[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PUTIN'S POTEMKIN DEMOCRACY IN RUSSIA

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 18, 2000

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, recent very disturbing trends in Russia with 
respect to press freedom have raised serious doubts about democratic 
development in that country. The current effort by Russian President 
Vladimir Putin to eliminate the independent news media in Russia is a 
serious threat to Russia's democratic future.
  It will take a long time to build democracy in Russia, Mr. Speaker, 
but one of the very few encouraging signs of the last decade in Russia 
was the presence of a free press. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, I am 
using the past tense--it was an encouraging sign.
  I sincerely hope that Mr. Putin's administration puts an end to the 
persecution and harassment of whatever is left of the free media in 
Russia. But the attack against the independent media is serious and 
systematic, and it is deadly earnest.
  Mr. Speaker, the Washington Post (October 2, 2000) published an 
excellent editorial expressing serious concern about freedom of the 
press in Russia. I ask that the text of this editorial be placed in the 
Record. I urge my colleagues to read this important editorial.

                      Image and Reality in Russia

                  [The Washington Post, Oct. 2, 2000]

       Russian President Vladimir Putin tends to his international 
     image with skill. He dines with American media heavyweights 
     in new York City and professes his commitment to a free 
     press. He lunches with former dissident Nathan Sharansky in 
     the Kremlin and insists on his love of human rights. For a 
     pathetically small price--a bit of attention--he co-opts 
     Mikhail Gorbachev, who in turn says nice things about the 
     young Russian president to foreign media. All this impresses 
     Western leaders. Meanwhile, Mr. Putin is in the process of 
     destroying the independent media in Russia. If he succeeds, 
     democratization will be severely set back.
       On a small scale, you can see Mr. Putin at work in the case 
     of Andrei Babitsky, who is scheduled to go on trial in 
     southern Russia today. Mr. Babistsky is a reporter for Radio 
     Free Europe/Radio Liberty who reported honestly on brutal 
     Russian behavior in Chechnya. Russian security forces 
     arrested him for this affront and then arranged for him to be 
     kidnapped by Chechen criminals. President Putin pretended to 
     know nothing about this until international pressure became a 
     liability, at which point Mr. Babitsky was freed. But the 
     bullying did not stop. Mr. Putin's administration is 
     prosecuting the reporter for carrying false documents--
     documents forced on him by his kidnappers.
       Mr. Putin's assault on Media-Most is potentially more 
     serious. The company owns NTV, the only Russian television 
     network not controlled by the government. It also owns a 
     radio station and publishes a daily newspaper and, in 
     partnership with The Washington Post Co.'s Newsweek, a weekly 
     magazine. Its survival now is threatened by a commercial 
     dispute with the giant natural gas company, Gazprom, that 
     lent it money.
       As in the Babitsky case, Mr. Putin pretends not to be 
     involved in this dispute. But the Kremlin owns a large piece 
     of Gazprom and effectively controls the firm. Mr. Putin's 
     administration set the stage for the dispute by throwing 
     Media-Most's owner into prison for three days. After this 
     KGB-style intimidation, the owner, Vladimir Gusinsky, was 
     pressured--by a member of Mr. Putin's cabinet acting in close 
     consultation with the Kremlin--to sign an unfavorable 
     contract. Mr. Gusinsky was promised in return his freedom, 
     which President Putin apparently feels is a commodity to be 
     bargained, not a fundamental right. Now, despite Mr. Putin's 
     protest of noninvolvement in a commercial dispute, his 
     prosecutor-general has opened a criminal fraud case against 
     Mr. Gusinsky.
       The West has little leverage over Russia. Oil prices are 
     high, meaning that Russia, an oil-producing country, no 
     longer needs Western loans. But as his image campaign 
     suggests, Mr. Putin does crave acceptance in the West. 
     Western leaders should welcome him as long as he respects 
     democracy at home. If he does not--if he persists in 
     undermining Russia's independent media--the G-8 group of 
     leading industrialized nations should return to being a G 7. 
     A Potempkin democrat does not belong in the club of 
     democracies.

     

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