.Reporter says criticism of Soviets brought threats
MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian journalist says he has been threatened with violence and forced into hiding after posting a Web article critical of Soviet army veterans.
Alexander Podrabinek, 56, a former Soviet dissident and political prisoner, accuses the Russian government of being behind what he calls a campaign of harassment, a charge the government denies.
About 20 activists with the Kremlin-friendly Nashi youth group picketed Podrabinek's apartment building Thursday for the third day after setting up large protest signs on the sidewalk.
The journalist's wife, Alla, who remains in the family apartment with their teenage daughter, said her husband was the target of "completely disgusting harassment."
Nashi members filtered through the building asking neighbors to sign a petition demanding law enforcement officials charge Podrabinek with defamation for his comments in the online publication Yezhednevny Zhurnal.
Podrabinek became the focus of nationalist anger after he published an article Sept. 21 criticizing Moscow authorities and military veterans for pressuring a local restaurant to drop the name "Anti-Soviet," which they claimed insulted Russia's past. He went into hiding a few days later, after receiving several threatening phone calls, he and his wife said.
"They have made psychological threats against my family and threats of physical violence against me," Podrabinek said in an online interview late Wednesday.
He accused the government, including "probably the Kremlin administration and Vladimir Putin," of being behind the campaign against him.
"They want to limit freedom of speech in Russia," Podrabinek said. "This is why they are doing this. They are gradually taking us back to the Soviet Union."
Russian reporters who deviate from the official line have been threatened - in some cases beaten and even killed - following a crackdown on the independent journalism of the post-Soviet 1990s. In Podrabinek's case, attempts by Kremlin youth groups to track him down may support his suspicion of state involvement.
Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov said Nashi's threats against Podrabinek were part of a larger effort to rehabilitate Soviet-era leader Josef Stalin, which he asserted was being orchestrated in part by Prime Minister Putin's ruling United Russia party.
"The Russian state has developed an alarming pattern of using careerist Russian youths in Nashi, which is controlled by United Russia, to attack its enemies," Ponomaryov said. "The creeping rehabilitation of Stalin is designed to pave the way for the return of Putin as an autocratic leader."
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Putin, said the allegation has "no foundation whatsoever."
A Nashi spokeswoman denied the group was harassing the journalist. "We are supporting the veterans that he offended," said Kristina Potupchik.
Podrabinek said he did not criticize all veterans, just those who defend the Communist system.
Clashes over the interpretation of Russia's troubled 20th century history have intensified in recent years, as Moscow has dusted off many of the symbols of the Soviet Union, including the music of the Soviet national anthem and the red star symbol of the Soviet military.
The campaign against Podrabinek, who also works in the Russian-language service of Radio France International, has alarmed U.S. and European press freedom groups.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart, said he had "contacted the relevant authorities to make sure he is safe."
Roman Shleinov, investigative editor at the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which is often critical of Kremlin policy, said Nashi members had come to its Moscow offices looking for Podrabinek, who has written for the paper in the past.
"The whole thing looks like a Soviet witch-hunt to persecute those that think differently," he said.
Several contributors to Novaya Gazeta have been killed in recent years, including investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down in her Moscow apartment building in October 2006. She had exposed official corruption and human rights abuses.
MyWay
Alexander Podrabinek, 56, a former Soviet dissident and political prisoner, accuses the Russian government of being behind what he calls a campaign of harassment, a charge the government denies.
About 20 activists with the Kremlin-friendly Nashi youth group picketed Podrabinek's apartment building Thursday for the third day after setting up large protest signs on the sidewalk.
The journalist's wife, Alla, who remains in the family apartment with their teenage daughter, said her husband was the target of "completely disgusting harassment."
Nashi members filtered through the building asking neighbors to sign a petition demanding law enforcement officials charge Podrabinek with defamation for his comments in the online publication Yezhednevny Zhurnal.
Podrabinek became the focus of nationalist anger after he published an article Sept. 21 criticizing Moscow authorities and military veterans for pressuring a local restaurant to drop the name "Anti-Soviet," which they claimed insulted Russia's past. He went into hiding a few days later, after receiving several threatening phone calls, he and his wife said.
"They have made psychological threats against my family and threats of physical violence against me," Podrabinek said in an online interview late Wednesday.
He accused the government, including "probably the Kremlin administration and Vladimir Putin," of being behind the campaign against him.
"They want to limit freedom of speech in Russia," Podrabinek said. "This is why they are doing this. They are gradually taking us back to the Soviet Union."
Russian reporters who deviate from the official line have been threatened - in some cases beaten and even killed - following a crackdown on the independent journalism of the post-Soviet 1990s. In Podrabinek's case, attempts by Kremlin youth groups to track him down may support his suspicion of state involvement.
Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov said Nashi's threats against Podrabinek were part of a larger effort to rehabilitate Soviet-era leader Josef Stalin, which he asserted was being orchestrated in part by Prime Minister Putin's ruling United Russia party.
"The Russian state has developed an alarming pattern of using careerist Russian youths in Nashi, which is controlled by United Russia, to attack its enemies," Ponomaryov said. "The creeping rehabilitation of Stalin is designed to pave the way for the return of Putin as an autocratic leader."
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Putin, said the allegation has "no foundation whatsoever."
A Nashi spokeswoman denied the group was harassing the journalist. "We are supporting the veterans that he offended," said Kristina Potupchik.
Podrabinek said he did not criticize all veterans, just those who defend the Communist system.
Clashes over the interpretation of Russia's troubled 20th century history have intensified in recent years, as Moscow has dusted off many of the symbols of the Soviet Union, including the music of the Soviet national anthem and the red star symbol of the Soviet military.
The campaign against Podrabinek, who also works in the Russian-language service of Radio France International, has alarmed U.S. and European press freedom groups.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart, said he had "contacted the relevant authorities to make sure he is safe."
Roman Shleinov, investigative editor at the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which is often critical of Kremlin policy, said Nashi members had come to its Moscow offices looking for Podrabinek, who has written for the paper in the past.
"The whole thing looks like a Soviet witch-hunt to persecute those that think differently," he said.
Several contributors to Novaya Gazeta have been killed in recent years, including investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down in her Moscow apartment building in October 2006. She had exposed official corruption and human rights abuses.
MyWay
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