MFA Spokesman’s Response to a Media Question about the Situation with the Detention in the US of a Russia Today TV News Crew

Question: What is the follow-up to the incident involving the arrest of the Russia Today journalists in the United States?

Answer: We continue to closely monitor the situation. As is known, RT correspondent Kaelyn Forde and cameraman Jon Conway were arrested as they were covering a demonstration outside Fort Benning in Georgia. Despite the fact that they did not violate the law, but merely carried out their professional duty, police used force against them, handcuffed and threw them into jail along with criminals on charges of "unlawful assembly" and "disobeying the authorities." After a day and a half the court released the journalists on bond, but the investigation is continuing.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had already extensively commented on the incident, noting that what had happened was a clear violation by the United States of its international obligations in the field of the observance of freedom of speech and assembly. The journalists' arrest caused outrage in the international human rights and media community. The relevant assessments were given by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic.

It is a matter of concern that our inquiries to the US State Department relating to this incident remain unanswered. The lack of response from Washington is clearly discordant with the United States' claim to leadership with respect to freedom of speech and freedom of the media. The silence is all the more odd, given how quickly the State Department responds to violations of journalists' rights in other countries.

We insist that the US authorities give an unambiguous assessment of this attempt to hinder journalistic activity, and step in to stop the unjustified prosecution of the RT news crew.

November 26, 2010