President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

g. Moskva, Kreml
Russian Federation
Fax: + 7 095 206 85 10 / + 7 095 206 51 73 / + 7 095 230 24 08
e-mail: president@gov.ru

6-8 Amwell Street

London, 28 September 2006 London
EC1R 1UQ
United Kingdom
Tel: 44 20 7278 9292
Dear President Putin, Fax: 44 20 7278 7660
Email: info@article19.org
Web: www.article19.org

ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned at the closure of the weekly Kaliningradskie

Noviye Kolesa in Kaliningrad and the criminal charges laid against the Executive Director
newspaper’s journalists, in particular Oleg Berezovsky, whose case is due to be Dr Agnès Callamard
heard on 29 September 2006. Noviye Kolesa is known for its vigorous criticism
of local government officials. International Board
Galina Arapova (Russia)
The manner in which the multiple cases against the newspaper and its staff have Param Cumaraswamy (Malaysia)
Paul Hoffman (US)
been pursued poses serious questions about Russia’s compliance with its Gara LaMarche (US)
obligations, under international law and under the federal Constitution, to respect Daisy Li (Hong Kong)
the right to freedom of expression and to guarantee the fairness of trials. Jorge Islas Lopez (Mexico)
Goenawan Mohamad (Indonesia)
Arne Ruth (Sweden)
On 16 August 2006, the Kaliningrad Regional Court issued an order to close Malcolm Smart (UK)
Noviye Kolesa, on the grounds of ‘disclosing classified information'relating to a Executive Board
criminal investigation into the murder of a local businessman. The articles in Heather Rogers (Chair)
question were based on transcripts of video and audio recordings of testimonies George Alagiah
Louise Christian
given by the detainees in the case, who confessed that agents from the Mark Hengstler
Kaliningrad branch of the Federal Security Service had organised the murder. Richard Sambrook
Catherine Smadja
Mary-Ann Stephenson
Furthermore, Mr. Berezovsky was charged with criminal defamation after a
complaint by judges of the Kaliningrad Regional Court relating to an article
written in 2004. The judges - Lyudmila Dolgova, Tatyana Tatarova, and Oksana Honorary Member
Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma)
Semyonova - maintain that Berezovsky accused them of accepting bribes, even
though the article simply questioned the Regional Court’s acquittal and release of
Aleksandr Fuks, who had previously been sentenced by a lower court to four
years’ imprisonment for drug dealing.
ARTICLE 19
The investigator assigned to the case is the son of another judge who has Research and Information
previously been criticised in an article written by Berezovsky. The government Centre on Censorship
prosecutor, L. Chochrina has in the past worked under Tatarova’s supervision for (A company limited by guarantee)
more than 2 years. Moreover, A. Chernobilets, who has been appointed to preside Company No.: 2097222
in the trial, is yet another judge who has been criticised in a number of articles Reg. Charity No.: 327421
written by O. Berezovsky is.

Criminal prosecutions have also been instituted against the founder of Noviye
Kolesa, Igor Rudnikov, and its journalists Aleksandr Berezovsky and Dina
Yakshina. They have been charged with defamation, insulting public officials,
or/and beating police officers.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’
ARTICLE 19 is highly concerned about the forthcoming criminal defamation
trial, which might result in the imprisonment of Oleg Berezovsky. Scrutiny of the
judiciary by the press is vital to democracy. Through their reporting on trials,
journalists enable the general public to verify that judges are properly discharging
their responsibilities. By exposing instances of judicial misconduct or
miscarriages of justice, the media can help ensure the overall health of the justice
system and contribute to the public’s confidence in it.

While international law, as reflected for example in Article 10(2) of the European
Convention on Human Rights, permits certain measures to protect members of the
judiciary against unfounded attacks on their reputation, these measures should be
strictly proportionate and, in the words of Article 10(2), “necessary in a
democratic society”. The European Court of Human Rights has consistently
interpreted this condition to mean that public officials, including judges, should
tolerate more, not less, criticism than ordinary individuals. Moreover, the Court
has emphasised that public bodies must “display restraint in resorting to criminal
proceedings”1 and has never upheld a prison sentence imposed for criminal
defamation.

Likewise, the closure of the Noviye Kolesa newspaper appears as an unjustifiable,

or at least seriously disproportionate measure in contravention of international
law. Closure of a newspaper is one of the most serious interferences with freedom
of expression and can only be justified after repeated and serious violations of the
law, established by an impartial court after a fair trial.

ARTICLE 19 is furthermore concerned about the obvious possibility of bias with

the investigator, prosecutor and presiding judge in O. Berezovsky’s case. Any
decision against Mr. Berezovsky will have a cloud of doubt hanging over it,
whatever the actual motivation of the officials in question.

In conclusion, we call upon you to:

• Ensure that Mr. Berezovsky receives a fair trial on 29 September.

• Immediately allow Noviye Kolesa to resume publication.
• Take measures to ensure that no further prosecutions for criminal
defamation take place, particularly where the purpose is not genuinely
and demonstrably to protect an individual’s reputation against unjustified
attack;
• Take necessary steps in order to replace all criminal provisions on
defamation with appropriate civil defamation laws.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Agnès Callamard

Executive Director

1
Castells v. Spain, 23 April 1992, Application No. 11798 (European Court of Human
Rights), para. 46.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’
CC.

Chief of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Lebedev

121260, 15, Povarskaya street, Moscow,
Email: lebedev@vsrf.ru
Tel: +7 495 924-2347

Human Rights Commissioner of the Russian Federation Vladimir Lukin

107084, 47, Myasnitskaya street., Moscow.
E-mail: press-sl@ropnet.ru
Tel.: +7 495 2071922
Fax: +7 495 2073969

Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Vladimir Ustinov

125993, 15 , Bolshaya Dmitrovka street, Moscow
Tel.: +7 495 6929600

Chairman of the Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Council under the
President of the Russian Federation Ella Pamfilova
103132, 4, Staraya Square, Moscow
Tel.: +7 495 2064914
E-mail: spravka@sovetpamfilova.ru

Chairman of the Commission of the Public Chamber on communications,

information policy and freedom of speech in the mass media Pavel Gusev
125993, house 7 building 1, Miusskaya Square, Moscow.
Tel.: +7 495 2218361
E-mail: info@oprf.ru

General Secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists Igor Yakovenko

119992, 4, Zubovsky boulevard, Moscow.
Tel.: +7 495 2015101
Fax: +7 495 2013547
E-mail: ruj@ruj.ru

Minister of culture and mass communications of the Russian Federation

Alexander Sokolov
109074, office 102a, house 7, Kitaygorodskiy passway, Moscow
Tel.: + 7 495 9283872

Minister of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov

119200, 32/34, Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square, Moscow
Tel: + 7 495 2443448
E-mail: ministry@mid.ru

Head of the Federal Service on supervision over legality in the sphere of mass
communications and preservation of cultural heritage Boris Boyarskov
123995, 12, Malaya Nikitskaya, Moscow
Tel.: +7 495 2902979

Head of the Committee on Informational Policy,

State Duma of the Russian Federation
Valery Komissarov
103265, Moscow, 1, Ohotnyi Ryad str.
Tel.: +7 495 2929630
Fax: +7 495 2928153

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’