“It’s a fool’s game
,” declares Jérémy Normand, special correspondent for BFMTV in Moscow, at the start of his live broadcast shortly before 6 p.m.
The journalist is on hand to cover the re-election of Vladimir Putin in Russia.
A coronation which received 87% of the votes, according to official figures.
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“We are photographed about a hundred times a day, sometimes during our duplexes. It’s work in special conditions
,” Jérémy Normand begins facing the camera before being interrupted by a few police officers.
“You will experience first-hand what we experience on a daily basis. As soon as we have the camera on, as soon as we start talking to you, there are police officers who come to check our accreditations, our identities and who make sure that we are not there to cause trouble. They also check the channel, they obviously look at what we produce
,” explains the journalist, with supporting images.
Indeed, a white van parked near the BFMTV team.
“It’s our reality as journalists here
,” adds Jérémy Normand.
Pressure from Russian police
The live broadcast continues for a few minutes, as best it can.
Time for the news channel to comment on the organization of Vladimir Putin's victory speech on Red Square.
Jérémy Normand speaks of students
“heavily invited by the presidential party for two weeks”
to gather this evening to cheer the head of state.
“Everything is planned and organized in advance”
, the security perimeter is
“extremely important”
with
“a police officer every ten meters”
.
“This shows you the feverishness of the authorities to avoid any act of dissidence and to be able to allow Vladimir Putin to have this image of a president acclaimed by this crowd”
, analyzes the special envoy who then testifies to the pressures from the local police forces.
“The police film us while we talk to people, they film their faces
,” he explains.
“For opponents, it is much more difficult to express themselves freely”
when the international media question them.
“We have the right to work here, we have not taken any unnecessary risks
,” reassures the journalist.