[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 118 (Thursday, July 20, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1481-E1482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN RUSSIA--AN ISSUE OF HIGHEST PRIORITY

                                 ______


                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 20, 1995
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call the attention of my 
colleagues to an incident that took place in Russia in the last few 
days--an incident that raises serious questions about freedom of the 
press and also about the future of democracy in Russia. NTV, the only 
major independent television network in Russia, broadcasts a political 
satire program in which puppets are easily recognizable caricatures of 
leading Russian political figures. The program satirizes public 
figures. The program--called ``Kukly'' (``Puppets'')--is similar to 
programs that are broadcast in Britain, France, Hungary, and a number 
of other countries.
  After a recent show, however, the Russian Prosecutor General brought 
criminal charges against the producers of the show on the grounds that 
the country's leading public figures were victims of ``a conscious and 
public humiliation of their honor and dignity, expressed in an indecent 
way.'' If that standard were observed in the United States, David 
Letterman, Jay Leno, a host of radio talk show hosts, and any other 
number of television and movie producers would have been slapped into 
prison long ago. In a democracy, one of the consequences of a free 
press and freedom of expression is that public figures are subject to 
public scrutiny by both responsible and irresponsible media. It is not 
pleasant to be inaccurately or derisively treated by the media, but I 
dare say that most of my colleagues have some experience in this 
regard.
  The action of the Prosecutor General in Moscow, however, raises the 
most serious and the most fundamental questions about democracy in 
Russia and about future developments there. Initiating criminal 
proceedings against the producers of a political satire puppet program 
may be the source of witty headlines in the press--the Washington Post 
headlined its story yesterday ``Satirists Skewer Russian `Puppet' 
Government''--but the matter is extremely serious.
  The prosecution of these criminal charges, however, is suspect on its 
face. Why is the Prosecutor General focusing his attention on 
supposedly criminal actions on a political satire television program? 
There are far more serious crimes--real crimes--which do not seem to 
attract the attention of the prosecutor. The suspicious murder of the 
popular Russian television journalist Vladimir Listeyev of Ostankino TV 
remains unsolved after nearly a year. Furthermore, the prosecutor and 
law enforcement officials still has not found the murderers of 
journalist Dmitri Kholodov of Komsomolskahya Pravda, who was killed by 
a package bomb while he was in the final stages of an investigation 
into corruption in the military. There are real issues of unsolved 
crimes--real crimes--which the Prosecutor General could deal with. Why 
undertake proceedings against the producers of a television program?
  The answer to that question, Mr. Speaker, is that this criminal 
proceeding is only a small part of a much larger effort to intimidate 
the media and to bring the independent television and other media into 
line, particularly since parliamentary elections in Russia are 
scheduled for this December and Presidential elections are to follow 6 
months later. The independent television station NTV, which is being 
charged for its irreverent puppet-treatment of the Russian leaders, has 
also
 been particularly hard-hitting in its coverage of the government's 
military actions in Chechnya. The station recently broadcast an 
interview with the leader of the group of Chechen guerrillas who held 
more than a thousand Russians hostage in southern Russia last month. 
Criminal charges are also pending against NTV for broadcasting that 
interview.

  The effort of government agencies to intimidate the media in Russia 
is a serious challenge to efforts to institutionalize democracy. 
Freedom of the press and the right of free expression are the most 
fundamental of the rights of any democratic society. Freedom of speech 
is absolutely essential if democracy is to exist, and without it, true 
democracy cannot exist. Russia does not have a tradition of an 
independent and free and open media; therefore, this effort at 
intimidation is intended as a warning to journalists throughout the 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, it is essential that we in the Congress of the United 
States affirm our concern and interest in freedom of expression and an 
unfettered independent media in Russia. With our distinguished 
colleague, the chairman of the International Relations Committee, 
Congressman Ben Gilman of New York, I am today introducing legislation 
that expresses the strong concern of the Congress that freedom of 
expression and freedom of the press be protected and guaranteed in 
Russia.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues in the Congress to join us in 
cosponsoring this important affirmation of our concern for freedom of 
expression in Russia. Our Nation has a strong interest in the positive 
and democratic development of Russia, and freedom of the press is 
essential to that process. There should be no question about our 
commitment to that vital principle.
  The text of our resolution is as follows:
                     House Concurrent Resolution 84

