The IPI global network condemns the recent decision by Russian authorities to revoke accreditation for Daily Maverick journalist Peter Fabricius for the Russia-Africa summit taking place this week in St. Petersburg. The Summit’s Organising Committee did not provide reasons for the revocation nor did they afford the journalist an avenue to appeal the decision.
Fabricius was set to depart on July 24 for the Second Summit of the Russia- Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum happening on July 27 and 28 in St. Petersburg when he received communication that his accreditation had been revoked. The Daily Maverick reported that Fabricius had earlier received his accreditation in writing on July 18, 2023.
In a May 2023 statement, the Russian Embassy in South Africa highlighted that the Organising Committee reserved the right to refuse accreditation, without highlighting any grounds that the Committee would potentially rely on to refuse such accreditation.
“IPI condemns the decision to revoke the accreditation for Peter Fabricius of Daily Maverick, a respected South African news outlet”, said Nompilo Simanje, IPI’s Africa Advocacy and Partnerships Lead. “This summit, which takes place amid the collapse of the grain deal between Russia and Ukraine, is of immense international public interest, in particular, given its impact on Africa. The revocation of Fabricius’s accreditation is an unacceptable limitation on the public’s right to receive information from diverse sources on this event.”
She added: “Accreditation requirements can only be permissible and justifiable if they enable journalists to access privileged events and not when they are relied on to censor critical and independent media”
IPI calls on the Russian authorities and all other state representatives attending this Summit to ensure that media freedom is upheld.
Media accreditation: International standards
International standards require that where accreditation procedures are put in place they must:
- Be administered by a body that is independent of the government and follows a transparent procedure;
- Be based on specific, non-discriminatory, and reasonable criteria published in advance; only be applied to the extent justifiable by genuine space constraints;
- Not permit accreditation to be withdrawn based on the work of the journalist or media outlet concerned.
In General Comment 34, the Human Rights Council also elaborates on this issue and notes that accreditation schemes are incompatible with the limitations in Article 19(3) if they restrict the freedom of journalists to travel outside the state party or restrict entry into the State party by foreign journalists.
