DATE=3/1/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=RUSSIA / BABITSKY (L-ONLY)(CQ) NUMBER=2-259745 BYLINE=EVE CONANT DATELINE=MOSCOW CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Lawyers representing Radio Liberty news reporter Andrei Babitsky say he requires hospitalization following his mistreatment by Russian authorities in Chechnya. Mr. Babitsky's case has raised international concern about Russia's commitment to a free press and independent news coverage of the war in Chechnya. In his first public appearance since his release from custody, Mr. Babitsky told reporters he believes he was held by Russian agents in Chechnya, not by Chechen rebels as Russia has said. TEXT: Andrei Babitsky, whose graphic reports of human suffering in Chechnya angered Russian authorities, told a news conference that a journalist's work in Russia is growing increasingly difficult. /// 1st BABITSKY ACT IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER /// He says an independent journalist in Russia is strictly limited in his actions, especially when the topic is what he calls "such an uncivilized war as the one in Chechnya." His lawyers say Mr. Babitsky, who has visibly lost weight, received medical treatment prior to the news conference and was not feeling well. Mr. Babitsky was missing for weeks in Chechnya, then reappeared last Friday when police in Dagestan arrested him on charges he was using a forged passport in the name of an Azeri citizen. He is facing charges of forgery with a possible two- year jail sentence. Russian authorities also had accused him of collaborating with Chechen rebels. He was first detained by Russian forces, after he disguised himself as a refugee and tried to flee the bombardment of the Chechen capital, Grozny, in mid-January. In early February, Mr. Babitsky was involved in a bizarre hostage swap. The Russian authorities who had been detaining him said he was willingly handed over to Chechen rebels in exchange for Russian servicemen. Mr. Babitsky told reporters he believes he was placed in the hands of pro-Moscow Chechens with links to Russia's Federal Security Services, not to Chechen rebels. // OPT // Mr. Babitsky told reporters he agreed to the trade after explaining he was not guilty of charges of operating with illegal Chechen groups and because he believed he would be soon released. // END OPT // Mr. Babitsky said his ordeal in Chechnya prior to the swap included two weeks at the Chernokozovo detention camp. /// 2nd BABITSKY ACT IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER /// Mr. Babitsky says the detention center is what he calls "a concentration camp," similar to those of World War Two or the Stalin era. He says there are no rebels there, and that authorities "pick people off the streets and beat them and try to scare them. In Chechnya the authorities are creating a police state based on fear." Upon his return to Moscow, Mr. Babitsky told Russian news services of hearing cries of torture from inside the Chernokozovo detention camp, and said he had been beaten. But Russian authorities, including Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo, deny Mr. Babitsky was mistreated by Russian forces. /// BEGIN OPT /// /// OPT RUSHAILO ACT IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER /// Interior Minister Rushailo says that from what he calls "a human point of view," Russian authorities did the maximum for Mr. Babitsky. He says he believes everyone will doubt Mr. Babitsky's report that he was hit 250-times with a truncheon. Reporters asked Mr. Babitsky if he supported the Chechen movement, or had a personal bias in the Chechen conflict. He said he was objective, and his main concern was to bring to light human-rights abuses, whomever they might be directed against. /// OPT 3rd BABITSKY ACT IN RUSSIAN - FADE /// Mr. Babitsky says the professional code of Radio Liberty dictates that a journalist cannot represent the interests of any particular side of a conflict. He says he was trying, in his words, "to represent the interests of human beings." Mr. Babitsky said prior to his detention by Russian forces in Chechnya, he was able to witness first-hand civilian suffering in the Chechen capital, Grozny, as it was bombarded by air and artillery attacks. /// OPT 4th BABITSKY ACT IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER /// He says the question of how many people were killed during the storming of Grozny will take many years to investigate. /// END OPT /// The reporter was asked if he believes Russian authorities targeted him because he might know too much. Mr. Babitsky says, "there is only one secret that journalists want to know and Russian authorities do not want to reveal" - which is, in his words, how the war in Chechnya is being carried out. (Signed) NEB/EC/JWH/RAE/WTW 01-Mar-2000 18:04 PM EDT (01-Mar-2000 2304 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
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