MOSCOW, March 26 (RIA Novosti) - A senior Russian official called on the international community Wednesday to influence Kiev in reversing a decision to block the broadcast of Russian TV channels in Ukraine, which has a substantial Russian-speaking population.
"The international community, in particular the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe], should put pressure on Kiev to secure the repeal of this punitive measure," said Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's commissioner on human rights, in a message on Twitter.
A ruling by a district court in Kiev on Tuesday ordered the suspension of broadcasts of four Russian TV channels in the country.
Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE's Representative on Freedom of the Media, condemned such a move by Ukraine earlier this month, saying that "banning programming without a legal basis is a form of censorship; national security concerns should not be used at the expense of media freedom."
On Tuesday, Dolgov called the ban a violation of the democratic freedoms of millions of Russian-speaking residents in the country, adding that it demonstrated hypocrisy on the part of the country's new leadership, which has declared a commitment to basic human rights.
