World Press Photo has withdrawn its invitation to the award ceremony for Mikhail Tereshchenko, a photojournalist from the Russian propaganda agency TASS. They explained this by "increasing tension on the European continent." This is reported on the World Press Photo website, writes UNN.
Details
Mikhail Tereshchenko was to receive an award for a photo from the protests in Georgia, which erupted after the adoption of the law on foreign agents, which almost completely copies the Russian law.
World Press Photo noted that many Georgian photographers were outraged that a Russian photographer working for a Russian state news agency received an award for covering these protests.
We will improve our rules and procedures for working with photographs from photographers working for government agencies. At the same time, we will consult with photographers working in countries such as Georgia and Ukraine, as well as with photographers working in countries with repressive regimes who often try to do a good job in their own difficult situations.
In addition, World Press Photo expressed disagreement with the phrase about the "liberation of Mariupol," which Tereshchenko said in an interview in late March. They stressed that Mariupol remains under Russian occupation, and it was the Russians who launched massive strikes on civilian objects in the city.
Although the Russian government and TASS deny some of these claims, we consider them simple facts.
Recall
Georgian photographers condemned the victory of the TASS photographer at World Press Photo for a series about the protests in Tbilisi. They consider it an insult, given TASS's support for Russian aggression.