(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, RSF protested the house arrest of journalist Andrei Babitsky. “It is intolerable that Andrei Babitsky cannot go to Bucharest to receive the prize that the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is awarding him,” said Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. Furthermore, RSF […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, RSF protested the house arrest of journalist Andrei Babitsky. “It is intolerable that Andrei Babitsky cannot go to Bucharest to receive the prize that the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is awarding him,” said Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. Furthermore, RSF asked for the charges against the journalist to be dropped.
According to information obtained by RSF, on 6 July 2000, the OSCE was to award its “Prize for Journalism and Democracy”, in Bucharest, to Babitsky, correspondent for the international radio station Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, for his coverage of the Chechen conflict. However, on 4 July, the Russian Interior Minister deemed that “his exit from Moscow was not possible,” and that the investigation “required the permanent presence of the journalist.” On 7 March, he was prevented from travelling to Strasbourg, at the invitation of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly.
Arrested on 16 January by federal forces outside Grozny, Babitsky was detained in a “filtration” camp, in Tchernokozovo (northern Chechnya), where he was mistreated. On 3 February, he was “exchanged” for several Russian soldiers and handed over to Chechen fighters, who were probably pro-Russian. The Chechen fighters entrusted the journalist to a smuggler, who finally released him in Dagestan. On 25 February, he was again arrested by Russian federal forces and charged with “possession of a false passport”. Three days later, he started a hunger strike to protest his detention. He was finally released on 29 February, but subject to house arrest in Moscow, charged with “participation in armed bands” and “use of false documents”. Only the second charge has been retained and the journalist faces a sentence of community work or a fine. According to Babitsky, his abductors had intended to send him to Azerbaijan. This is why he was in possession of a false Azeri passport. The inquiry is to last until 25 August. Until then, the journalist cannot legally leave Moscow.
Babitsky is known for his critical reports on the actions of federal forces in Chechnya. Notably, he denounced the mistreatment of prisoners in “filtration” camps. In a 10 March interview with the Moscow weekly “Kommersant”, Putin had said of Babitsky: “He is clearly in the service of the enemy. What he does is much more dangerous than firing a hail of bullets with automatic weapons.”
