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State Duma to slap entry ban on personnel from US-sponsored foreign agent media

The draft was submitted to the lower house of Russian parliament on Monday

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/. Russia's State Duma is expected to discuss a draft resolution on banning the entry to its building in downtown Moscow on Okhotny Ryad Street for the reporters working for the US media, which the Russian Foreign Ministry classified on its list of foreign agents.

The Committee for control and parliamentary procedures submitted this draft to the lower house of the Russian parliament on Monday and a recommendation to adopt it was issued on the same day.

The document establishes "[...] a ban on visits to the State Duma by representatives of the US mass media that have been recognized as performing the functions of foreign agents.

Simultaneously, the State Duma recommends similar measures by regional legislatures.
The draft also says the Duma "[...] finds any encroachments against any fundamental rights and individual freedoms, like freedom of speech and the right to receiving and distributing information, to be totally unacceptable."

"By defending the values of democracy, the Duma deputies reserve the right to take proportional measures in response to the revocation of credentials from a number of Russian reporters by the US Congress," the draft says.

On November 29, Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association (RTCA) Chairperson Craig Caplan informed RT that its Capitol Hill credentials had been rescinded. He stressed that this particular decision was taken on November 21 after a unanimous vote in the committee because the T&R Productions, LLC (T&R) company that services the RT American branch is registered as a foreign agent in the US.

On December 5, the Russian Justice Ministry assigned the status of foreign agents to nine media outlets including the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, the Current Time TV channel, the Tatar and Bashkir service of Radio Liberty [Azatliq Radiosi], as well as Sibir.Realii, Idel.Realii, Faktograf, Kavkaz.Reallii, and Krym.Realii.