"PBS NewsHour" reports on detention of its journalists together with mosque-goers in Makhachkala

In Makhachkala, members of the film crew of the American "PBS NewsHour" TV Channel, who were carrying out an edition's assignment, were detained together with believers of the mosque in Omarov Street after Friday prayers. In an hour and a half, the journalists were released and left the region. This was reported by the Washington headquarters of the "PBS NewsHour" TV Channel.

The number of the detainees included reporter Nick Shifrin, producer Zak Fannin, and cameraman Roman Stepanovich, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

On May 19, the "Kavkaz.Realii" reported about the mass detentions of believers of the mosque in Hungarian Fighters Street (Omarov Street). Today, the edition has reported that the detained journalists were put on a police prevention registration list.

"Journalists were forced into a police car, and before that, a camera was dropped. The detained journalists were brought to the Soviet ROVD (District Interior Division), where they were held for about two hours, being forced to remove the material from their flash drives," said one of the detainees.

The film crew members were released after they were escorted to the chief of the ROVD, a source reports.

The headquarters of the "PBS NewsHour" TV Channel has denied the information that the journalists were put on the police prevention registration list.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.