| St. Petersburg, February 25, 2003. The Russian democratic
Party YABLOKO is concerned over the situation in the Russian mass
media. The prress service of YABLOKO told the Rosbalt correspondent
on Tuesday that this situation had been covered in the statement
of the Bureau of the Federal Council of the YABLOKO party "On
the Threat to Freedom of Speech in Russia". The statement notes
that "another serious step towards curbing the freedom of speech
was the closure of Noviye Izvestiya newspaper, whose journalists'
view on developments in the country differed from the official one."
According to YABLOKO's leadership, violent acts in the country
starting in 2000, the use of the law enforcement agencies as a
means to pressurize journalists and media owners, selective application
of the law, persecution of opponents in state-controlled media
led to the launch of self-censorship of the media owners which
results in tough censorship of journalists. Media owners get rid
of "awkward" journalists and journalists' teams at the
slightest hint of discontent of the authorities, and even without
waiting for such a hint. The same developments have been observed
in the regions, where developments at federal level are regarded
as a signal to attack independent journalism.
YABLOKO's statement also runs that Russian society may be deprived
of the possibility to discuss the most important problems of the
country, as "the area of freedom in Russia's information
space is shrinking as shagreen leather." There is a real
threat that on the threshold of parliamentary and presidential
elections the campaign of "mopping up" the information
field will intensify.
The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO considers protection of
freedom of speech a political priority and a key task for all
democratic forces and therefore calls on all democratic forces
in the country to unite, in order to oppose further attacks on
freedom of speech.
See also:
Freedom of Speech and Media Law in Russia
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