Russian media outlet recalls journalists from the State Duma after Ethics Committee lets off deputy accused of sexually harassing multiple women reporters

The magazine RBC has recalled all its journalists working at the State Duma, in protest against the Ethics Committee’s decision earlier on Wednesday that deputy Leonid Slutsky committed no wrongdoing by sexually harassing at least three women journalists.

“With this decision, the Ethics Committee effectively sanctioned the potential sexual harassment of journalists by public figures. We do not agree with this approach, and we refuse to sanction the Duma’s position on this matter,” said RBC’s editorial board director, Elizaveta Golikova.

On March 21, the State Duma’s Ethics Committee reviewed allegations by BBC journalist Farida Rustamova and Dozhd producer Daria Zhuk that Leonid Slutsky sexually harassed them. In a hurried session, the committee determined that Slutsky violated no “behavioral norms.” Questioning Rustamova and Zhuk, committee members made it clear that they viewed their charges against Slutsky to be suspiciously timed, given that the incidents took place over the past several years, though the women only came forward in the weeks before the presidential election.