“These charges are clearly inappropriate, and we are concerned that they could send a chilling message to journalists covering future protests … We call on authorities in Washington to drop these charges immediately,” Carlos Lauria, senior Americas program coordinator, said on Tuesday in a statement.
On January 20, Rubinstein of RT America, Evan Engel of Vocativ and freelance journalist Aaron Cantu were arrested and charged with inciting to riot. The journalists were released with preliminary hearing in the cases scheduled for February. If convicted, the journalists may be sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment and $25,000 fines.
On Tuesday, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic expressed her concern over arrests of the journalists.
