The Russian interior ministry intends
to press criminal charges against two Italian journalists who
reported from the region of Kursk, the Russian Telegram news
channel Baza reported on Friday.
The journalists would be charged under "article 322 of the
criminal code of the Russian Federation over the illegal
crossing of State borders", wrote Baza.
RAI reporters "Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini could be
prosecuted", according to the news outlet, which recalled that
the TG1 newscast of RAI's first television channel "reported
from the city of Sudzha", which is located in Russia's Kursk
region near the border with Ukraine.
Meanwhile Italy's RAI union Usigrai and journalists' union Fnsi
issued a joint statement on Friday slamming the allegation that
the pair could be criminally prosecuted as "unacceptable".
"Journalism is not a crime.
"The hypothesis that Moscow's authorities could prosecute
Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini who entered Russian
territory with Ukrainian troops for a report for Tg1 is
unacceptable.
"Information cannot be provided with preventative
authorizations.
"Reporting a war is always difficult and withstands the most
varied forms of pressure.
"Threatening those who provide information with a criminal trial
is one of them", said the statement.
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