(CJES/IFEX) – The following is a 20 June 2006 CJES press release: Journalists’ organizations call for criminal liability for libel to be abolished MOSCOW, June 20 (Interfax) – The Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations (CJES) and the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) have called for a number of Criminal Code articles that carry punishment […]
(CJES/IFEX) – The following is a 20 June 2006 CJES press release:
Journalists’ organizations call for criminal liability for libel to be abolished
MOSCOW, June 20 (Interfax) – The Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations (CJES) and the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) have called for a number of Criminal Code articles that carry punishment for inappropriate performance of journalistic duties to be abolished.
“It is hard to find another country on the map of the world that would as frequently apply Criminal Code articles punishing journalists for ‘libel’ (Article 129) and ‘insult’ (Article 130), not to mention ‘insult of a government official’ (Article 319),” the CJES said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Legal terror was unleashed against journalists in Russia six years ago. Over 300 criminal cases have been initiated against journalists in these years, which makes an average of 45-50 a year,” the statement says.
“International organizations, including the OSCE, have repeatedly appealed to the governments of Russia and other CIS countries to exclude these articles from criminal law or to stop using them,” it says.
“These calls are pursuing the only goal: people cannot be branded as criminals for words, as there is civil law and a democratic procedure to examine journalists’ liability for distorting facts, and it is even more unacceptable to put journalists in jail,” the statement says.
“The authorities should heed the calls on amending the criminal law, and journalists can and must defend their right to the freedom of speech,” it says.
The CJES suggested that every journalist sharing the position expressed in the statement should sign it.
Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) Secretary General Igor Yakovenko told Interfax that “it is fully in line with what the RUJ is doing.”
“We have repeatedly put forward such demands. Yes, libel and insult should be punished, and this can be done financially or in some other way, but imprisoning people for words is nonsense,” Yakovenko said.
“When a critical mass of signatures is put under this statement, an appeal to our lawmakers should follow, and I hope they will be unable to ignore this,” he said.
