Russian Foreign Ministry on Syria, the Hague Tribunal and Google Censorship

[image: © AFP 2017/ LOIC VENANCE]

Remaining elements of ISIS are being eliminated. The US-supported terrorist group in Syria is a shadow of its peak strength.

“Eliminating terrorists, creating and ensuring proper operations in the de-escalation zones as part of the Astana process have contributed significantly to improving the situation” in liberated areas, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (MZ below) explained.

Achieving a political settlement is much harder, America’s imperial objectives the main obstacle, wanting regime change in all sovereign independent countries, opposing peace and stability in nations it attacks.

On November 16, the “Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations formally ceased to exist” – because Washington vetoed the joint Sino/Russia resolution to extend it, following international investigative standards, what it failed to do so far in Syria, MZ explained.

Together with its rogue allies, America “finished off the JIM that has already discredited itself too much” – discussed in previous articles.

Discussing the sham trial and conviction of Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, MZ called it “a continuation of the politicized and biased course that has dominated the (pro-Western International Criminal Tribunal for the Forher Yugoslavia – ICTY) activity from the outset.”

The ICTY delivered “selective justice,” convicting innocent individuals, absolving others responsible for high crimes of US-led NATO aggression in Yugoslavia, raping and destroying the country, balkanizing it for easier control.

“Nobody in the West has answered for these barbarous actions,” MZ explained, only victims of its high crimes.

Discussing Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt’s intention to give RT and Sputnik News less prominence on Google News by de-ranking them, MZ blasted what she called an “artificial grading…amount(ing) to censorship and violation of” America’s First Amendment.

Google is waging illegal war on media freedom, fully supported by Washington, the company more an online censor than search engine.

It masterfully manipulates Internet content, giving prominently featuring what it supports, censoring vital information differing from the official narrative.

Google is playing a “Good Cop Bad Cop game,” said MZ, supporting the bad over the good. “We have taken note of this, of course, and we interpret this as a global offensive against freedom of the media and freedom to provide information.”

Russian media are prime targets. Will independent sources of news, information and analysis be next?

 

The post Russian Foreign Ministry on Syria, the Hague Tribunal and Google Censorship appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

DOJ To Russia Today: Register As A Foreign Agent Or Face Arrest

Congress is using a decades-old piece of legislation to force Russia Today to register as a foreign agent in the US, adding that if the site doesn’t comply with the order by Monday, the DOJ could move to shutter its operations and arrest its top executive, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.

Russia Today revealed Thursday that the Department of Justice has given the site until next week to comply with its new interpretation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). RT has been operating in the US since 2005.

While undoubtedly disappointing in terms of its implications for first amendment freedoms in the US, the DOJ’s declaration is hardly a surprise. Under pressure from lawmakers, Twitter last month said it would prohibit RT from buying paid ads on its platform.

The FARA was adopted in the US in 1938 to counter pro-Nazi agitation . Washington has decided to apply the act towards the company that supplies all services for RT America on its territory, including TV production and operations. Just over 400 entities are currently registered under the legislation, though that group doesn’t include a single media outlet.

RT revealed Thursday that the DOJ sent a letter to the company in September saying it is obligated to register under FARA due to the work it does for RT. Most alarmingly, the law demands the disclosure of the channel"s confidential data, including the personal data of its staff.

The move "will have serious legal consequences"and "compromise the safety of [RT] employees," the Russian Foreign Ministry previously explained.

Simonyan said on Thursday that the timeframe provided for the company by the DOJ is a "cannibalistic deadline." She previously said that the channel was being forced into "conditions in which we cannot work" in the US, and called Washington"s demand an attempt to "drive [RT] out of the country."

Simonyan had said the decision put freedom of speech in the US under question. RT has been under pressure for showing the American audience "a different point of view."

Senator Konstantin Kosachev, the chair of Russia’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told journalists on Thursday that the Department of Justice’s decision is “a dirty political game,” adding that particular Russian media has been “selected” by US lawmakers. The senator called the move “an obviously discriminatory measure.” He went on to point out that there are “dozens and even hundreds” of foreign media operating in the US, including TV channels financed by foreign states, but none of those have been targeted.

 

‘If RT leaves the US, American media might stop broadcasting in Russia’ – RT editor-in-chief https://t.co/RFSbOucC4s

— RT (@RT_com) October 1, 2017

 

The decision has nothing to do with setting up due process, Kosachev said. It is rather aimed at media which broadcast content “inconvenient” for US authorities. This means sharing information on its foreign and domestic policies, he explained, calling the decision an “infringement of freedom of speech."

As we reported last week, Moscow has warned that a move to restrict RT’s operations in the US would be met with a “surprise” response regarding American media working in Russia. "If someone starts to fight dirty, perverting the law by using it as a tool to eradicate the TV station, every move aimed against the Russian media outlet would be repaid in kind," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

And it appears those measures could be unveiled as soon as next week to coincide with the registration deadline, according to a report from Russian newswire Interfax.

Of course, US interests have been operating the English-language Moscow Times in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, and other media outlets funded by foreign states - for example, Al Jazeera - haven’t faced these types of restrictions.
 

Russia Has A "Surprise" Planned For US If It Bans RT, Sputnik Ads

A day after certain members of the Senate Intelligence committee expressed their profound disappointment with Facebook, Twitter and Google for appearing to blow off lawmakers’ concerns about a “sophisticated” Russia-backed propaganda campaign purportedly being carried out on their platforms, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova is hitting back, warning that Russia has “a surprise” response planned if US lawmakers overtly ban Russia Today and Sputnik from running advertisements on twitter and other US social media platforms.

