RSF revokes membership for pro-Kremlin propagandist Alla Berezovskaya due to identity theft
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announces that Alla Berezovskaya’s membership to the NGO has been cancelled, following her deliberate misuse of the organisation’s name. Berezovskaya works for media outlets in Latvia linked to the Kremlin.
Alla Berezovskaya has misled the public by introducing herself as a "freelance journalist, Reporters Without Borders" and a "member of the international organisation RSF" in multiple publications and social media posts. The former employee of the propaganda organ Baltnews, which is owned by the Russian state group Rossiya Segodnya, has never worked for RSF. What’s more, she is currently being prosecuted in Latvia for violating European Union sanctions.
Although Alla Berezovskaya was a member of RSF, a status available to anyone paying an annual membership fee, she was in no way granted the right to present herself as a spokesperson for RSF or to claim any official position within the organisation. After the NGO asked Alla Berezovskaya, in vain, to put an immediate end to her false claims — which blatantly contradict RSF's statutes — the NGO's board decided to exclude her from its membership.
"Alla Berezovskaya's deceptive use of RSF's identity seriously undermines the organisation's credibility and reputation. Disseminating false information about RSF membership and using it maliciously compromises our work in defence of independent journalists.
A formal letter has been sent to Alla Berezovskaya notifying her of her exclusion. The letter asks that she immediately withdraw all publications in which she presents herself as an active member of the organisation, and stop falsely claiming that she is a journalist within RSF or that she represents the NGO in any way.
Should this misrepresentation continue, RSF may file a legal complaint for fraud and other relevant charges in order to protect its rights and reputation.
