UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has unveiled an initiative that aims to safeguard the press – even as he defends the imprisonment of Julian Assange. RT took a closer look at Hunt’s self-professed concern for media freedom.
The Media Freedom Coalition, launched jointly with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, is meant to champion media freedom around the world. But Hunt doesn’t need to look far to find examples of journalists being persecuted by intolerant governments. Julian Assange is currently languishing in a British prison, where, according to the UN, he has been subjected to psychological torture.
In another high-profile case, the Metropolitan Police has warned media outlets that they could be prosecuted for publishing leaked government documents, following the release of embarrassing diplomatic cables penned by the UK ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch.
“It’s obviously deeply hypocritical,” journalist Daniel Lazare told RT.
This is the British government which is holding one of the most important journalists in the world, Julian Assange, prisoner.
He added that it’s hard to believe that the UK and other Western countries have much respect for journalism, given that they spend “huge sums” of money on “propaganda in order to twist the news.”