Duma Members Acknowledge Journalist's Apology

Journalist Vladimir Pozner

Members of four factions in Russia's State Duma have acknowledged a prominent foreign-born journalist's apology and agreed not to push a draft law to ban foreign nationals from working in state-run media.

Parliamentary deputy Mikhail Starshinov told journalists on January 28 that he and his colleagues saw Vladimir Pozner's apology, which was televised the previous day.

Last month, a group of Russian lawmakers protested what they considered insulting statements by Pozner regarding Russia's new law banning the adoptions of Russian children by U.S. citizens.

That law was seen as a reaction to the U.S. Magnitsky Act, which puts sanctions on Russian officials linked to the 2009 prison death of whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Pozner said the insulting name he called the parliament was "a slip of the tongue."

Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS