Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is investigating the situation with Russian media in Estonia amid developments around Sputnik Estonia, whose employees were threatened with criminal prosecution, Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2020) Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is investigating the situation with Russian media in Estonia amid developments around Sputnik Estonia, whose employees were threatened with criminal prosecution, Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said.
"Dear Mr Vyshinsky, thank you very much for contacting RSF. We are currently investigating the issue of Russian-speaking media in Estonia and will possibly publish a statement," Cavelier said in her response to a letter by the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, signed by its Executive Director Kirill Vyshinsky.
Sputnik Estonia staffers were forced to terminate their contracts starting January 1, after receiving threats of jail terms of up to five years from Estonian police. Estonian authorities cited the 2014 EU sanctions as a pretext for their actions. However, the Rossiya Segodnya Information Agency, Sputnik's Moscow-based parent company, has insisted that it is not mentioned in any EU sanctions lists.
In connection with the situation, Rossiya Segodnya appealed to the OSCE. Its representative on freedom of the media, Harlem Desir, urged Tallinn to "refrain from unnecessary limitations on the work of foreign media that can affect the free flow of information." Desir also stated that the individual EU sanctions on Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev could not be extended to Sputnik Estonia journalists.
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Estonian authorities' actions against the news agency were outrageous, and accused the European Union of not doing enough to help.
