Russian police detain journalists

MOSCOW >> Russian police on Saturday detained several journalists who protested authorities’ decision to label a top independent TV channel as a “foreign agent.”

The journalists held individual pickets outside the main headquarters of the country’s top domestic security agency, the FSB, on Moscow’s Lubyanka Square.

They held placards such as “Journalism is not a crime” and “You are afraid of the truth” to protest the Justice Ministry’s move Friday to add the Dozhd (Rain) TV channel and the online investigative outlet Vazhnye Istorii (Important Stories) to the list of “foreign agents.”

Those detained were handed summons to attend court hearings on charges of violating rules of holding pickets, an administrative offense that carries a fine up to $270.

The Justice Ministry acted under a law that is

used to designate as “foreign agents” nongovernmental organizations and individuals who receive funding from abroad and engage in activities loosely described as political. The label implies closer government scrutiny and carries a strong pejorative connotation that could undermine the credibility of media outlets and hurt their advertising prospects.

Dozhd denounced the move as unfair and said it would appeal.

The TV channel has been sharply critical of Russian authorities’ crackdown on dissent and regularly carried live reports from opposition protests.