‘They Threatened African Nations to Ban Us’: RT Asks in Zambia — Is This Western Press Freedom?
Lusaka (Zambia) — At the international conference organized on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day in the Zambian capital Lusaka, the issue of ongoing Western reprisals against Russian media was forcefully raised.
Speaking at the plenary discussion on “Press Freedom, Peace, Security and Economic Development,” RT Chief Producer Dmitrii Leontev stated: “RT have been banned by all Western countries a few years ago and Western governments forced social media companies to ban us as well. Even more alarming, those Western countries openly went to African countries to say, we will sanction you if you show RT. However, there are no false facts we’re saying — the Western governments simply don’t like it.”
Commenting on the matter, Permanent Representative of Russia to UNESCO R. Alyautdinov said: “We systematically draw attention of UNESCO Member States to one-sided politically motivated reprisals against the Russian Media in the West. On World Press Freedom Day, we circulated in the Organization the recent edition of the relevant Russian Foreign Ministry Report.”
He added: “Not only Russia, but a number of other Delegations in UNESCO are concerned with unilateral western sanctions that are aimed at uncompromisingly sanitising the information space and eliminating any manifestations of dissent. We will continue raising this problem in relevant negotiations formats in order to counter Western attempts to ‘privatise’ the concept of press freedom, replacing it with the notorious ‘rules-based order’.”
In her comment issued on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated: “We are convinced that the true value of World Press Freedom Day lies not in ceremonial speeches detached from reality or high-sounding statements tied to the date, but in the capacity and effectiveness of the entire international system to uphold this fundamental principle of the information society, without which sustainable global development and prosperity are impossible.”
