Speeches and Interviews of the Permanent Representative

STATEMENT BY MR. ALEXANDER LUKASHEVICH, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION,
AT THE 1276th MEETING OF THE OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL
23 July 2020
On attacks on Russian journalists in the United States of America

Mr. Chairperson,
Yesterday, there occurred in the United States of America a further shocking attack on journalists, adding to the long list of such incidents over the past few months. On this occasion, a television crew from Russia’s Channel One was subjected to violence by the police in Portland. The cameraman Vyacheslav Arkhipov, who had been filming an attempt by protesters to set fire to the entrance of a courthouse, was struck on the arm with a baton, while his camera was taken from him and smashed against the pavement. Mr. Arkhipov himself was thrown to the ground. His colleague Yuliya Olkhovskaya, who had been recording the same scene on her mobile phone, was attacked by the police from behind. Her phone was seized, while she herself was grabbed by the head and had her helmet pulled off. Ms. Olkhovskaya inhaled tear gas as a result and so ended up requiring medical assistance. I must emphasize that both journalists were carrying press badges when going about their work.
We consider these deliberate aggressive actions by US law enforcement units against media representatives to be unacceptable. We demand that the US authorities ensure that an appropriate attitude is observed towards journalists in accordance with international obligations in the field of human rights and freedom of the media.
Given the ongoing crisis in our Organization, with the post of Representative on Freedom of the Media still remaining vacant, it is the participating States that currently bear the particular responsibility to safeguard the rights of journalists. In this connection, I should like to remind our US colleagues of the important precepts contained in the Milan OSCE Ministerial Council decision on the safety of journalists, and exhort them to approach with the utmost seriousness and sense of responsibility both the task of ensuring favourable conditions for media representatives to pursue their professional activities and the measures taken for their protection.
Thank you for your attention.