French lawmaker responds to Ukrainian journalist about Kremlin pay for his Crimea position: ‘That’s a shitty question.’

Thierry Mariani, a French National Assembly deputy who headed a recent parliamentary delegation to Crimea, refused to answer a question from a Ukrainian journalist at a press conference in Moscow on August 1, calling it a “shitty question.” The journalist had asked Mariani “how much the Russian government paid him” to support Moscow’s position on Crimea.

“I don’t accept your question. I’m ready to respond to any political questions and any political comments, but your question is, quite frankly, a shitty question, and I won’t respond, and I’d like to convey to you my utter contempt,” Mariani said, going on to claim that the journalist’s ability to ask such a “disgusting” question at a press conference in Russia proves that “Russia is a free country.”

A delegation of 11 French lawmakers visited Crimea from July 29 to July 31. This was the second such trip by French lawmakers. A year ago, Mariani led a similar delegation to Crimea.