The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has submitted a so-called media freedom alert to the Council of Europe on the situation with Sputnik Estonia having been pressured by the Estonian government to shut down operations, EFJ Secretary General Ricardo Gutierrez told Sputnik on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2020) The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has submitted a so-called media freedom alert to the Council of Europe on the situation with Sputnik Estonia having been pressured by the Estonian government to shut down operations, EFJ Secretary General Ricardo Gutierrez told Sputnik on Friday.
The media freedom alerts are designed for the Council's designated partner organizations, including the EFJ, to raise awareness about what they consider a grave violation of media freedom and protection of journalists. The platform aims to foster early warning and response capacity within the Council of Europe.
"I submitted on behalf of EFJ an alert on these threats from Estonian police to the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism," Gutierrez said.
The alert is published on the Council of Europe's website under the title "Russian State News Agency Sputnik Shuts Tallinn Bureau Under Pressure From Estonian Police" and number 4/2020. It specifies the source of threat as "State" and its category as "other acts having chilling effects on media freedom."
The entry describes how Sputnik had to cease operations in Estonia after its 35 employees got emails from the Estonian Police and Border Guard Department with threats of criminal prosecution should they fail to stop working with Sputnik and its parent media company, Rossiya Segodnya. The text then cites the 2014 EU sanctions against Rossiya Segodnya General Director Dmitry Kiselev as an alleged pretext to Tallinn's threats.
The submission also quotes OSCE Representative for Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir as urging the Estonian authorities "to refrain from unnecessary limitations on the work of foreign media which can affect the free flow of information."
An unprecedented targeted pressure against Sputnik Estonia began this past fall. The agency had its bank assets frozen, while journalists had been subjected to continuous intimidation and threats be Estonian security services. The staff was ultimately asked to quit labor relations with Rossiya Segodnya and vacate the Tallinn office by February.
Notwithstanding pledged support in Russia and abroad, Sputnik Estonia decided to close its Tallinn office starting January 1 to protect its employees from criminal prosecution.
