Russian Police Detain Journalists Who Back Media Freedom

MOSCOW, Russia—Russian police on Saturday detained several journalists who protested authorities’ decision to label a top independent TV channel as a “foreign agent.” The journalists held individual pickets outside the main headquarters of the country’s top domestic security agency, the FSB, on Moscow’s Lubyanka Square. They held placards such as “Journalism is not a crime” and “You are afraid of the truth” to protest the Justice Ministry’s move Friday to add the Dozhd (Rain) TV channel and the online investigative outlet Vazhnye Istorii (Important Stories) to the list of “foreign agents.” Those detained were handed summons to attend court hearings on charges of violating rules of holding pickets, an administrative offense that carries a fine up to $270. “I’m against labeling the TV channel Dozhd as a ‘foreign agent,'” said Farida Rustamova, a Dozhd journalist who picketed on Saturday. “I want to work and live freely in Russia. I want …
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