DATE=6/20/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / MEDIA TYCOON (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-263575
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A Moscow court has refused to consider a
request by lawyers for media tycoon Vladimir Gusinksy
to have his jailing last week declared illegal. V-O-A
Correspondent Eve Conant in Moscow also reports the
lower house of Russia's parliament is set to debate
whether to call on President Vladimir Putin to fire
Russia's prosecutor-general.
TEXT: A Moscow court has thrown out a request by
Vladimir Gusinsky's lawyers to examine whether his
recent arrest and detention in a Moscow prison was
illegal.
Mr. Gusinksy is the owner of Russia's only independent
nationwide television network, as well as of radio
stations and liberal newspapers that have been
critical of the Putin government and the ongoing
conflict in Chechnya.
His lawyers say he has been charged with massive fraud
in a privatization deal involving at least ten-million
dollars of state funds. But his arrest last week
immediately sparked fears of a crackdown on freedom of
speech and the independent media in Russia.
Mr. Gusinsky's lawyer, Genri Reznik, told reporters
gathered outside the courthouse that he would appeal
the case. He argued the arrest was illegal for
several reasons, including the prosecutors' awareness
that Mr. Gusinsky held a state medal that provides
holders amnesty from arrest or imprisonment.
/// REZNIK ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
Lawyer Genri Reznik says there is no doubt that the
arrest was illegal. It is the actions of the
prosecutors and the investigators that should be
regarded as a crime, he says, "they should swap places
with Mr. Gusinsky."
Lawmakers in Russia's lower house of parliament are
scheduled to debate on Friday whether to call on
President Vladimir Putin to fire Prosecutor-General
Vladimir Ustinov because of the Gusinsky case.
President Putin has said the arrest seemed
"excessive." But Mr. Putin said the prosecutor's
office is politically independent of the Kremlin and
that he could not interfere in the case. (Signed)
NEB/EC/JWH
20-Jun-2000 09:56 AM EDT (20-Jun-2000 1356 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