       A resolution expressing the sense of the Congress 
     concerning freedom of the press in Russia.
       Whereas the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the 
     Soviet Union has brought new and unique opportunities for 
     democratic political change and market-oriented economic 
     reform in Russia;
       Whereas, the commitment to the spirit of these democratic 
     reforms and to the full implementation of these reforms has 
     been tentative and inconclusive thus far;
       Whereas one of the fundamental tenets of democracy and one 
     of the most important means of assuring the continuation of 
     democratic government is an independent and free press, which 
     can exist only in an environment that is free of state 
     control of the 

[[Page E1482]]
     media and the absence of any form of state censorship or official 
     coercion of any kind and is protected by the rule of law;
       Whereas freedom of the press and freedom of expression in 
     Russia today is being threatened by some forces within the 
     Russian government, particularly since the dramatic reporting 
     of the war in Chechnya;
       Whereas there have been reports in the Russian press, 
     including the official press, of efforts to establish a 
     government committee that would impose censorship on the 
     press in Russia;
       Whereas there have been persistent reports regarding the 
     possible issuance of government decrees that would undermine 
     or compromise the independence of privately-owned television 
     stations and other media enterprises which have provided 
     factual reporting on the war in Chechnya or which have 
     editorialized against Russian military action in Chechnya;
       Whereas there has been recent evidence of government 
     involvement in actions against independent television outlets 
     and those who use or finance such businesses, including a 
     widely-reported assault on the office of the Most Group, 
     which owns NTV and other media outlets, and, furthermore, 
     allegations of the involvement of presidential security 
     forces in that assault have never been denied;
       Whereas the latest effort to intimidate the press involves 
     the launching of a criminal investigation by the Prosecutor 
     General against the largest private television network, NTV, 
     and threatening action against the producers of a political 
     satire program in which puppets are used to caricature 
     prominent Russian officials and personalities;
       Whereas the suspicious murder of popular television 
     journalist Vladimir Listeyev of Ostankino TV remains unsolved 
     after nearly one year;
       Whereas the assassination of journalist Dmitri Kholodov of 
     Komsomolskaya Pravda, who was killed by a package bomb while 
     he was in the final stages of an investigation into 
     corruption in the military, also remains unsolved;
       Whereas journalists in Russia, including both foreign and 
     domestic journalists, have faced harassment, risked arrest, 
     had equipment confiscated, been beaten and even murdered as a 
     result of their efforts to report objectively regarding 
     events in Chechnya; and
       Whereas a free and independent information media is 
     essential to the conduct of free, open, fair and democratic 
     elections which are scheduled later this year in Russia; now 
     therefore be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that
       (1) A free press is vital to the development and 
     consolidation of democracy in Russia;
       (2) Freedom of the press and freedom of expression must be 
     safeguarded against those forces who would suppress or censor 
     these essential fundamental democratic rights;
       (3) To protect freedom of the press and freedom of 
     expression, the right and opportunity of independent 
     entrepreneurs to establish, operate, and maintain independent 
     media outlets must be protected and safeguarded;
       (4) Russian government leaders, including the President, 
     the Prime Minister, and Members of the Russian Duma, should 
     fully support freedom of the press and the right of free 
     expression in Russia; and
       (5) The President and the Secretary of State are requested 
     to convey to appropriate Russian government officials, 
     including the President, the Prime Minister, and the Minister 
     of Foreign Affairs, this expression of the views of the 
     Congress.
     

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