Swiss Foreign Ministry calls in Russian ambassador over threats to Swiss journalist
Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has summoned Russian Ambassador to Bern Sergey Harmonin in connection with the Russian Embassy’s threats against a journalist of the Swiss publication NZZ over his article about Russia’s war against Ukraine.
It is informed by Censor.NЕТ referring to Ukrinform.
"The Foreign Ministry called the Russian ambassador to Bern on Thursday to lodge a complaint about 'unacceptable' threats against a Swiss journalist," the statement said.
The Russian ambassador was told that "such intimidation" is unacceptable in Switzerland, where the constitution guarantees freedom of information and the press.
Thus, the Swiss Foreign Ministry responded to a statement published on the website of the Russian Embassy regarding the work of Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) journalist Ivo Meinsen, who covered the Russian war against Ukraine. The Russian embassy accused the journalist of "justifying terrorism" and "inciting ethnic hatred" in his article about the situation in the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, temporarily occupied by Russian troops, and the Ukrainian resistance to the invaders. The Russian diplomatic mission, in particular, pointed out to the Swiss journalist "the norms of criminal liability that could be applied to his statements in Russia" - punishment in the form of a fine or imprisonment for up to 7 years.
