British journalist expelled from Russia

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 (Sheffield Amnesty International supporters around the Anna Politkovskaya memorial tree, after the murder of Russian journalist, Natalia Estemirova)

 

 

 I read with horror about the clumsy expulsion of The Guardian's Moscow correspondent, Luke Harding, from Russia

 

His expulsion only serves to endorse the comments that Harding has made about the regime there.

 

The alarmingly high figure of journalists being killed in Russia allegedly in relation to their professional activity makes Russia the third deadliest country in the world for journalists, . The authorities in Russia have a poor record of bringing perpetrators to justice in high-profile cases of violence against journalists. Moreover, even the complaints about receiving death threats by independent journalists and human rights defenders are rarely addressed effectively by the authorities. 

 

Conditions for civil society, independent media and the work of independent human rights organizations have deteriorated in the Russian Federation over recent years. 

Whether or not the British government continues to talk to its Russian counterparts, you may be assured that Amnesty International will maintain its unwavering defence of journalists and human rights defenders who face persecution from harrassment to murder in that country.  We continue to seek the truth and bring to justice those responsible for the murders of many Russian journalists including Estemirova and Polkitkovskaya.

Last year Amnesty International supported  Russian journalists’ appeal to President Medvedev for increased protection, thorough investigations into unsolved attacks, and full implementation of Article 144 of the Russian Penal Code, which criminalizes the obstruction of the lawful professional activity of journalists.

It is time that the Russian governemnt respected freedom of expression and the right of human rights defender to do their work without intimidation by the state.