Photo ban in the Russian Duma. Volodin: Photojournalists “taunt deputies”

In the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, a ban on taking photos of plenary sessions has come into force, the Russian daily “Vedomosti” reported. According to the newspaper, some deputies looked bad in the photos, which the speaker of the house, Vyacheslav Volodin, considered mocking them.

Vedomosti cited four interlocutors in the Duma. The decision was made after Volodin criticized the photographers and appealed to them not to mock the deputies. This happened when, on the first day of plenary sessions of the new year, January 13, some parliamentarians did not look good in photos and reacted with dissatisfaction.

Volodin accused the photojournalists of: they tend to “show everything in a bad light”. “Vedomosti” reports that objections to photographers were raised in the Duma last year, also due to unfavorable photos of deputies.

– They don't understand how lucky they are to work in the most open parliament in the world. If (…) they worked in the British Parliament, they would have been sent to the galleys a long time ago – Volodin said about photographers then, adding that they do not allow MPs “to take a nap – literally and figuratively”.

Now he accused photojournalists of trying to “see something and show it in a bad light.”

– This is not right (…) What if this was the case with your loved ones (…)? – he said.

Photojournalists could take photos from the balcony in the plenary chamber; TV camera operators broadcast the proceedings from the same place. Currently, only cameramen are allowed there. One of Vedomosti's interlocutors said that it was not specified how long the ban will be in force, but perhaps throughout the spring, until the end of the current, 8th term of the State Duma. (PAP)

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