The State Duma abolished the accreditation of journalists whose media refused to work in the chamber after the Duma commission on ethics did not find "deviations" in the behavior of the chairman of the international committee Leonid Slutsky (LDPR), accused of harassment of journalists working in the Duma. As the chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said on Thursday, this was done in accordance with the rules of accreditation: in case the media withdraws its journalists, "passes are recognized in accordance with the provision on accreditation". The representative of the Duma's apparatus explained to Vedomosti that the cancellation of accreditation does not require a special decision, if the media themselves announced the withdrawal of journalists. According to him, 47 journalists have been canceled accreditation: 39 employees of RBC, one - Znak.com and seven - "Dozhd" TV channel.

According to paragraph 18 of the rules for the accreditation of journalists under the Duma, the termination of accreditation of a media correspondent in the event of its revocation by the editorial board is possible only after the Duma's media relations department is informed about it by the editorial director. The form of notification and the terms in the document are not specified, it is only said that this should be done "immediately". RBC in the evening on Wednesday issued a statement on the recall of journalists on its website, no written notification to the State Duma was not sent, the representative of the holding explained. "Rain" also did not send any official documents on the recall of its journalists, a representative of the TV channel said.

Forms of protest

RBC withdrew its first journalists, then the same was announced by "Rain", the radio station "Ekho Moskvy" and the RTVI channel. Editor-in-chief of RTVI Alexei Pivovarov added that the channel will not interact with the State Duma until "while Slutsky remains in his post." Other media outlets did not specify the timeframe for the recall. "By this decision, the ethics commission, in fact, recognized the norm as the possibility of sexual harassment of journalists by newsmakers. We do not agree with this approach, and we refuse to consider the Duma's position on this issue to be normal, "Elizaveta Golikova, co-director of the joint editorial office of RBC, explained. The editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy, Alexei Venediktov, said that he was disappointed with the decision of the commission, "in fact, justified such practice in the highest legislative body of the country."

Other publications have chosen other forms of protest. For example, Kommersant did not boycott the Duma as a whole, but "put an end to the relationship with Slutsky and the Ethics Commission." Editorial Lenta.ru, one of the most popular news media Runet (part of the holding of Alexander Mamut Rambler & Co), said that it removes from the site all the materials about Slutsk, not concerning accusations of harassment. The online edition of Znak.com reported that it would stop writing about Slutsk "out of the context of the situation with harassment." Finally, a number of media decided to provide their information about the deputies with special reservations: the radio station "Says Moscow" will accompany all the news about Slutsk and the ethics commission by mentioning accusations of harassment, and the online edition of the Republic promised, at the mention of the State Duma in editorial articles, to add in brackets the phrase "The state authority of the Russian Federation, which justifies sexual harassment." Meduza, MBH Media, Media Zone, Inc., The Village, Wonderzine, The Secret of the Firm, Pravo.ru, The Bell, Business Online, also joined the boycott in one form or another. The editorial board of "Vedomosti" also announced the refusal of personal communication with Slutsky and members of the ethics commission.