Reporters Sans Frontières

Published on 14 October 2009

Reporters Without Borders today welcomed the decision of a Russian court dismissing a libel action brought against the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta by the grandson of Josef Stalin.

Yevgeny Dzhugashvili had claimed that an article carried in a supplement of the newspaper on 22 April 2009 describing Stalin as a bloody dictator personally responsible for the execution of Soviet citizens and thousands of Polish officers killed at Katyn in 1940, had “damaged the honour and dignity” of his grandfather.

Hailing the ruling by the court in Basmanny, Moscow, yesterday rejecting the complaint against Novaya Gazeta, the worldwide press freedom organisation said, “This is a victory for common sense. Any other decision, outlawing the debate on Stalin’s record, would have constituted a serious setback for freedom of expression and a very worrying sign of the political climate in Russia”.

A spokesman for the newspaper, Nadezhda Prusenkova, voiced her satisfaction with the outcome as a “first victory”. “The Basmanny district court was probably not in a position to launch a major social debate on Stalinism ; access to military archives that we called for to assess historical facts was denied. But this decision brings up in their tracks those nostalgic for Stalin who hoped to make use of this trial as a grandstand and to attempt to rehabilitate the dictator”, she said.

In an unrelated case, the newspaper has still not received any official notification of another libel suit against it that was announced on 6 October by the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

(Photo ITAR-TASS/ gazeta.ru)

14.10.2009 - Novaya Gazeta being sued by Stalin’s grandson and Chechen leader

Reporters Without Borders condemns the two libel suits that have been brought in rapid succession against the Moscow-based independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta by Joseph Stalin’s grandson, Yevgeny Dzhugashvili and Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

Dzhugashvili is demanding 10 million roubles (229,000 euros) in damages from Novaya Gazeta and journalist Anatoly Yablokov for an article published on 22 April entitled “Beria found guilty,” claiming that his grandfather personally signed execution orders for Soviet citizens and several thousand Polish prisoners shot by the NKVD (the KGB’s predecessor) in Katyn in 1940.

The suit, which a Moscow court began hearing today, objects in particular to the following sentence in the article: “Stalin and the chekists are bound by the blood they spilled, by the grave crimes they committed, above all against their own people.”

The Chechen leader meanwhile announced on 6 October that he is suing Novaya Gazeta over an article headlined “Gunshot in Vienna” suggesting that he was linked to the January murder of Umar Israilov, a former bodyguard turned opponent, in Vienna.

Despite the announcement, the newspaper has yet to receive any official notification of the lawsuit. But Kadyrov’s determination to silence all criticism can only have been reinforced by another Moscow court’s ruling in his favour the same day.

On 6 October, Judge Tatiana Fedosova ordered the human rights group Memorial and its director, Oleg Orlov, to pay Kadyrov 70,000 roubles (1,600 euros) in damages for accusing him of being “responsible” for the 15 July murder of Memorial representative Natalia Estemirova. Orlov was also ordered to publish a retraction.

Commenting on the ruling, Kadyrov’s lawyer said: “It is a pity the damages award is so small because it would have been a good lesson for the other liars.”

Reporters Without Borders said: “It is surely no coincidence that two representatives of what is most reactionary in Russia have brought these lawsuits against Novaya Gazeta in quick succession. These attacks highlight the importance of the struggle being waged by Novaya Gazeta and other independent media in Russia and the need to support them.”

Many human rights activists have condemned the widespread rehabilitation of Stalin, praised as the leader who turned Russia into a super-power and defeated the Nazi invaders. Last year, the Soviet dictator was ranked third in a nationwide “Heroes of Russia” competition based on TV viewers’ votes. An inscription paying homage to him that had disappeared from a Moscow metro station in the 1950s reappeared on 25 August after the station was restored.

Former Soviet-era dissident Alexandr Podrabinek has been in hiding since 25 September after receiving death threats over an article criticising current attempts to promote the Soviet Union’s image and ignore Stalin’s crimes.

Referring to the suit by Stalin’s grandson, Novaya Gazeta deputy editor Sergei Sokolov said: “Aside from the explanation of the article, we hope the judges will take a position on the substance of the issue, in which case we will be able to base our defence on historical documents.”

Reporters Without Borders added: “These lawsuits are contributing to an oppressive climate of intimidation in a country where the murders of 25 journalists, five of them Novaya Gazeta reporters, are still unpunished. They also highlight how two subjects – the Soviet past and the situation in the Russian Caucasus – are being steadily and silently being turned into taboos to which journalists must shut their eyes.”