As part of France’s preparations for the Summer Games, a journalist for the French news agency AFP on Sunday carried the Olympic torch in honor of media workers harmed on the front lines.
But France this week also came under criticism from Russia over the number of journalists accredited for the sporting event.
The Kremlin on Monday described France’s decision to not accredit several Russian journalists as unacceptable.
France however, said it is responding to concerns over cyberattacks and espionage. The French acting interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, announced that more than 4,000 accreditation requests have been turned down.
Of those, nearly 100 were related to espionage concerns, according to Darmanin.
The minister said that as well as Russia, some of the other rejected applicants came from Belarus, a close ally of Moscow.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov at a news briefing said such decisions are "unacceptable.”
“We believe such decisions undermine the freedom of the media. And they certainly violate all of France's commitments to the OSCE and other organizations," Peskov said, referring to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
"We would like to see a reaction to such decisions from relevant human rights organizations,” he added.
The spokesperson’s comments came just days after Russia convicted two American journalists in separate trials widely condemned as being politically motivated.
A court on Friday sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison for espionage. The same day a court in the city of Kazan sentenced Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to six and a half years in prison for what the Kremlin says is distributing false information about the military.
Both journalists deny the accusations made against them.
Since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine, its media freedom record has declined, say watchdogs.
Olympic torch
With the Summer Games due to start Friday, the traditional torch relay is nearing the French capital.
Among those taking part in the relay is Christina Assi of Agence France-Presse, or AFP, who was injured on assignment.
Assi carried the torch to honor her colleagues wounded and killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on October 13 that injured Assi and five of her colleagues and killed Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah.
"I wish Issam were here to see this. And I wish what happened today was not because we were struck by two rockets,” Assi told reporters at the torch relay.
Her AFP colleague Dylan Collins, who was injured in the same attack, pushed Assi’s wheelchair as the relay went through Vincennes, east of Paris.
“This is a chance to continue talking about justice, and the targeted attack on October 13 needs to be investigated as a war crime,” said Collins.
Reuters and AFP both independently concluded that their teams were hit by Israeli tank fire. They say the teams were clearly visible as press.
Israel has repeatedly denied targeting journalists, but it says it cannot guarantee the safety of media.
The October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, and terrorists seized 250 hostages.
Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 38,200 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. In May, Israel estimated the death toll at around 30,000 and said most of the dead are combatants.
Among the civilian casualties are 108 journalists and media workers, most of them Palestinian, according to the watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists.
Some information is this article came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
