OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media on Thursday condemned the growing violence against journalists in Russia.
Dunja Mijatovic issued a statement following an attack on BBC crew in the southern Russian town of Astrakhan on Tuesday.
BBC said they had gone to investigate reports of Russian servicemen being killed near the border with Ukraine.
Two members of the BBC TV crew were attacked by at least three individuals in Astrakhan. The attackers smashed the crew's camera and beat the camera operator. Later, while the journalists were being questioned at the local police station, somebody broke into their car and erased video material and computer memory from the journalists' equipment. Both journalists have now left Astrakhan.
The incident in Astrakhan is the latest in a recent spate of attacks against journalists who investigated issues related to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Mijatovic raised the issue with the Russian authorities, while BBC lodged a formal protest with the Russian government over the incident and called for an investigation.
"What we are witnessing is a clear sign of harassment of free media in Russia," Mijatovic said. She made it clear that "Attacks against members of the media are utterly and totally unacceptable," and called on the Russian authorities to ensure journalists' safety and to carry out a transparent and swift investigation of this and other recent attacks.
The OSCE Representative also expressed concern about other recent cases of violence against journalists and raised them in a letter with the authorities.
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