OSCE media representative discusses media freedom, voices concern over impunity during visit to Moscow

MOSCOW, 21 April 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, concluded today a four-day visit to Moscow, during which she addressed violence against journalists and other media freedom issues with senior Russian officials.

In her meetings, Mijatović stressed that solutions to media-related problems should be found in a co-operative spirit and offered the Russian authorities the support of her Office in tackling these issues. 

“I made violence against journalists the main topic of all the meetings I had in Moscow because I believe that it targets and harms society and democracy as a whole and therefore should not be treated as an ordinary crime. My concerns over the safety of Russian journalists are shared, and the authorities confirmed that they are committed to finding and prosecuting all those responsible for these hideous crimes. The vicious circle of violence followed by impunity followed by further violence has to stop,” Mijatović said.

Meeting with Vasily Piskarev, a deputy head of the Russian Federation’s Investigative Committee, Mijatović urged the authorities to vigorously pursue ongoing investigations into murders of journalists perpetrated in Russia.

In her meeting with Vyacheslav Lebedev, the chair of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Mijatović also discussed developments in the handling of media-related court cases.

“I was impressed by Chairman Lebedev’s personal involvement in media freedom issues. I was pleased to hear that two media-related resolutions that the Supreme Court adopted in 2010 already had a positive impact on media freedom. In particular, the number of civil libel lawsuits involving journalists and the amount of monetary damages awarded to plaintiffs in these cases has decreased by one-third since the second of these resolutions was adopted in September of last year,” Mijatović said.

Mijatović discussed media legislation and recently adopted amendments to the 1991 Russian Media Law with Sergei Zheleznyak, the chairperson of the State Duma’s Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications, and agreed to explore future co-operation.

She also welcomed reassurances by the Russian authorities that freedom of the Internet will be maintained and that defamation could be decriminalized soon.

Mijatović also met Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin and Sergei Sitnikov, the head of the Rozkomnadzor federal regulatory agency.

On Monday Mijatović took part in a hearing co-organized by the Presidential Council for the Advancement of Civil Society and Human Rights, chaired by Mikhail Fedotov, and the Public Chamber’s Commission on Communications, Information Policy and Freedom of Speech in the Mass Media. She also took part in a roundtable discussion hosted by Vsevolod Bogdanov, the president of the Russian Union of Journalists.