Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova regarding the EU Court of Justice judgment on the legality of criminal prosecutions for the dissemination of RT materials

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
Photo: MFA

Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova regarding the EU Court of Justice judgment on the legality of criminal prosecutions for the dissemination of RT materials.

On July 2, the EU Court of Justice handed down a judgment concerning the lawfulness of criminal prosecutions within European Union member states against individuals who make materials from media outlets banned within the EU territory available in the public domain via their internet resources – effectively treating such individuals on a par with telecommunications operators. In practical terms, this judgment applies primarily to those distributing content from RT and other Russian media outlets against whom Brussels has imposed so-called sanctions. Moreover, as indicated in the press release issued by the Court, this approach applies irrespective of whether materials from the “banned” media are retransmitted for the purpose of deriving commercial gain or otherwise.

The impetus for this judgment arose from criminal proceedings initiated in Germany against three German nationals, accused of repeatedly reposting video materials from the RT DE channel on their publicly accessible website. Notably, it was not the content of the specific publications that was deemed unlawful, but solely their origin. In order to lend an appearance of legitimacy to this process – a process that utterly fails to conform to the principles of the rule of law – the German authorities sought an opinion of the highest echelons of the European Union’s judicial system, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and ultimately secured its endorsement for the continuation and expansion of the methods of such show-trials. The precedent thus established grants carte blanche to the authorities of any member state within the bloc to carry out mass repression against ordinary residents who hold their own view of world events – a view that diverges from the narrative imposed from above.

We characterise this judgment, along with the practices of persecuting dissenters that it legitimises, as a gross violation by the EU and its member states of their international obligations in the sphere of the protection and promotion of fundamental human rights, including the right to unhindered access to information and freedom of expression. This judgment stands as yet another unmistakable example of the European Union’s mockery of justice designed to whitewash the bloc’s degeneration into a space characterised by the most severe political censorship, legal arbitrariness, and hypocrisy. At its core lies the intent to instil a reflexive fear among citizens of the European Union’s member states towards any sources of information “not authorised” by Brussels, to seal off societies within information “bubbles” impervious to inconvenient truths, and to deprive them of the ability to form an independent opinion regarding events and processes of significance to their lives.

This latest step taken by the EU towards totalitarian censorship, the exacerbation of antagonism, and the dismantling of the democratic foundations of society must receive a proper assessment from the relevant multilateral institutions. Otherwise, silence on their part would be difficult to interpret as anything other than solidarity with the actions of the European bureaucracy, and acquiescence in the further perpetuation of this pernicious practice.

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs