The French authorities have denied some Russian journalists the right to cover the Olympic Games “out of caution” and for fear of potential “spies”. This was stated by French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, UNN reports.
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“We turned away a large number of 'journalists' who claimed to want to cover the Games. On the other hand, we allowed the presence of Russians who work for the International Olympic Committee. We are proceeding from the principle of caution,” he said.
In total, according to Darmanen, 4,340 people out of 960,000 dossiers checked by the special services were denied access to work at the Olympics and the opportunity to attend events related to the Games. This includes volunteers and stadium workers, as well as members of sports delegations. In response to a question about whether it was possible to identify “spies” among them, the Interior Minister said that there were less than a hundred of them.
“Russia, Belarus, as well as other countries, the list of which I will not disclose,” he said.
Darmanen doubted that potential “spies” could organize any terrorist attack during the Games, but expressed concern about the possibility of gaining access to local networks to conduct cyberattacks.