Russia bars U.S. ABC News over Basayev interview
By Oliver Bullough
MOSCOW, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Moscow said on Tuesday it would bar journalists from U.S. television ABC News from working in Russia after the network aired an interview with Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev.
The U.S. State Department reacted with caution because it was still seeking to confirm the decision but said banning ABC journalists sent the wrong signal about media freedoms.
"I don't think -- if, in fact, ABC is to somehow be banned from reporting in Russia -- that that would be a positive statement about freedom of expression," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said accreditations for ABC reporters would not be renewed and, in the meantime, they would be banned from talking to officials.
Free speech advocates have repeatedly criticised President Vladimir Putin's government for restricting the Russian media, but the move against a major Western media organisation seemed unprecedented.
The Foreign Ministry statement said ABC was "now unwelcome to contact any Russian state organisations or bodies". It said broadcasting the Basayev interview "was a clear case of helping to propagandise terrorism" and accreditations for ABC workers would "not be renewed".
ABC News President David Westin said he regretted the action but "we cannot allow any government to deter us from reporting the news fully and accurately". He hoped "the Russian government will reconsider its decision."
"The mission of a free press is to cover news events -- even those involving illegal acts -- to help our audience better understand the important issues that confront us all," he said.
RUSSIA'S MOST WANTED
Basayev has a $10 million price on his head and is considered Russia's most wanted man after organising attacks on civilian targets such as the raid in Beslan last year when 330 people -- more than half of them children -- died.
In the interview, he admitted being "a bad guy, a bandit, a terrorist" but said Russia was worse. He promised more attacks as long as the Chechen war continued.
The Foreign Ministry said it would also look into the legal status of journalist Andrei Babitsky, who conducted the interview, and would ask his employer Radio Liberty to explain why he was in Chechnya without accreditation.
Babitsky, whose reporting has been a thorn in the side of the Russian army in Chechnya throughout the 10-year war, said the fierce reaction to the interview was prompted by shame over the authorities not being able to find Basayev themselves.
"The security services are embarrassed because they have spent vast sums over six years but they still can't catch Basayev, and here he is talking to a journalist," said Babitsky.
He told Reuters: "This ... just shows the state of free speech in Russia today."
Journalists need special accreditation to visit Chechnya, and foreign news organisations must travel with armed guards. Activists said the decision to bar ABC showed a new resolve to crack down on independent reporting from the region.
"This action reflects the Kremlin's growing intolerance of any kind of criticism, especially in regard to its actions in Chechnya," said the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper's statement said Russia was "clearly trying to intimidate foreign journalists into censoring their news reporting on the war in Chechnya. We call on the (foreign) ministry to reverse its decision immediately."
Broadcasted Interview Propaganda for Terrorism?
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Re: Broadcasted Interview Propaganda for Terrorism?
Originally Posted by Spetulhu
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