RWB launch campaign "Independent journalism is the only banned sport in Sochi"

Independent journalism in the Krasnodar Territory is a combat sport, says the report of the "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB), the organization for protection of the freedom of information, published to the anniversary of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and to the start of the Winter Olympic Torch Relay.

The study called "Kremlin on All Channels" was performed by Ulrike Gruska, an expert of the RWB, based on her interviews with journalists and media experts in Moscow and Berlin.

The report asserts that the Kremlin intends to use the Winter Olympics in Sochi to show Russia as a tolerant and open country. "However, this is unlikely as long as the Russian government denied the basic civil rights for its population," notes the report as quoted by the Deutsche Welle.

The above restrictions, the report says, include the freedom of the press. According to human rights activists, the Russian leader Vladimir Putin is one of the main opponents of this freedom, which is manifested in the total control of the state over the television.

Meanwhile, according to the RWB, the authorities control not only the federal TV channels, but also the regional media. Thus, according to rights defenders, some Sochi editions are forums for expressing owners' interests, while the journalists disliked by the authorities are oppressed by means of lawsuits.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in parallel with the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics Torch Relay, the Human Rights Watch has launched its project "Alternative Map of Olympic Torch Relay".