Russia: CFWIJ is alarmed by the possible expulsion of journalist Sarah Rainsford

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*This statement was updated on September 3, 2021.

August 13, 2021- Sarah Rainsford, a BBC correspondent in Moscow, was denied an extension to her work visa. According to the reports announced on Russia 24, she will have to leave the country by the end of August. The reasons behind the decision were explained as retaliation to the United Kingdom failing to grant visas to Russian journalists. Sarah is an accomplished BBC journalist who has been reporting from Moscow for several years. We urge authorities to reconsider this decision as no woman journalist should be penalized for political implications. CFWIJ extends its solidarity to Sarah and hopes the authorities will review and approve her visa application. 

Sarah joined the "Big Conversation with the President" in August 2021 in Minsk. In this interview, she questioned president Alexander Lukashenko about the repression of the opposition and the international sanctions on Belarusians. When considering how often protestors are persecuted in the country, Sarah probed whether President Lukashenko had lost his legitimacy. To which the president responded, "Yes, you choke on these sanctions, Great Britain. We have not known this Great Britain for a thousand years and do not want to know. You are American henchmen." He further added, "You'll unleash a third world war. Do you want that? Are you pushing us with Russians to this? Do you want to win this war? There will be no winners, and if there is, it's not you! So calm down."

The journalist did not comment on the decision, nor did the BBC. Sarah started working in Russia in early 2000. She was one of the first foreign correspondents to report the Beslan School Siege hostage-taking in September 2004. She has also worked as a correspondent from Istanbul, Madrid, and Havana. 

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sarah will have to leave the country when her current visa expires. This decision will mark Russia’s first expulsion of a British journalist in ten years. In 2011, Moscow expelled Luke Harding, a correspondent with The Guardian.

On August 31, Sarah tweeted, “I have to leave Russia”. Sarah was forced to leave the country after the foreign ministry refused to renew her work visa. Without an extension, the journalist had to leave before her current visa expired. Foreign ministry officials cited Britain’s discrimination against Russian media and journalists as the reason behind the retaliatory decision. The BBC called the move a direct attack on media freedom.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the targeting of journalist Sarah Rainsford. We urge Russian authorities to reconsider the journalist’s visa extension. We believe that journalists should not be held responsible for diplomatic disputes and political tensions. CFWIJ extends its solidarity to Sarah and hopes she will be able to safely stay in Moscow as a correspondent.