WASHINGTON, August 17. /TASS/. The US authorities have definitively embarked on the path of total censorship, persecuting all over the country those who allegedly work for the Russian government, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said commenting on the search of the home of American political scientist and Channel One host Dmitry Simes in Virginia.

According to the diplomat, "the US authorities' raids on the Channel One host are one of many facts of the "witch hunt" unfolding here with renewed vigor.

"All this is going amid the presidential election campaign. All over the country, there is a persecution of those who allegedly work for the Russian government in violation of the law on foreign agents," Antonov said as quoted by the press service of the Russian diplomatic mission.

"Local ruling circles have definitively embarked on the path of total censorship. Freedom of speech in the modern United States is sacred only if this word is pro-American. All dissenters are subject to political inquisition, especially when it concerns those who fight against the imposition of one-sided and biased views on Russia," the diplomat stressed, noting that the Russian embassy "is concerned about what is happening."

According to Antonov, Washington "is steeped in double standards in the area of democracy and freedom of speech."

"Hundreds of people are declared undesirable simply because they dare to contradict the administration's policies. They are forbidden to have their own point of view. Breaking into homes, searches, confiscation of documents - this is a short list of the actions of the American special services," the diplomat went on.

According to him, the American authorities "easily violate their own canons, provided for by the First Amendment" to the American Constitution, "reprising dissent has become the norm."

"In the meantime, officials continue to lecture the entire world on democratic values and human rights," the ambassador stressed. According to him, all this "is reminiscent of the dark times of McCarthyism."

Antonov stressed that he personally knows Simes "as a talented political scientist with deep knowledge of the US political system, domestic and foreign policy of the state."

"I used to be a guest at the NGO "Center for the National Interest" headed by him. There I argued about the fate of Russian-American relations. All this was part of civilized discussions with a respectful attitude to the opinion of the opponent," the head of the Russian diplomatic mission said.

 

Search in Simes house

 

Earlier, the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed raiding a US house of American political scientist Dimitri Simes in Virginia.

Simes told TASS that he had not been officially notified of the FBI search, which was conducted on August 13.

The Department of State has not yet responded to a TASS correspondent's request for comment on the incident.

Political scientist, historian and TV presenter Simes was born in 1947 in Moscow. In 1973 he emigrated to the United States. Last year, he moderated a plenary session with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, and in June he participated in a closed meeting with the head of state after his speech at the Foreign Ministry.