OSCE media freedom representative asks Russian legislators to halt move to allow closure of media outlets for defamation
VIENNA, 30 April 2008 - Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, has appealed to the heads of both houses of Russia's Parliament to stop the adoption of an amendment to a media law which would allow the Government to warn and then close media outlets for alleged libel.
In a letter sent yesterday to the chairmen of the State Duma (lower house) and the Federation Council (upper house), as well as to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Haraszti pointed out that the legislative initiative, which adds libel to the list of grounds for closure of media outlets, is unacceptable from the point of view of international press freedom standards.
"If passed into law, this change would further diminish independent reporting on publicly important issues. Recent similar amendments, like the ones in the so-called 'extremism' package, have already had such a restricting effect," said Haraszti.
The draft, accepted on its first reading by the State Duma, amends Article 4 of the Federal Law on the Mass Media. It adds "distribution of knowingly false information insulting the honour and dignity of other persons or denigrating their reputation" to the list of activities representing a "misuse of media freedom". This new offence, just as the others listed in Article 4, would serve as grounds for closure by the Government of media outlets under Article 16.
"Instead of decriminalizing defamation and libel and letting them be handled by the civil courts, the planned change goes further, and allows the Government to select media outlets for closure. This would be a clearly oppressive measure, open for arbitrary political misuse," said Haraszti.