Kathrine Frich
Russia’s parliament has quietly tightened rules on media access,
The move follows renewed frustration among lawmakers over how they appear in public.
At the heart of the change is an unusual complaint that photographs are making deputies look bad.
Photo ban imposed
The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, has introduced a ban on taking photographs during plenary sessions.
According to Vedomosti, the restriction will remain in place at least until the spring of the current parliamentary term.
The decision means photojournalists are no longer allowed to work from the balcony of the plenary chamber.
That area is now reserved exclusively for television camera operators.
Vedomosti reported, citing four sources within the Duma, that the move followed complaints from deputies unhappy with how they looked in published images.
Mockery claims
Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin accused photographers of deliberately portraying lawmakers in an unflattering way.
During the first plenary session of the year on January 13, he urged journalists not to “mock parliamentarians,” according to the newspaper.
“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 long ago,” Volodin said.
He also complained that photographers do not allow MPs to “snooze literally and figuratively,” before later accusing them of trying to “snooze something and show it in a bad light.”
A familiar dispute
According to Vedomosti, tensions between lawmakers and photojournalists are not new.
Similar objections were raised last year, again linked to images deputies considered unfavorable.
Volodin has repeatedly argued that photographers focus on moments that cast parliamentarians in a negative light, rather than documenting legislative work.
“This is not right (…) What would happen if this was done to your loved ones (…)?,” he said during his remarks.
Sources: Vedomosti, WP.
