Russia Hopes Poland to Stop Persecuting Rossiya Segodnya Reporter

Moscow hopes Poland will reconsider revoking the residence permit of Rossiya Segodnya reporter Leonid Sviridov, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — "The nature of the claims against him is still unclear. Considering this, we are convinced that the Russian reporter is persecuted for his professional activities and denied the right to freedom of expression. We consider Warsaw's actions to be a flagrant violation of its commitments in the human rights sphere," Zakharova told RIA Novosti.

Sviridov's residence permit was canceled in April. According to Sviridov, Polish intelligence told him that his presence in the country posed a "real and serious" threat to national security.

"We hope that the Polish court will act fairly and objectively in this case, granting Sviridov's appeal to cancel the aforementioned decision, protect his good name from unfounded suspicions and accusations, as well as provide him with the opportunity to freely carry out his professional activities."

Sviridov has been working in Warsaw since 2003. In October 2014, the Polish Foreign Ministry revoked his press accreditation without explanation, following a request from the Internal Security Agency.

All materials related to the case remain confidential, as the Voivodeship administrative court in Warsaw, in charge of the case, has repeatedly turned down a request to declassify the documents.