Michail Vadimovich Seslavinsky
Head of the Federal Agency of Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation
25, Pyatnitskaya St.
Moscow
Russia, 127006

Sergei Semenovich Sobyanin
Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation
4, Staraya Pl.
Moscow
Russia, 103132

18 May 2006

Dear Sirs,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at the prosecution for libel of the weekly newspaper Krestyanin.

According to reports, Krestyanin is being sued for libel by Sergei Alexandrovich Ponkratov, head of agricultural enterprises and a Deputy of the Legislative Council of Rostov oblast. The case arises from a series of articles published between August and December 2005 investigating possible violations of the Law on Land Turnover by Mr Ponkratov.

At the request of Mr Ponkratov, the Agricultural Committee of the Legislative Council called a special commission to investigate the case, however deputies of other committees as well as representatives of land-holders (another party in the conflict) were not included, nor was Krestyanin informed of its work. At the end of December 2005 Vladimir Fomin, editor-in-chief of Krestyanin, and Victor Shostko, who wrote the articles, were invited for a meeting with Alexander Vladimirovich Popov, Head of the Legislative Council of Rostov oblast. At this meeting, Mr Fomin pointed out that the commission was biased, after which Mr Popov ordered Mr Ponkratov to sue the newspaper. As a result Mr Ponkratov filed a defamation case for 2 million roubles.

We are seriously concerned that since the launch of the libel case, important official documentation allegedly supporting Krestyanin’s claims has been altered. For example, the official land registry certificate issued by the United Land Register and signed by the Head of the Register was retrospectively cancelled.

While fully respecting the right of any person to seek court protection of rights which may have been violated by a newspaper, we would like to express our grave concern that the claim in this case, involving a large amount of compensation, was approved and supported by a regional official with legislative authority. It is clear that the amount of the claim is intended to paralyse the activities of Krestyanin, which is independent from the authorities.

We also note that cases in which the judicial system has been used to demand inordinately large amounts of compensation from independent newspapers critical of authorities or businesses are becoming very frequent in Russia. Such practice encourages authorities and businesses to use the general jurisdiction of the courts to retaliate against the independent press and rob the media of the possibility of being economically independent from authorities and other third parties.

In many European and other democratic countries, decisions concerning the bringing of defamation proceedings concerning elected officials are made by independent public committees or councils, created specifically to handle press complaints and acting on the basis of self regulation and independence from authorities and business structures. We believe that in order to develop democratic relationships between the press and authorities, businesses and society, authorities should support the creation of such procedures for solving disputes.

We are particularly concerned by the action against Krestyanin in view of the fact that our organisations will be holding the 59th World Newspaper Congress and 13th World Editors Forum in Moscow in less than three weeks. These summit meetings of the world’s press, at which President Putin will be a guest, will bring more than 1,500 newspaper publishers, senior executives and chief editors from all over the world to Russia. Krestyanin is a well-known and respected publication both within Russian and the international media community. Consequently, we will observe the progress of this case with great interest over the coming weeks and will discuss its outcome during the Congress in Moscow.

We respectfully call on you to take all steps necessary to ensure that there is no abuse of power by anyone connected to the Legislative Council of Rostov Oblast in this case.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers

George Brock
President
World Editors Forum

cc : Vladimir Fedorovich Chub
The Head of Regional Administration (Governor) of Rostov oblast

Dmitry Nikolayevich Kozak
Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of RF in the Southern Federal District

Russian Guild of Press Publishers

National Association of Press Publishers

WAN is the global organization for the newspaper industry, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 newspapers in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. WAN is non-governmental and non-profit.