Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
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The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from
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Putin and the Press
by Katrina vanden Heuvel With Russia's parliamentary elections scheduled for December 2 and the pro-Kremlin United Russia party expected to win an overwhelming majority in the voting, President Vladimir Putin has intensified attacks on his opponents -- most recently, accusing them of being in the pocket of Western governments. Most of the country's state-run media have fallen in line.
Attacks on opposition forces are not confined to verbal demonization. On November 21, Farid Babayev -- the head of the Yabloko party ticket in Dagestan was shot at the entrance of his apartment building.
Babayev, a human rights activist and fierce critic of the United Russia party and local authorities, died on November 24. That same day, Garry Kasparov, one of the leaders of the opposition coalition Other Russia, was arrested in Moscow and sentenced to five days in jail for leading an unsanctioned street march on Russia's Central Election Commission. (City officials had given the coalition permission to hold a rally but not a march.)
[Republished at PFP with Agence Global permission.]
With Russia's parliamentary elections less than a week away,
Vladimir Putin has cracked down on opposition, dissent, and free
expression. But Dmitrii Muratov's Novaya Gazeta continues to challenge
the status quo.
The Kremlin's tightening grip on the media, especially national
and local television, and authorities' harassment of opposition
parties, led Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky to draw a parallel
between Putin's Russia and Soviet Russia. "Russia stands on the
threshold of the restoration of Soviet-style single-party rule."
On
the eve of elections, there has been an intensification of attacks on
what remains of Russia's free press. On November 9, Russian authorities
shut down one of the country's few remaining independent newspapers --
the Samara edition of Novaya Gazeta. The pretext provided by
authorities was cynical and hypocritical: In a country which leads when
it comes to intellectual piracy, the police confiscated the paper's
last remaining computer (the others were seized in a raid last spring)
and indicted its editor for allegedly using a counterfeit version of
Microsoft software.
Last week, Dmitrii Muratov -- the
editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta's national edition -- was in New York
to receive the Committee to Protect Journalist's International Press
Freedom Award. I had the honor and personal pleasure of presenting
CPJ's award to him.
My husband Stephen Cohen and I first met Dmitrii --
a tenacious and brave editor -- in 1993. He and a few other colleagues
had gathered in the basement cafeteria of Moscow News -- then a bold
paper of the glasnost era -- to plan the launch of Novaya Gazeta.
Survival of a different kind was on their minds at that time; they were
beginning the paper with two computers, one printer, two rooms and no
money for salaries!
An initial boost of financial support
came from former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who contributed
part of his 1990 Nobel Peace Prize Award to pay for more computers and
salaries. By 1996, Novaya's circulation had risen to 70,000 from its
initial run of 10,000; today it's national circulation is close to
600,000 and 100,000 visit its website every week.
I knew in
1993 that Dmitrii was a bold and creative editor. What I did not
foresee was that he would become one of the last defenders of press
freedom in Russia.
Anna Politkovskaya
The newspaper, which continues to publish against
great odds, has paid a heavy price for its crusading investigations
into high-level corruption, human rights violations, brutality in
Chechnya and abuses of power. Three of its most courageous reporters
--Igor Domnikov, Yuri Shchekochikhin and Anna Politkovskaya -- have
been murdered for their unflinching investigations
One by
one, newspapers and television networks have yielded to Kremlin
pressure and surrendered their independence. Nonetheless, as Russia has
descended from the media freedoms of Gorbachev's "glasnost" to today's
conformity and compliance, Dmitrii Muratov and Novaya Gazeta's
reporters and editors have continued -- despite the financial,
political, physical threats and pressures -- to remain independent and
publish.
In his remarks at the Committee to Protect
Journalist's dinner in NY last week (the English translation is posted
below), Muratov spoke powerfully, and personally, of his fight for
press freedom -- and for justice on behalf of his slain colleagues:
Ladies and Gentlemen, Esteemed Colleagues:
Igor
Domnikov was murdered for investigating corruption. Yuri
Shchekochikhin, my best friend, deputy, and a nationally famous
journalist was murdered. Anna Politkovskaya was murdered. Three of the
most important people in my life. And it's me who gets to stand here in
a tuxedo and receive an award. It's not normal. I feel no joy. I never
will.
If she were alive, Politkovskaya would have had some
of her favorite red wine with me. With Domnikov and Shchekochikhin -- I
would have had lots of vodka. And we would've been happy. But now we
cannot be. And I won't ever be.
So why do this? Why continue to publish a paper that endangers people's lives?
Because
our million readers share the values of democracy. Real democracy --
not its imitation. This is not fashionable in Russia today. This could
damage one's career and reputation. Because today there is only one
official god -- the State and its interests. As opposed to society and
individual rights.
The state, alas, became a corporate business -- the business of special security forces.
And that business -- like special security forces -- needs silence, not press freedom.
On
November 9, one of our regional editions was shut down -- Novaya Gazeta
in Samara. The pretext: Police found unlicensed Microsoft software in
its computers during a search.
The paper is no longer. All
of its documents and equipment were seized ahead of parliamentary
elections, now just two weeks away.
Our paper is denied
advertising for political reasons. American companies and institutions
are allowed to advertise in other Russian papers, not us. I call on
advertisers to work directly with Novaya Gazeta.
Support us and our smart, highly intelligent, thinking readership. My paper needs your support.
On
the anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya's death we turned on her cell
phone. There were thousands of calls on the phone. The readers appealed
to us to continue her work; to not be silent.
We will not be silent.
But we can allow ourselves a moment of silence for our murdered journalists. I am asking you to honor them right now.
[A moment of silence]
A granddaughter was born to Anna Politkovskaya this year. Her name is Anna Victoria. Life goes on.
Let
all who care about a free press and a democratic society work to
ensure that Novaya Gazeta survives and thrives as an independent,
oppositionist force -- and that the journalists' killers be brought to
justice.
Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editor and publisher of The Nation magazine.
Agence
Global is the exclusive syndication agency for The Nation, Le Monde
diplomatique, as well as expert commentary by Richard Bulliet, Mark
Hertsgaard, Rami G. Khouri, Peter Kwong,Tom Porteous, Patrick Seale and
Immanuel Wallerstein.
-------------------
Released: 26 November 2007
Word Count: 1,052
Rights & Permissions Contact: Agence Global, 1.336.686.9002, rights@agenceglobal.com
-------------------
Writings 
With Russia's parliamentary elections scheduled for December 2 and the pro-Kremlin United Russia party expected to win an overwhelming majority in the voting, President Vladimir Putin has intensified attacks on his opponents -- most recently, accusing them of being in the pocket of Western governments. Most of the country's state-run media have fallen in line.
I knew in
1993 that Dmitrii was a bold and creative editor. What I did not
foresee was that he would become one of the last defenders of press
freedom in Russia. 
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