Latest news with #ChayBowes
Russia Today
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
RT journalist speaks out after deportation from Romania (VIDEO)
The Romanian authorities accused RT journalist Chay Bowes of representing a security threat before deporting him from Bucharest on Thursday. The Irish reporter was taken by police from a flight from Dublin that had arrived in the Romanian capital, where he had traveled to cover the upcoming re-run of the presidential election. Bowes was put on a plane to Istanbul later that day. Shortly after touching down in Bucharest, a group of police officers walked onto the tarmac and boarded the plane, Bowes said. 'They asked the cabin crew where I was. I identified myself, and three police came on to the plane and told me that I had to come with them, [and] that I was being detained,' he said after arriving in Istanbul. As other passengers watched 'with amazement,' police escorted Bowes for an interrogation. 'I was asked questions in the vehicle by the officers – where I was going and who I was going to meet. I told them I was a journalist. They wanted to know who I was going to speak to, which I declined to tell them. I said I'm here to cover the election.' Bowes said he was then taken to 'a smaller interrogation room with two chairs and a table.' I was presented with a document, which was presumably stamped by a judge. They wouldn't let me have a copy of it. They wouldn't let me take a photograph of it. It said that I was a threat to the security of the state, and on that basis they were deporting me from Romania. Bowes denounced the deportation as a 'fundamental breach' of his rights as a journalist and an EU citizen. 'I entered the country completely legally – to do my job. This is really quite shocking,' he said. The presidential election in Romania will take place over two rounds on May 4 and 18. The dates were set in January after Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the results of the initial vote held in November 2024. The original first round had been won by independent candidate Calin Georgescu, a vocal NATO critic and opponent of supplying weapons to Ukraine, who received 23% of the vote. Romania's top court, however, cited 'irregularities' in his campaign and referenced intelligence reports alleging Russian interference, which Moscow denied. It later emerged that a TikTok influencer campaign had been funded not by the Kremlin, but by the pro-EU Romanian National Liberal Party, which has governed the country for much of the past three decades. Its most prominent member, Nicolae Ciuca, was a losing candidate in the November election.
Irish Times
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Chay Bowes, an Irishman working for Russian state media, ‘deported' from Romania
Chay Bowes, an Irishman working for Russian state media, says he has been detained and deported from Romania having been labelled a 'threat to the security of the state'. Mr Bowes, who was one of the founders of The Ditch news website before parting ways with the publication, is a correspondent for RT, a Kremlin-backed television news channel, previously known as Russia Today. In a video posted online on Thursday night, Mr Bowes said he had travelled to Romania to cover the country's presidential election . The election, which is scheduled to be held on May 4th and 18th, is a repeat of the 2024 ballot after Romania's constitutional court voided the initial results following accusations of Russian meddling, which Moscow denied. READ MORE On landing at Bucharest on a flight from Dublin , Mr Bowes said several police officers boarded the plane seeking him out before he was subsequently detained and questioned. Mr Bowes claimed he was presented with a document by Romanian authorities which said he was 'a threat to the security of the state'. 'And on that basis, they were deporting me from Romania,' he said. 'I entered the country completely legally to do my job and this is really quite shocking.' The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of reports of the case. Last year French officials warned the Department of Foreign Affairs about efforts by Russia to extend its disinformation activities into Ireland in the run-up to the 2024 European elections . A network of Russian websites and social media accounts was uncovered by French security officials who alleged Moscow was using it to sow discord in EU countries by exploiting grievances around divisive issues such as immigration . The Irish website featured stories about Mr Bowes and his praise for Russia, along with other material on Ukraine and immigration. Romanians are due to vote in a presidential election re-run that could propel to power ultranationalist George Simion (38), an outcome likely to cause unease in the European Union and Nato. The hard-right Eurosceptic leads opinion polls before the first round of voting on Sunday, five months after the original vote was cancelled because of alleged Russian interference. Moscow has denied the allegations. – additional reporting Reuters
Russia Today
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
WATCH RT journalist speaks out after deportation from Romania
RT journalist Chay Bowes, who was deported from Bucharest, said that Romanian authorities accused him of being a security threat. The Irish reporter was detained upon arrival in the Romanian capital on a flight from Dublin on Thursday, where he had traveled to cover the upcoming re-run of the presidential election. He was put on a plane to Istanbul later that day. Bowes, an EU citizen, said that shortly after touchdown in Bucharest, a group of police officers walked onto the tarmac and boarded the plane. 'They asked the cabin crew where I was. I identified myself, and three police came on to the plane and told me that I had to come with them, [and] that I was being detained,' the journalist said after arriving in Istanbul. As other passengers watched 'with amazement,' the police escorted Bowes for an interrogation. 'I was asked questions in the vehicle by the officers – where I was going and who I was going to meet. I told them I was a journalist. They wanted to know who I was going to speak to, which I declined to tell them. I said I'm here to cover the election,' he said. Bowes said he was then taken to 'a smaller interrogation room with two chairs and a table.' I was presented with a document, which was presumably stamped by a judge. They wouldn't let me have a copy of it. They wouldn't let me take a photograph of it. It said that I was a threat to the security of the state, and on that basis they were deporting me from Romania. Bowes denounced the deportation as a 'fundamental breach' of his rights as a journalist and an EU citizen. 'I entered the country completely legally – to do my job. This is really quite shocking,' he said. The presidential election in Romania will take place over two rounds, on May 4 and May 18. The dates were set in January after Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the results of the initial vote held in November 2024. The original first round had been won by independent candidate Calin Georgescu, a vocal NATO critic and opponent of supplying weapons to Ukraine, who received 23% of the vote. Romania's top court, however, cited 'irregularities' in his campaign and referenced intelligence reports alleging Russian interference—allegations that Moscow denied. It later emerged that a TikTok influencer campaign had been funded not by the Kremlin, but by the pro-EU Romanian National Liberal Party (PNL), which has governed the country for much of the past three decades. Its most prominent member, Nicolae Ciuca, was a losing candidate in the November election.
Russia Today
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
‘No free press' in NATO states – British presenter on RT journalist ban
Neither democracy nor a free press exists in modern European NATO nations, journalist and 'Going Underground' host Afshin Rattansi has told RT. In an interview on Thursday he was asked to comment on the deportation of RT correspondent Chay Bowes from Romania. The journalist was detained upon arrival in Bucharest as he was on his way to cover the Romanian presidential election. The upcoming vote is a re-run, since last year's election was controversially annulled following a shock win by far-right NATO skeptic Calin Georgescu, who ran as an independent candidate. Bowes' arrest and deportation highlight 'the totalitarianism of Western Europe,' Rattansi said. 'The fact is: there is no democracy in these NATO nations because there is no free press. There is no free journalism,' he added. The attacks on the press in Western Europe are aimed at controlling voters' access to information, Rattansi said. 'The importance of the European Union and Britain in clamping down on journalism is to prevent their publics from understanding the issues so they can't cast a vote with an informed opinion,' he said. On the other hand, media companies such as the BBC and Sky News are allowed in Russia, the journalist added. 'They want to detain people like Chay Bowes, who reports for RT, has a show on RT. They want to detain him because they want to stop free press,' Rattansi said.
Russia Today
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ban of RT journalist proves Romanian election a ‘joke'
The detention of RT correspondent Chay Bowes in Bucharest proves to the entire world that the upcoming Romanian election is a 'joke,' Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RT in a phone interview on Thursday. DETAILS TO FOLLOW
