Moscow – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he was not aware of female journalists’ accusations against Lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, saying there was a court for such issues.
After the “Direct Line’’ Q&A session, the journalists asked the Russian leader if he knew anything about the story with Slutsky, whom several journalists were accused of harassment, and what he thought about it.
He said “I did not hear anything about this story in any civilised country, there is a law envisaged for the consideration of conflicts of this kind, such as judicial instances, law enforcement agencies.”
The president noted that it was necessary to protect the interests of all categories of citizens, adding that he believed there was no need to turn incidents related to accusations of harassment into campaign against someone.
“Now they are launching campaigns in some Western countries, in Hollywood, raising problems dating back to 10, 20, 30 years ago.
“You know, I personally think we must protect the interests of all citizens, regardless of gender, religion, but the question still arises: why is this only being done now, why not 10 years ago, when this or that incident allegedly occurred?
“Secondly, I do not think that we should turn all these issues, especially specific cases, into a campaign.”
In late February, several journalists spoke in an interview with Russia’s Dozhd broadcaster about harassment by Slutsky on condition of anonymity.
“In early March, Daria Zhuk, a producer at Dozhd, and Farida Rustamova, a correspondent with the BBC’s Russian Service, publicly accused the lawmaker of attempts to grope and kiss them against their will.
“The two journalists subsequently submitted complaints to the State Duma’s Commission on Ethics.
Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, had refuted all the allegations, saying that attempts to make him “Russian Harvey Weinstein’’ are a cheap and low-level provocation and are doomed to fail in advance.
The Commission on Ethics considered the complaints against Slutsky and determined that there had been no cases of improper conduct of the lawmaker with female journalists.
Following the commission’s decision, a number of Russian media, including RBK media holding, TV station Dozhd and Echo of Moscow radio station, announced that it would recall its journalists from the State Duma.
The Kommersant newspaper, in turn, stated that it would discontinue its cooperation with Slutsky and the Commission on Ethics as the outlet’s newsmakers.
(Sputnik/NAN)