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OSCE media supervisor says restrictions on mass media justified if serving basic values

The representative on freedom of the media at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Dunja Mijatovic referred to norms of International Pact on Civil and Political Rights

© EPA/LAJOS SOOS

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VIENNA, March 27. /ITAR-TASS/. Removal of broadcasters from the air is justified if the ultimate goal is to defend fundamental values, Dunja Mijatovic, a representative on freedom of the media at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Thursday in a comment on suspending the broadcasts of Russian TV channels in Ukraine.

If such restrictions are imposed by legal institutes like legislative agencies in line with the principle of supremacy of law or if they pursue legal objectives and have proportionate scale, they can be deemed acceptable, the commentary said.

While saying this, Mijatovic referred to the norms of the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights, which declares the right of man to express own opinion and have free access of information and stresses at much the same time that this right is linked to particular responsibility.

This led Mijatovic to conclude that the provision might be related to restrictions.

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