Gorbachev sez: our press is free, nothing to see here!
Good old Mikhail Gorbachev seems to think that the free press is doing OK in Russia:
Perhaps he hasn't read the Reporters Sans Frontiers annual report, which states that a climate of fear causes reporters to self-censor, that the Kremlin directly censors TV journalists, that independent papers that criticize the war in Chechnya are frequently shut down, and that denying work permits to nosy foreign journalists is apparently no big deal. And lets not forget Grigory Pasko, sentenced for treason for collaborating with Japanese journalists on a story documenting the Russian Navy's dumping of nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean. If memory serves, the eXile was onto this bogus free press stuff years ago.
And finally, "author of perestroika?" Come on! The first Russian leader to institute a policy called perestroika was Tsar Alexander II in the 1860s. And I would call Alexander the author of nothing. But what do I know?
OK, back to the law stuff soon, I promise!
He closed with: "All hail the benevolent, handsome, and wise Generalissimo Putin!"
Former Soviet President and author of perestroika Mikhail Gorbachev told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that freedom of the press is not being stifled in Russia under President Putin despite some "worrying tendencies." According to Gorbachev, this viewpoint is shared by most Russians who also disagree with frequent accusations that democracy in Russia is being suppressed.
Perhaps he hasn't read the Reporters Sans Frontiers annual report, which states that a climate of fear causes reporters to self-censor, that the Kremlin directly censors TV journalists, that independent papers that criticize the war in Chechnya are frequently shut down, and that denying work permits to nosy foreign journalists is apparently no big deal. And lets not forget Grigory Pasko, sentenced for treason for collaborating with Japanese journalists on a story documenting the Russian Navy's dumping of nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean. If memory serves, the eXile was onto this bogus free press stuff years ago.
And finally, "author of perestroika?" Come on! The first Russian leader to institute a policy called perestroika was Tsar Alexander II in the 1860s. And I would call Alexander the author of nothing. But what do I know?
OK, back to the law stuff soon, I promise!
posted by Country Lawyer @ 20:41
1 Comments:
At 6:52 PM, August 25, 2006,
Free Media Online said…
Gorbachev has become an apologist for Putin on a number of issues. it's worth remembering that Gorbachev wanted to reform the Soviet Communist party rather than to destroy it. He also did not want the Soviet Union to disappear and was surprised when it did.
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