Only Politics

Russia might have progressed economically under Putin, but it has had to pay a price; of growing pressure on the freedom of press and right to free expression. The most glaring example is the cold-blooded murder of outspoken journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in her apartment some time ago. She was exposing the human right violations in Chechnya and corruption in the FSB. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has said that the opposition parties had got much less coverage in the national media before the Duma elections last year. Independent media houses had been intimidated into giving prominence to Putin’s United Russia party. The BBC has brought out the fact that the Russian security agency, FSB, has become a law unto itself. FSB men flout all rules and are into the protection business. Business rivals are bumped off for a fee. There is no system of accountability. Those officers who tried to bring out the fact that the FSB men are not doing what they are supposed to do, that is protect the security of Russia, have been hassled and coerced out of the agency. The European University at St. Petersburg (EUSP) has been forced to stop functioning by the authorities on flimsy grounds. The reason? The university accepted a three-year, £500,000 ($1 million) European Union grant to run a project advising Russia’s political parties on matters such as how to ensure elections are not rigged. The annual report produced by Freedom House titled "Freedom of the Press" had this to say about Russia: Media freedom in Russia continued to be curtailed in 2006 as President Vladimir Putin’s government passed legislation restricting news reporting and journalists were subjected to physical violence and intimidation. Although the constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, authorities are able to use the legislative and judicial systems to harass and prosecute independent journalists