Kommersant-Vlast magazine purged over Putin criticism
by Nina Achmatova
The oligarch close to the Kremlin and the owner of the authoritative magazine, dismisses the director and the manager after a service on fraud in general elections on 4 December.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - Two layoffs in the authoritative Kommersant newspaper for publishing a "disrespectful" report of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have focused attention on press freedom in Russia. Yesterday, the billionaire and shareholder in Gazprom, the owner of Kommersant, Alishes Usmanov, fired the editor of the weekly Kommersant -Vlast and the company that owns the magazine, Kommersant Holding, for the latest issue of the magazine which speaks of how the elections won by Putin’s United Russia party “were falsified".
Usmanov said that some anti-Putin slogans and images published by the magazine "is borderline thuggish behavior”. The report on fraud at the polls in the disputed vote in the December 3, contains photos of a ballot with imprecations against the prime minister and party leader.
"I do not want to discuss whether or not I deserved to be fired, but I strongly believe that I did everything right and I do not regret the last issue of the magazine," said the now former director of the magazine Vlast, Maxim Kovalsky, to 'Interfax news agency.
Many people think that the ouster of the director and manager of Kommersant, is Putin’s answer to the opposition movement which is calling for an end to his decades long “reign". It is one way to emphasize his control over the media and public opinion, despite the growing influence of Internet on public opinion.
After the news of layoffs, some independent journalists signed a letter of complaint: "There is no freedom without freedom of press - the text reported by Radio Liberty reads - there is no free society without freedom of information. A society that lacks any real information is lacking in fundamental freedom. "
Usmanov said that some anti-Putin slogans and images published by the magazine "is borderline thuggish behavior”. The report on fraud at the polls in the disputed vote in the December 3, contains photos of a ballot with imprecations against the prime minister and party leader.
"I do not want to discuss whether or not I deserved to be fired, but I strongly believe that I did everything right and I do not regret the last issue of the magazine," said the now former director of the magazine Vlast, Maxim Kovalsky, to 'Interfax news agency.
Many people think that the ouster of the director and manager of Kommersant, is Putin’s answer to the opposition movement which is calling for an end to his decades long “reign". It is one way to emphasize his control over the media and public opinion, despite the growing influence of Internet on public opinion.
After the news of layoffs, some independent journalists signed a letter of complaint: "There is no freedom without freedom of press - the text reported by Radio Liberty reads - there is no free society without freedom of information. A society that lacks any real information is lacking in fundamental freedom. "
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