| ASNE board expresses concern about Russian journalist’s plight
Published: April 26, 2000
Last Updated: April 26, 2000
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WASHINGTON — The board of directors of ASNE has passed a resolution
supporting Russian press freedom and the plight of a radio journalist based
in Russia:
The American Society of Newspaper Editors expresses its
concern about press freedoms in Russia and wishes to draw attention to the
case of Andrei Babitsky, a correspondent of Radio Free Europe and Radio
Liberty. The Society asks that the charges against him be dropped.
The ASNE has welcomed Russia's progress toward a more open
media and views what the authorities there have done recently in Chechnya
as unacceptable and several steps away from the principles of press freedom
the Russian government and the international community have committed themselves
to uphold.
Babitsky, a longtime correspondent, was one of the last journalists
left in during the Russian siege of Chechnya during the winter of 1999-2000.
From Chechen lines, he filed reports critical of the military’s claims of success,
and its brutality toward civilians.
Babitsky was reported arrested by police for lacking accreditation
and, the Russians said, because of reports that he had spent time with Chechen
fighters. He was missing for more than six weeks.
Subsequent reports claimed that the Russians swapped Babitsky
for three Russian soldiers held by Chechen fighters.
Within two weeks, Babitsky was free, having been released into
the Russian province of Dagestan with a fake passport given to him by his captors.
Upon entering Dagestan, Babitsky was rearrested, flown to Moscow,
and charged with collaboration with the Chechens and with possessing a fake
passport. The charge of collaboration was subsequently dropped.
The American Society of Newspaper Editors, with more than 900
members, was founded in 1922. It is the largest organization of the main editors
of daily newspapers in the Americas, and supports freedom of the press worldwide.
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