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To the Public Prosecutor
of the Russian Federation
V.V. Ustinov
Respected Vladimir Vasilyevich,
The deputies of the Yabloko faction of the State
Duma hereby express
their
concern over recent information on the acts of force
of state
representatives against the owners and heads of some
private mass media.
For example, on September 7, 2000, B. A. Berezovsky
announced that the
Administration of the President of the RF had threatened
to launch
criminal
proceedings against him, if he failed to transfer
to the state the
shares of
the Public Russian Television that were in his (Berezovsky’s)
ownership.
On September 18, 2000 the owner of the Media-Most
holding V.A. Gusinsky
announced that the Minister of Publishing, Television
and Mass Media M.
A.
Lesin had forced him to conclude a deal on ceding
the shares of the
Media-Most holding to the ZAO Gazprom-Media in exchange
for an end to
his
prosecution by the
Law and enforcement agencies and the possibility to
travel abroad.
The declaration of Gusinsky is confirmed by Appendix
No 6 to the
agreement
of July 20 on the cessation of shares that was published
by the
“Izvestia”
and “Segodnya” newspapers on September 19, which states
that the
Appendix
can only come into force, if the criminal prosecution
of Gusinsky is
halted
and he is granted guarantees on observing his civil
rights. The
Protocol is
signed by the Director General of ZAO Gazprom-Media
A. R. Kokh and the
Minister of Publishing M.A. Lesin. On September 19
A.R. Kokh made a
statement to the effect that he had in fact signed
Appendix No 6.
In view of the aforementioned facts the State Duma
requests the
following:
- a verification of the facts stated by B.A. Berezovsky
and
V.A.Gusinsky,
especially the testimonies on the participation of
officials in
blackmail as
a means of signing profitable commercial agreements;
- a verification of the authenticity of Appendix No
6 to the agreement
on
cessation of the shares of the Media-Most holding
to the ZAO
Gazprom-Media,
with special attention paid to the authenticity of
the signature of the
Minister of Publishing and Information M.A. Lesin;
- if these facts are confirmed, to ascertain on whose
orders Mikhail
Lesin
acted, and also take account of the measures adopted
by the Public
Prosecutor in reaction to individuals who awarded
themselves the
exclusive
proxies of the Office of the Public Prosecutor of
the RF to engage in
blackmail;
- provide information on the measures to be taken
to prevent actions of
the
officials targeted at illegally restricting the rights
of citizens and
the
freedom of the mass media.
Deputies of the Yabloko faction
S.V.Ivanenko
S.S. Mitrokhin
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