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Crisis in Belarus

Belarusian police actions against Russian reporters were disproportionate, says diplomat

According to earlier reports, Daily Storm and Meduza journalists and defense correspondent Semyon Pegov were detained on Sunday when the police were dispersing protests in Minsk

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/. Belarusian law enforcers’ actions in respect of Russian journalists were disproportionate, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday.

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"On this day five years ago I took the office of the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. I have never thought that on this day I will have to defend Russian journalists from disproportionate actions by law enforcers in brotherly Belarus," she wrote on her Facebook account.

She noted that journalists are obliged to respect the laws of the country they are working in and accreditation is mandatory for that. "But the thing is that many of them applied for accreditation well ahead, complying with all the rules. They did not receive it. Instead, they received a blow on the head," she stressed. "Such things cannot be called brotherly. It’s not right."

According to earlier reports, Daily Storm and Meduza journalists and defense correspondent Semyon Pegov were detained on Sunday when the police were dispersing protests in Minsk. A spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Belarus told TASS that Pegov is being kept at Minsk’s main police department.

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