By Spy Uganda Correspondent
Moscow: The Russian embassy in Washington has sent a note of protest to the U.S. Department of State, asking for a thorough investigation after Channel One reporters were attacked in Portland, Oregon.
“A note of protest has been sent to the Department of State over this outrageous fact. We demand that a thorough investigation should be conducted and we should be informed about its results,” Antonov said adding that the US authorities had not replied yet to the “May 31 note of protest over a police attack”
“Correspondent Yulia Olkhovskaya and cameraman Vyacheslav Arkhipov were subjected to unacceptable treatment by local police. The members of the press identified themselves loud and clear. They produced documents, press cards, without any resistance,” he said.
“We promptly contacted the Russian nationals. Their health is not causing concern. They aren’t in need of any medical aid. We recommended that they keep at a safe distance from conflicting parties,” Antonov said in Russian in reply to a question from the media on the Russian embassy’s Facebook page.
“We will demand that this incident be taken into account by the rights organizations monitoring violations of media workers’ rights in the U.S.,” he said.
A group of Channel One journalists was attacked in Portland, the U.S., the channel’s press service said on Wednesday.
“Yulia Olkhovskaya’s crew found itself in the way of camouflaged people who ran out of a courtroom when tensions began running high outside,” the television station’s press service said.
“Olkhovskaya was pushed really hard, while people wielding clubs attacked the cameraman. The camera was smashed. The journalists sustained cuts and bruises,” it said.
Both journalists had press cards, the press service said. They were working near a local court, filming footage about local unrest.
The ambassador said that according to human rights activists, “the number of incidents with the press has already surpassed 500.”
“This year, the United States will evidently top the world ratings in this nomination,” the Russian ambassador assumed. “I would like to point out that our journalists are given neither solidarity nor moral support by local media workers,” the diplomat concluded underlying that the embassy intends to “insist that the incident be taken into consideration by the human rights organizations that monitor violations of media workers’ rights in the United States.”
