LONDON: The BBC announced on Tuesday that it was resuming English-language broadcasting from Russia, after suspending reporting as it examined tough new media laws.
The broadcaster last Friday halted its journalists鈥� work in Russia after lawmakers moved to impose lengthy jail terms for publishing 鈥渇ake news鈥� about the army, as part of efforts to muffle dissent over Moscow鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.
BBC director-general Tim Davie said the law could 鈥渃riminalize the process of independent journalism鈥� and warned staff faced prosecution 鈥渟imply for doing their jobs.鈥�
But in a new statement, the corporation said it had 鈥渃onsidered the new legislation alongside the urgent need to report from inside Russia.鈥�
鈥淎fter careful deliberation we have decided to resume English-language reporting from Russia this evening (Tuesday 8 March), after it was temporarily suspended at the end of last week,鈥� it added.
鈥淲e will tell this crucial part of the story independently and impartially, adhering to the BBC鈥檚 strict editorial standards.
鈥淭he safety of our staff in Russia remains our number one priority.鈥�
A number of foreign media have suspending reporting from inside Russia, including the New York Times, Canada鈥檚 CBC/Radio-Canada, Germany鈥檚 ARD and ZDF, and Bloomberg News, plus US channels CNN and CBS.