HOME

Putin is personally responsible for Babitsky

  • RFE/RL ACQUIRES VIDEOTAPE OF BABITSKII A videotape acquired by RFE/RL's Moscow bureau on 8 February and screened on Russian Television the following day shows missing RFE/RL correspondent Andrei Babitskii sitting in front of a white wall. Speaking slowly, Babitskii said on the tape that "It is 6 February 2000. I am relatively okay. The only problem is time, as things have turned out in such a way that unfortunately I can't return home right away." Babitskii added that the persons around him are trying to help him, but he did not identify them. AP on 9 February quoted RFE/RL's acting Russian Service Director Mario Corti as suggesting that the masked men to whom Babitskii was apparently handed over last week may have been members of former Grozny Mayor Beslan Gantemirov's pro-Russian militia.
    (comment: this tape might have been done before something serious happened. Words "people trying to help me" indicates that the text of the speech was written by somebody else, it's not Babitsky's words. Does he need any compulsory help? The best help is let him go.)

    DUMA FACTION, COMMITTEE ASK FOR ANSWERS ON BABITSKII The State Duma's Security Committee, which is headed by Andrei Gurov (Unity), sent enquiries on 8 February about the fate of Radio Liberty reporter Babitskii to the Justice Ministry, the Federal Security Service, and the Interior Ministry. The same day, the Union of Rightist Forces faction called on acting President Vladimir Putin to help resolve the crisis caused by Babitskii's disappearance. JAC
    source

  • MOSCOW, Feb 8 (AFP) -
    Russia's interim president Vladimir Putin is being held personally responsible for a missing radio journalist, Andrei Babitsky, just six weeks before Russia's presidential elections.

    Babitsky's lawyer, Henri Reznik, says that in the best case scenario, Vladimir Putin "said he was perfectly in control of the situation when in fact he was not."

    "In the worst possible case, everything has happened with his (Putin's) approval," Reznik added, "In that case, Vladimir Putin's reputation is likely to suffer."

    The Moscow director of Radio Svodoba, the Russian-language branch of Radio Free Europe, believes Putin was fully aware of what was happening.

    "We know Vladimir Putin is aware of what was going on. Denials are just to save face. He knew, he followed and he ordered," Savic Shuster said.

    The Association of Foreign Journalists in Moscow has also called on Putin to "assume full responsibility" for the fate of the journalist and to call for his "immediate release."

    Although Putin still seems to be the strongest candidate for the March 26 elections, some journalists see the Babitsky case as proof that the political tide is turning in Russia and the regime is starting to get tougher. (comment: they've just seen that)

    Babitsky's lawyers have not been able to obtain the evidence from the prosecutors.

    The lawyer said that a security services film, in which Andrei Babitsky is seen "being handed over" to masked Chechens, was "false and unprofessional," since Chechen fighters never wear masks because they like to show their faces.

    Reznik aslo points out one of the men who is supposed to be receiving Babitsky as a friend in the film seems to grab him by the arm as if he was a criminal.

    Reznik said he feared "gross violations of the law" were "sadly not impossible."
    source

    HOME