France outraged by revocation of accreditation of Le Monde journalist in Russia
Pravda Ukraine
The French Foreign Ministry has threatened consequences over Russia’s decision to revoke the accreditation of Le Monde correspondent Benjamin Quénelle in Moscow.
Source: French Foreign Ministry spokesperson at a briefing on 6 February, as reported by European Pravda
Details: The French Foreign Ministry stressed that Le Monde, one of the leading French publications, will not have a correspondent in Moscow for the first time since 1957.
Quote: “This unreasonable and arbitrary decision by the Russian authorities is yet another obstacle to freedom of information at a time when the working conditions for independent Russian and foreign journalists in Russia are already extremely poor, and press freedom is not respected,” it added.
Paris called on the Russian authorities to reconsider their decision, “which will otherwise require an appropriate response” – without specifying what this might be.
Le Monde editorial director Jerome Fenolio, in a column published in French and Russian, called Moscow’s decision “unprecedented”.
He stressed that Russia’s explanation – that Benjamin Quénelle’s accreditation was revoked because Paris refused to accredit propagandists from the Komsomolskaya Pravda media outlet – is groundless, as they are not journalists but agents of the Russian secret services.
Background:
- Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has launched a campaign to suppress freedom of speech and imprisoned several Russian and foreign journalists.
- In March 2023, Moscow detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich and then sentenced him to 16 years in prison on “espionage” charges that Washington called trumped-up.
- The Wall Street Journal journalist was released in August 2024 as part of the largest prisoner exchange between the East and West since the fall of the Iron Curtain.
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