Vedomosti: Lawmakers mull bill on protecting journalists in conflict zones
Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, should pass a law on guarantees for journalists working in hot spots of tension as soon as possible in the wake of the deaths of three Russian journalists in the Central African Republic, Vedomosti writes. The paper is citing Mikhail Fedotov, who heads the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, as saying these measures should include higher insurance payouts, special training and protection means.
All these proposals were stipulated in a special bill introduced in 2014 after Russian journalists were killed in Donbass. The bill was approved in the first reading in 2015 but has been shelved since. "I hope the death of three Russian journalists in the Central African Republic will make our lawmakers feel ashamed of their tardiness," he said.
Three Russian journalists were killed in the Central African Republic while making a film for ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Investigations Management Center about the Wagner private military company, which is allegedly involved in providing Russian military assistance to the CAR government, the paper writes.
Meanwhile, a source in the State Duma told Vedomosti that the government has not backed the bill, which is opposed by both the Finance Ministry and the Labor Ministry. The Finance Ministry says the initiative will force the state media to make significant cash injections in insurance, while the Labor Ministry insists that the current legislation already has the necessary regulations.
Chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Committee for Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications Leonid Levin believes the bill is important and should be endorsed during the autumn session. "We don’t think additional spending is more important than human lives."
Novaya Gazeta publisher Dmitry Muratov warns that the bill could complicate the procedure of sending journalists to military conflict zones.
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