The situation involving pressure imposed on Sputnik Estonia employees is a "textbook example" of the way journalists are treated by Tallinn, Leonid Slutsky, the head of the Russian lower house's foreign affairs committee and a member of Russia's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said on Tuesday
STRASBOURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2020) The situation involving pressure imposed on Sputnik Estonia employees is a "textbook example" of the way journalists are treated by Tallinn, Leonid Slutsky, the head of the Russian lower house's foreign affairs committee and a member of Russia's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said on Tuesday.
Since October 2019, Sputnik Estonia has been pressured by the country's authorities, which threatened the outlet's employees with criminal prosecution unless they give up their work for the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, which includes Sputnik Estonia. The authorities cited EU sanctions imposed on Dmitry Kiselev, the head of Rossiya Segodnya, as a reason for their move. However, the outlet has not appeared on any sanctions lists.
"We are talking about the freedom of journalists. What has happened with Sputnik Estonia, unfortunately, is currently becoming a textbook example of how the country treats journalists' freedom," Slutsky told reporters.
The lawmaker also mentioned various types of persecution used against the Sputnik Estonia journalists, including pressuring the landlord and denying banking services to Sputnik Estonia's employees.
Kirill Vyshinsky, the executive director of Rossiya Segodnya, and Sputnik Estonia's editor-in-chief, Elena Cherysheva, are taking part in the PACE winter session, which began on Monday and is set to run through Friday.
