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‘If
RT leaves the US, American media might stop broadcasting in Russia’
– RT editor-in-chief
RT,
1
October, 2017
Owing
to the US campaign to have RT registered as a foreign agent, the
channel will “in the worst-case scenario” be forced to stop
broadcasting in America, which will trigger reciprocal measures
towards US media in Russia, RT's editor-in-chief has said.
READ
MORE: US DOJ uses WWII-era legislation to demand that RT supplier
register as a ‘foreign agent’
"What
they [Washington] have been doing in regard to us is tantamount to
driving us out of the country. They put us in conditions in which we
cannot work,"
Margarita
Simonyan said in interview with Russia's NTV channel. “This
is their renowned freedom of speech,”she
added, saying that RT has been under pressure for showing the
American audience “a
different point of view,” allegedly
affecting the 2016 US election.
This
month, the US Department of Justice has warned the company that
supplies all services for the RT America channel that it is obligated
to register as a foreign agent. The demand came under the Foreign
Agents Registration Act (FARA), adopted in 1938 to counter Nazi
Germany’s activities on US soil.
In
the current situation, “if
worst comes to worst” the
channel “will
leave the US and no longer broadcast there.”
“In
the worst-case scenario, Russia would respond in kind as to American
media,” Simonyan
said, adding that as a journalist she would not like such a situation
to occur. “We
have been taught that freedom of speech is sacred,” she
told NTV's host Irada Zeynalova.
The
channel has no choice but to comply with the demand under the FARA
act, Simonyan said, citing lawyers who have warned that otherwise
its “staff
will be put in prison and property will be seized.”
The
pressure on RT has become “avalanche-like.” The
US Congress is currently hearing a separate bill on the channel which
seeks ways for its distributors in America to stop broadcasting RT.
If approved, US cable networks might refuse to provide services for
the channel.
Saying
that RT’s partners in the US have endured “pressure
and intimidation,” Simonyan
also pointed out that Congress recently “interrogated” Twitter
representatives and forced them to reveal details of contracts
between the social network and RT.
The
channel has faced pressure from American media before, such as
the “endless
fake reports” on
RT. Journalists have been scared off working with RT, the
editor-in-chief said, adding that officials have also been warned not
to cooperate with nor give interviews to the channel.
“Various
scandals have been orchestrated, with people planted in the channel
who then quit and tell everyone that we drink the blood of Christian
infants.
“However,
our audience has only been growing. What [the US authorities] fail to
understand is just how much the people of the US distrust their own
media. Trump's win is a case in point, as he has been elected despite
almost all the American media launching campaigns against him.”
The
situation with RT in particular only shows a “deep
political crisis” within
the US, Simonyan said, suggesting that internal conflicts in
Washington have made a “mess” of
the country's foreign policy.
“There is no longer a single Washington; there are several discrete little Washingtons working against one another,” she said.
Russia
Poised To Overcome USA In Information War
Vesti
News
On
Friday, President Putin held a meeting of the Security Council,
focused, among other things, on increasing pressure on Russian media
abroad. It is clear what it is about. America cannot tolerate the
freedom of speech. America declared an information war on Russia, but
it already feels that it is losing. It has taken America by complete
surprise, so much so that the authorities are fighting dirty in their
boxing match with the Russian media, suddenly demanding strict legal
restrictions on the work of our journalists in the US. The Russian
television channel, RT, and the Russian news agency, Sputnik, which
operate on the Internet as well as via radio, are now experiencing
nothing short of repression in the United States. There's just no
other word for it.
CrossTalk
Bullhorns: Evidence-free?
RT
Again
this network – RT – is in the spotlight and under attack. Now the
Russian authorities are pushing back. What is called the info wars is
heating up. Shouldn’t the news consumer be allowed to
decide?
CrossTalking with Dmitry Babich, Mark Sleboda, and Adam Garrie.
US 'completely & unlawfully seize' Russian SF consulate as blacksmith breaks lock
RT,
2
October, 2017
A
blacksmith has broken a lock as the police guarded Russian consular
residence in San Francisco under the cover of a tarp. The Russian
Foreign Ministry said Washington has failed to "give up on its
unlawful intents" and reserves its right to respond.
A
"Pop-A-Lock" van could be seen parked near the entrance to
the Russian consular residence in San Francisco Monday, with a
blacksmith in casual clothes having dealt with a lock at the
residence
Covered
by a large piece of tarp, the blacksmith entered the premises and
proceeded to its entrance while the gate was guarded by police
officers. In broad daylight, the tarpaulin was then moved to cover
the doors of the consular residence, with the blacksmith having
apparently worked on the lock under its cover.
An
"ordinary American" has approached Russian officials and
"apologized for his government" saying he feels ashamed for
the unlawful wrongdoings of his authorities, the Russian Embassy in
the US tweeted Monday.
Russian
diplomats were given an October 1 deadline to vacate the residence,
following a directive by the US State Department ordering the closure
of the Russian Consulate in San Francisco.
"Despite
warnings, US authorities have not listened to the voice of reason and
didn't give up on their unlawful intents. Today they completely
seized all premises of Russia's Consulate General in San Francisco,
with the residential section of the administrative building,"
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday,
adding that American secret services have been "bossing
around"
in the building's restricted areas for a month.
A
separate residence of the consul general has also been "seized,"
the statement added, saying that US actions are a "new
flagrant violation of international law."
"We
stress once again that we have never given and don't give US
authorities the consent to remove immunity from Russia's diplomatic
and consular property. We have not allowed and do not allow breaking
in to our facilities,"
the ministry reiterated. It called the US agents at the premises
"invaders"
and their actions "an
unprecedented lawlessness for the history of bilateral relations."
Saying
that entrance doors were forced open and a new "total
search"
conducted inside, the ministry pointed out that Washington has,
from December last year, "forcefully
seized"
five Russian diplomatic properties.
The
recent actions show the US "agrees
to the possibility of a similar treatment"
in regard to its mission in Russia, the Foreign Ministry said, having
"reserved
the right to respond."
In
late 2016, the outgoing Obama administration expelled Russian
diplomats and closed two Russian diplomatic compounds in New York and
Maryland. Moscow chose not to retaliate at the time, hoping to mend
ties during Donald Trump's presidency. However in July, the US
Congress approved new sanctions against Russia, prompting Moscow to
cut the staff at American missions in Russia.
On
August 31, the Trump administration ordered the closure of the
Russian Consulate in San Francisco, as well as a consular annex in
New York and a chancery annex in Washington, DC. Russia's Foreign
Minister, Sergey Lavrov, promised that Moscow would introduce "full
parity" into its relations with Washington.
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