incident but had not heard back yet.
Russian media outlets have faced severe criticism in the West over the past several years for allegedly delivering impartial coverage of news. In 2016, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the need to counter Russian media, citing Sputnik and RT as major threats. A number of European and US politicians have accused Sputnik and RT of interfering in other countries' affairs, albeit without providing any proof. Moscow has called all the accusations against RT and Sputnik groundless.
Most recently, Sputnik was denied, without reason, accreditation to the UK Conservative Party Conference in late September on the eve of the event.
In November, the representative on freedom of the media of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Harlem Desir, urged the member states to be more transparent in accrediting Russian journalists.
