Russia warns of harassment & provocations after US safety companies query RT journalist over… Covid vaccine shot?

Russian journalists are going through prejudice and routine harassment by American authorities, Russia’s Embassy in Washington has warned, after US safety companies questioned an RT filmmaker for hours and combed by his units.

RT documentarian Konstantin Rozhkov was stopped by US federal brokers at a New York airport quickly after arriving within the nation on Wednesday, the place he was subjected to a three-hour interrogation and compelled to offer entry to his electronics.

“The journalist was requested to open all digital media, in addition to clarify publicly out there info, together with about him receiving the Russian-made vaccine, Sputnik V,” the embassy stated in a press release, including that Rozhkov was additionally questioned about his “correspondence associated to journalistic actions.”

This interrogation of a Russian journalist clearly went past the same old public security procedures. We think about what occurred to be a brazen try by US authorities to strain different media that problem the dominant mainstream narratives.

Additionally on rt.com

Rozhkov – whose employer is registered as a “overseas agent” with the Division of Justice in step with US legislation – traveled to the nation to report on the 2020 presidential race, like numerous different journalists, correspondents and filmmakers from information organizations across the globe. The journalist stated that quickly after touchdown in New York, he was “requested to go to a non-public room,” the place safety personnel “instantly took my passport, cellphone and laptop computer. They stated to unlock my iPhone so they might view its content material.”

The interrogation lasted hours, seeing the brokers area a litany of probing questions, which Rozhkov stated “turned an increasing number of refined” over time, together with queries corresponding to “Are you conscious that RT is a overseas agent” and “How was your vaccination, Konstantin? Any shoulder pains?”

Correspondent Konstantin Rozhkov will get inoculated with the Russian vaccine in opposition to coronavirus! Is he OK? Take a look at new episode of In a Nutshell 👉 https://t.co/YBUQCZwqLs. pic.twitter.com/3H5xzIXbSE

— RT_Documentary (@RT_Doc) October 1, 2020

The journalist was additionally requested why he was “going to movie protests through the presidential election,” summarizing his reply: “As a result of that is what’s occurring in America proper now, and it is being filmed by journalists from everywhere in the world.”

Rozhkov was later launched when US authorities couldn’t discover “something to complain about,” together with his belongings returned.

Additionally on rt.com

It’s unclear whether or not the brokers actually hoped to study something concerning the vaccine or had been merely attempting to unnerve Rozhkov, nor what they anticipated to seek out on the journalist’s electronics, however regardless of calls from Moscow to the US State Division to clarify the incident, the embassy has but to obtain a response.

In gentle of the difficulty confronted by Rozhkov and different Russian reporters prior to now – corresponding to Alexander Malkevich, who was detained for questioning by the FBI at a Washington, DC airport in 2018 – the embassy cautioned journalists to “think about the biased perspective in direction of them by the American authorities” and the “excessive likelihood of provocations to create a pretext guilty our residents for interfering in US inner affairs.”

The Russian diplomatic workplace additionally cited quite a lot of circumstances wherein US legislation enforcement used extreme and “arbitrary” power in opposition to Russian nationals protecting unrest in Minneapolis and Portland earlier this 12 months. Up to now, US officers have refused to touch upon these circumstances, regardless of repeated requests from the embassy.

Additionally on rt.com

Subscribe to RT publication to get tales the mainstream media gained’t inform you.