New York, Feb. 11, 2000 — Serbian deputy prime minister Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, accused journalists of being pro-Western “traitors,” and blamed them for the murder of defense minister Pavel Bulatovic, according to Agence France-Presse. Addressing independent reporters at a press conference in Belgrade on February 10, Seselj told…
New York, Feb. 9, 2000— Speculation surrounding the disappearance of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) correspondent Andrei Babitsky continued Wednesday, despite a new videotape suggesting that the journalist is alive and anxious to return home. RFE/RL purchased the videotape on Tuesday night from an unidentified man in Moscow, and aired it on Russian television today.…
New York, February 3, 2000 — Radio Free Europe /Radio Liberty (REF/RL) reported today that Andrei Babitsky, the Russian journalist detained by Russian military authorities in Chechnya since January 15, has been exchanged for three Russian prisoners of war held by Chechen rebels. The announcement was made by Russian presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky. This action…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly alarmed by the recent arrest and detention of Andrei Babitsky, a 10-year veteran reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Russia. Babitsky had been covering the conflict in Chechnya from the capital city of Grozny until his disappearance on January 15. Despite initial claims denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, a spokesman for your government acknowledged on January 28 that Babitsky was being held in Chechnya by Russian authorities because he did not have proper accreditation to report from the war zone. At the same time, your government has yet to confirm or deny charges published by the Russian news agency Interfax that Babitsky was arrested for “participating in an armed group.”
New York, February 2, 2000 —Andrei Babitsky, the Russian journalist who was reported missing while covering the Chechnya conflict, is being held by Russian military authorities in a Russian-controlled area of Chechnya. Babitsky, a veteran correspondant with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has not been heard from since he called his wife Lyudmila Babitsky from Grozny…
New York, January 27, 2000 —The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonpartisan organization dedicated to safeguarding press freedom around the world, is gravely concerned with the recent disappearance of Russian journalist and 10-year veteran Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent, Andrei Babitsky. Babitsky, 36, well known for his critical reporting on Moscow’s military campaign in…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by the arrest of Vladivostok journalist Irina Grebneva, editor of the opposition weekly Arsenyevskiye Vesti. Grebneva was released today after a five-day detention imposed in retaliation for publishing telephone transcripts that appeared to implicate senior political figures in Primorye Territory in political corruption.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly disturbed by the pressure your government has exerted on the independent television station ANS to block it from airing an interview with a Chechen rebel leader.
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ ) is greatly alarmed by a December 27 grenade attack near the offices of the independent weekly Elet es Irodalom in Budapest. The newspaper’s editors suspect the attack came in reprisal for its recent court victory in a libel suit that Your Excellency and Fidesz, the main governing party, filed against it in October.