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RT France has announced the closure of its offices in France after the channel's bank accounts were blocked by the French authorities under the guise of the ninth package of sanctions against Russia.
“After five years of hard work, the French authorities achieved their goal, and the channel was closed after the decision of the Ministry of the Treasury to freeze our bank accounts, which makes it impossible to continue our business,” the channel’s director, Ksenia Fedorova, said in a statement today.
Fedorova indicated that the French authorities had previously taken many arbitrary measures that had no purpose other than harming the channel since its launch.
“In this increasingly under-represented and limited media world, where critical thinking is no longer allowed, RT France was a breath of fresh air, nonjudgmentally, but always earnest and precise,” said Fedorova.
Fedorova stressed that the French decision against the channel was political, beyond any legal framework, and would deprive 123 French employees, including 77 journalists who hold press cards, of their salaries.
“In addition to the dire economic consequences for many families, the question arises about the future of media pluralism in France, its representation and at least its moral independence, and about freedom of thought and expression in it,” Fedorova said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had confirmed that freezing the accounts of the French RT channel would lead to retaliatory measures against the French media in Russia.
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