According to Interfax and Sputnik, Zakharova said Russia would be forced to respond to the ban, which she said constituted “intimidation and blackmail.”

She also singled out Twitter, which was the first - and so far, the only - to prohibit Russia Today from running ads, criticizing the company for kowtowing to pressure from lawmakers and US intelligence agencies.

"By imposing this ban, Twitter demonstrates its commercial insolvency and absolute dependence on the will of the US security establishment, which directly controls the decision-making process in this company, as we see it at the moment," Zakharova said.

Additionally, the ban would only serve to further strain already tenuous relations between the US and Moscow.

"Of course, Washington"s policy for further degradation of US-Russian relations is regrettable. This is an absolutely short-sighted policy, fraught with negative consequences, including for the United States itself," Zakharova said.

Twitter banned all ads from RT and Sputnik last month under pressure from lawmakers.

While the Sputnik news agency has stated in its press-release that it had never paid for promotion on Twitter, RT has responded with numbers — the broadcaster"s editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, has revealed the amount of money spent on Twitter ads during the US election race; the number totals $275,000, in comparison to the presidential nominees who spent about $1 billion each.

Simonyan also famously published the “full” sales pitch it received from Twitter ahead of the election last year. RT said it turned down the “multi-million dollar advertising proposal.” On Twitter, advertising largely consists of the platform promoting a user’s tweets in exchange for money.

Earlier today, Buzzfeed published emails from a Twitter ad executive to RT pitching a $3 million advertisisng campaign, which the company said would amplify RT"s voice seven-fold.

According to the Russian diplomat, the existing legislation in Russia allows, if necessary, to declare the foreign media outlets operating in the country as ""foreign agents" or "undesirable organizations."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously vowed to give a mirror-like response if the US decides to further restrict activities of Russian media outlets.
 

British Foreign Secretary Cancels Moscow Trip; Russia Responds "No Big Loss"

It appears efforts to improve British relations (especially trade, post-Brexit) with Russia are on hold as British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled his forthcoming trip to Moscow...

I will now not travel to Moscow on Monday 10 April. My priority is talks w/ my #G7 counterparts about Syria and Russia"s support for #Assad

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 8, 2017

Johnson had planned to travel to Russia Monday on a trip intended to start fresh dialogue with the Russian government (which would have been the first visit by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years), but following this week"s actions he said in a statement.

"Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally,"

"We deplore Russia"s continued defence of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians,"

"We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated."

"My priority is now to continue contact with the U.S. and others in the run-up to the G7 meeting on 10-11 April - to build coordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process."

Russia"s reported response to BoJo"s change of plans: cancellation of Boris Johnson"s trip is not a big loss. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says by phone...

“There’s an impression that our western colleagues live in their own parallel reality, in which they first try to build joint plans single-handedly and then -- again single-handedly -- change them, inventing absurd reasons,”

Johnson’s reasons for the canceling the trip are “absurd”

“Unfortunately, stability and consistency have long ceased to be the hallmark of Western foreign policy” 

Russia's Lavrov To Tillerson: "We Do Not Interfere In The Domestic Matters Of Other Countries"

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met his Russian counterparty, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at a G20 summit in Germany in the pair’s first meeting since Tillerson became secretary of state, and comes as a possible Russia-US rapprochement is in the spotlight. Moscow and Washington have much to discuss, Lavrov told Tillerson at their first meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Thursday.

"Mostly, it includes issues addressed by the two presidents during their phone conversation. I think that we could identify parameters of our future cooperation on each of those topics," he stated.

More importantly, Lavrov once again focused on current developments in Washington in which Trump administration links to Russia are under the spotlight, and said that these are US domestic affairs, in which Moscow has no interest in meddling.

"You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries," Lavrov told reporters when asked if "turbulence" in the American capital has ramifications for US-Russia relations.

Lavrov meets with US Secretary of State Tillerson in Germany https://t.co/HGtXiPsfkP pic.twitter.com/4LtaUVy2S0

— RT (@RT_com) February 16, 2017

He spoke days after U.S. President Donald Trump asked for the resignation of his key national security adviser Michael Flynn amid questions about his conversations with Russian officials. He added the two countries had "plenty of issues" to discuss."

Earlier comments from the Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that Syria and sensitive bilateral issues would be discussed at the meeting, RT reported.

The US State Department told reporters the upcoming conversation with Lavrov “obviously will be a very important one,” adding that Tillerson is likely to use the occasion to seek “ways for pragmatic and constructive cooperation in areas where our interests overlap.” Areas of mutual interest might include “counter-ISIS [Islamic State] and counterterrorism” efforts, State Department officials said at a special briefing.

The officials also said that Tillerson would not soften Washington"s stance on Ukraine, a crisis which remains largely unresolved. The secretary of state would “push for full implementation of the parties’, including Russia’s, commitments under the Minsk agreement for the Donbass.”

Ukraine and the issue of economic sanctions look like becoming a stumbling block for future dialogue between Moscow and Washington. President Donald Trump has claimed that Crimea – a region that was reunited with mainland Russia following a 2014 referendum – was “taken” by Moscow, prompting a measured but swift response from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“Crimea is part of the Russian Federation,” Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday.

It will be the first time Lavrov has met the newly-appointed Tillerson. It comes as US-Russia relations are under particular scrutiny following the election of President Trump, who has repeatedly pledged to mend ties with Moscow.