Russian OSCE mission slams Sputnik Lithuania employee detention as media rights violation
Chief Editor Marat Kasem was detained at Vilnius Airport on Tuesday, according to him, Lithuanian officials claimed he posed a threat to the national security
MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. The detention of Chief Editor of the Lithuanian branch of the Sputnik news outlet Marat Kasem is a violation of media rights, Russia’s mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Twitter on Tuesday.
"The editor-in-chief of the Sputnik Lietuva news agency was detained on arrival to the Vilnius airport under the pretext ‘a threat to the national security.’ This is another example of a gross violation of media rights and suppression of alternative opinions in the country," the tweet reads.
Kasem, a Latvian citizen, was detained at Vilnius Airport on Tuesday. According to him, Lithuanian officials claimed he posed a threat to the national security. The journalist has been deported and banned from entering Lithuania for five years.