Russia tells US to 'mind own business' over media freedom
The Russian Foreign Ministry says the US should mind its own business after Washington's diplomatic mission expressed concern about media freedom in Russia.
"Mind your own business," the ministry tweeted late on Tuesday.
This was the first official reaction to the comments made by the spokeswoman of the US embassy Rebecca Ross, who had earlier expressed concern about the pressures over the Russian journalists.
"Watching arrest after arrest of Russian journalists - it's starting to look like a concerted campaign against #MediaFreedom," she wrote on his Twitter page on Tuesday.
The tweet was originally referring to the arrest of a former journalist, Ivan Safronov, by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) on suspicion of treason.
Meanwhile, Yevgeny Smirnov, a member of Safronov's team, announced that the former journalist is suspected of cooperating with Czech intelligence since 2012.
The FSB maintains that Safronov has collected confidential data about Russia's defense sector and passed it over to Czech intelligence, which, according to FSB, is working under the guidance of the United States.
But, Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that Safronov's arrest is not related to his work as a journalist.
He also called the chorus of statements made by Safronov's colleagues as "emotional," adding that "we have to wait for the trial."
Safronov's case comes after a reporter, Svetlana Prokopyeva, from the city of Pskov was fined nearly $7,000 on Monday for "justifying terrorism".
Prosecutors insist that she has to be sentenced to six years in prison for a commentary about a bomb attack.
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