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Foreign Ministry says Latvian ban of Russian TV channel violates freedom of speech

Source: TASS

Latvia's six month ban of Russian foreign news channel Russia RTR, otherwise known as RTR Planeta, has been called a violation of freedom speech by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Russia's foreign service hopes “leading specialized international bodies, including the OSCE Representative's Office for Freedom of the Media, will nevertheless carry out an adequate assessment of these hostile acts.”

“The course taken by Latvian authorities to totally censor access to Russian language media runs counter to the declared commitment to “European values.” It can only be regarded as disdain for the basic principles of freedom of speech and of the press,” said Foreign Ministry diplomats.

On April 7, Latvia's National Council for Electronic Media instituted a six-month ban of Russia RTR. The council attributed the ban to repeated violations of the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive by broadcasting material to promote war propaganda and to incite hatred.

Latvia has suspended broadcasting of Russia RTR once before in 2014 for three months for similar reasons. 

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