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Russian State Duma calls on EU lawmakers to condemn harassment of journalists in Latvia

The lawmakers condemned the Latvian authorities for "unending politically-motivated repressions against the Russian-speaking journalists and public figures"

MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Russian State Duma adopted a resolution Wednesday, calling on European lawmakers to condemn violations of the freedom of speech by the Latvian authorities and act against censorship in political struggle.

"The State Duma deputies urge the lawmakers of European states to condemn the Latvian Republic’s blatant violations of international obligations to protect the freedom of speech and to support the free operation of the mass media; we urge to act against the use of force and censorship as instruments of political struggle and informational standoff," the document says.

The lawmakers condemned the Latvian authorities for "unending politically-motivated repressions against the Russian-speaking journalists and public figures."

"Systemic violations of human rights and main freedoms in Latvia become more and more frequent and wide-scale," the paper says.

The State Duma underscored that the "policy of Latvian authorities, aimed at discrimination of the so-called non-citizens and national minorities, at effective elimination of Russian-spoken educational space," as well as glorification of Nazi criminals and their accomplices "coincide with blatant violation of the freedom of speech and journalists being prevented from performing their professional duties."

The lawmakers mentioned the December 3, 2020, apprehension of Sputnik Latvia and BaltNews employees as an example.

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