Russian President Dmitry Medvedev denied the existence of censorship in the Russian media in his last interview as president on Thursday, saying any signs of censorship must be scrutinized by government.
“I will repeat that censorship is prohibited by the Constitution and if it appears somewhere it should be the subject of state investigation,” Medvedev said in an interview with Russian TV journalists.
Medvedev made the comments after state TV channel journalists told Medvedev their management restricted the list of politicians that could be invited for interview under the pretext of “political rationale.”
Medvedev said however it was down to the heads of media outlets to ensure topical news “made the mainstream.”
The president, who proposed establishing a public TV channel independent of political influence in December last year, also expressed hope that the new channel, which is due to be set up in January 2013, would have no “political position” and be free from bias.
