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WORLD NEWS Friday 1 december 2017
Moscow mulls next move in escalating media spat with US

By V. ISACHENKOV T&R Productions, said in a
Associated Press statement that withdraw-
MOSCOW (AP) — The Krem- ing the credentials “runs di-
lin voiced dismay Thurs- rectly counter to the notion
day over the withdrawal that FARA is not intended
of a Russian state-funded to interfere or restrict fair
TV station’s credentials in journalistic freedom and
the U.S. and warned of a media access. We hope
quick retaliation.A commit- the executive committee
tee that governs Capitol will reconsider its vote.”The
Hill access for broadcast U.S. move and the Russian
journalists on Wednesday threats of retaliation follow
withdrew credentials for the endorsement of a new
Kremlin-funded RT after the Russian bill that allowed the
company complied earlier government to designate
this month with a U.S. de- international media out-
mand that it register under lets as foreign agents in re-
the Foreign Agents Regis- sponse to the U.S. demand
tration Act. made to the RT TV chan-
President Vladimir Putin’s nel.The bill, quickly passed
spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, by the Russian parliament
denounced the move as and signed into law by Pu-
a violation of media free- Russian President Vladimir Putin takes a drink during a meeting with the winners of the Family of tin over the weekend, says
dom and “extremely hos- the Year national contest in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017. that any government- or
tile act,” adding that “we (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin/AP) private-funded foreign
are deeply disappointed.” forecast an emotional re- and government agencies move was a “challenge news outlets could be
“Such hostile and undem- sponse from our lawmakers as a quid pro quo. Foreign to the universal values of declared foreign agents,
ocratic decisions can’t be regarding the U.S. media.” correspondents in Russia freedom of speech.”“This leaving it to the Justice
left without an answer,” he Senior Russian lawmakers can currently access the is an attack on the founda- Ministry to single them out.
said in a conference call warned that representa- Russian parliament and tion of democracy, and we The ministry already has no-
with reporters. “You don’t tives of the U.S. media can some government agen- aren’t going to tolerate it,” tified the U.S. government-
have to be a soothsayer to lose access to parliament cies with their press creden- he said. “We are consider- funded Voice of America
Lawyer: Container Croat Praljak tials issued by the Russian ing options for a symmetri- and Radio Free Europe/
Radio Liberty, along with its
Foreign Ministry.
cal, quid pro quo response
drank from held deadly chemical Vyacheslav Volodin, the to the hostile U.S. actions. regional outlets, that they
could be designated as
They will come soon.”The
speaker of the Russian par-
By MIKE CORDER said in court that he had liament’s lower house, the production company for foreign agents under the
Associated Press taken poison. State Duma, said the U.S. RT’s American operation, new law. q
THE HAGUE, Netherlands He was rushed to a Hague
(AP) — A deadly chemical hospital but died there, tri-
was in the container from bunal spokesman Nenad
which a Croat war crimi- Golcevski said.
nal drank shortly before Praljak’s lawyer, Nika Pinter,
dying, a Dutch prosecutor said Thursday that she nev-
said Thursday, as an inde- er expected him to kill him-
pendent investigation into self and does know how he
the dramatic death of Slo- obtained the fatal liquid
bodan Praljak moved for- given the court’s strict se-
ward. curity.
“There was a preliminary Pinter described Praljak to
test of the substance in the Croatia’s Hina news agen-
container and all I can say cy as “an honorable man
for now is that there was a who could not live with
chemical substance in that the war crimes conviction
container that can cause and leave that courtroom
death,” Prosecutor Marilyn handcuffed.”
Fikenscher told The Associ- Praljak was originally con-
ated Press in a telephone victed in 2013 of crimes
interview. including murder, persecu-
She declined to elaborate tion and deportation for his
on the exact nature of the role in a plan to carve out
substance. a Bosnian Croat ministate
Praljak, 72, stunned the In- in Bosnia in the early 1990s.
ternational Criminal Tribu- Fikenscher said that an au-
nal for the former Yugosla- topsy, including toxicologi-
via on Wednesday when cal tests, will be carried out
he gulped down liquid soon on Praljak’s body.
from a small bottle seconds Croatian Prime Minister An-
after a U.N. appeals judge drej Plenkovic said Thurs-
confirmed a 20-year sen- day that Praljak wanted
tence against him. to send a message to the
The wartime commander U.N. court that the verdict
of Bosnian Croat forces against him was unjust. q