“We need permission”
Latvian National Media Council President Ivars Abolins said on his Twitter page that Dozhd (the organization was included in the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice) was fined 10,000 euros for being featured on a television channel. Map of the Crimean peninsula included in Russia.
“The National Media Council fined Dozhd TV channel 10,000 euros for showing maps. <…> Abolins wrote that Crimea was marked as a territory of Russia, which is why the Russian army is called “our army”.
He explained that the current offense of “Rain” is the second “serious violation”.
“For three serious violations, the National Media Council can revoke a TV station’s broadcast license,” the official said.
In response, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks called for the cancellation of the TV channel employees’ leave to stay in the country on Twitter.
“I believe that Dozhd should go to work in Russia and obtain a residence permit,” said the minister.
In the comments to the post, he clarified that “the process has begun” soon after.
As reported by RIA Novosti, the head of the TV channel’s information service, Ekaterina Kotrikadze, announced that Dozhd stopped cooperating with the presenter Alexei Korostelev, who announced on the air that he would help Russian soldiers.
He noted that the presenter’s statement, which angered Latvian authorities, was “inaccurate and categorically unacceptable for the entire editorial board”. In the broadcast, Kotrikadze emphasized that formulations that “may cause suspicion” in the position of the TV channel are unacceptable. At the same time, he explained that the decision to end cooperation with Korostelev was “difficult”, but “the only correct and possible decision.”
Kotrikadze concluded that because of the words of the presenter, the audience had the wrong impression that Dozhd was sending equipment to the Russian army.
“Absolutely Censored”
Vladimir Solovyov, head of the Russian Union of Journalists, said in an interview with socialbites.ca that he considered Dozhd’s decision to fire the presenter “an act of anti-Russian censorship.” According to him, in Russia, the TV channel tried to “be neutral” and “show different points of view”, but after moving to Latvia took an “absolutely anti-Russian position”.
“Considering that a significant part of the Russian press in the Baltic republics is essentially suffocated, many Russian journalists are in prison, it would not even receive a pro-Russian publication, which is not surprising. neutral position cannot survive there, but here the Dozhd channel works quietly, like Meduza (the organization is included in the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice). Accordingly, it can be understood from here what positions these so-called colleagues occupy, ”says Solovyov.
He is also sure that the decision of the Latvian authorities to fine the TV channel for showing a map with Crimea as part of Russia, and Korostelev’s remarks are “open censorship” and “the culmination of the degree of Russian hostility”.
“It should either be neutral or not at all. If they are different, of course they will be fine,” he said.
At the same time, Solovyov believes that “Rain” is “unlikely” banned for mistakes in Latvia – “overseas owners of the limitroph will not be allowed (as they called the cluster of states formed in the region after the October Revolution) was part of the Russian Empire – Gazeta .ru”) “.
“It is also unlikely that any of them (employees of the TV channel – socialbites.ca) will return to Russia,” he said.
On August 20, 2021, the Ministry of Justice entered the Dozhd TV channel in the register of foreign media organizations. Many employees of the TV channel also appeared on the lists of foreign agents. Following the start of military special operations in Ukraine on March 1, 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia requested that access to Dozhd’s information resources be restricted. On July 18, 2022, the TV channel resumed broadcasting from a studio in Riga.