Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized the importance of freedom of speech and information in an address to a media summit on Saturday, in comments seen as absurd by critics of his policy of eliminating dissent. “At a time when the complicated process of multipolarity is developing, it is particularly important to protect the principles of information reliability,” Putin said in a video message to the participants of the BRICS media summit in Moscow on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of TASS state news agency. “Real freedom of speech, which reflects different opinions, enables the s…