On December 1, 2023, another court hearing was held in Riga in the case of journalist Vladimir Dorofeev, who is accused of violating EU sanctions because he cooperated with the Rossiya Segodnya media group, whose CEO Dmitry Kiselev was placed on the EU sanctions list.
The main question being sought in this trial and similar trials of other journalists is whether the personal sanctions against Kiselev apply to the agency he heads.
A witness from the prosecution side, a representative of the Financial Intelligence Service, testified today. The prosecutor asked him whether cooperation with a legal entity whose head is on the sanctions list could be considered a violation of the sanctions. To which the witness replied that sanctions against a person may apply to a legal entity if the person owns at least 50% of the capital shares in it (Kiselev does not own any shares of the agency's capital - ed.).
The witness was also asked whether he was aware of the sanctions defined by the EU laws that apply to journalists. To which he replied: no. -Do you know the owner of Rossiya Segodnya? - No. - Does the director own any rights to the materials, photos of the agency? - I don't know. That was the end of the questions to the representative of the Financial Intelligence Service.
Dorofeev himself was also questioned and said that when he signed the contract with the agency he warned the management that he would quit if he was persuaded to propagandize against Latvia. He was guaranteed freedom of speech as a journalist. He also said that he did not hide income from his work with Rossiya Segodnya from Latvian tax authorities and banks where he opened accounts.
Dorofeev did not admit guilt, emphasizing that he consulted with lawyers after Kiselyov was placed on the EU sanctions lists, he studied information from the Latvian Foreign Ministry's website about the sanctions, and there was no indication that the personal measures applied to the Rossiya Segodnya news agency. That was the end of the hearing, the prosecutor asked for a break.
The main question being sought in this trial and similar trials of other journalists is whether the personal sanctions against Kiselev apply to the agency he heads.
A witness from the prosecution side, a representative of the Financial Intelligence Service, testified today. The prosecutor asked him whether cooperation with a legal entity whose head is on the sanctions list could be considered a violation of the sanctions. To which the witness replied that sanctions against a person may apply to a legal entity if the person owns at least 50% of the capital shares in it (Kiselev does not own any shares of the agency's capital - ed.).
The witness was also asked whether he was aware of the sanctions defined by the EU laws that apply to journalists. To which he replied: no. -Do you know the owner of Rossiya Segodnya? - No. - Does the director own any rights to the materials, photos of the agency? - I don't know. That was the end of the questions to the representative of the Financial Intelligence Service.
Dorofeev himself was also questioned and said that when he signed the contract with the agency he warned the management that he would quit if he was persuaded to propagandize against Latvia. He was guaranteed freedom of speech as a journalist. He also said that he did not hide income from his work with Rossiya Segodnya from Latvian tax authorities and banks where he opened accounts.
Dorofeev did not admit guilt, emphasizing that he consulted with lawyers after Kiselyov was placed on the EU sanctions lists, he studied information from the Latvian Foreign Ministry's website about the sanctions, and there was no indication that the personal measures applied to the Rossiya Segodnya news agency. That was the end of the hearing, the prosecutor asked for a break.