#6036
#5
BBC Monitoring
Russia: Sarcastic TV6 head thanks Putin for
"support" for journalists
Source: Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian 0318 gmt 22 Jan 02
[Presenter Aleksandr Andreyev] It is 0618 [0318 gmt] in Moscow. We continue to discuss the situation with [opposition television channel] TV6.
[Omitted: known facts]
This is what TV6 general director Yevgeniy Kiselev told our radio station in the way of comment on the situation. He also told us about ongoing developments.
[Kiselev] TV6 broadcasting has been cut off. But it was too little for them. Power was cut off to the studios and the technical equipment rooms. The Internet does not work, I mean the internal [computer] network [providing an access to the Internet]. We do not receive the news agencies' output. Moreover, our signal is not transmitted via satellite. Therefore, more than 100 of our regional partners, independent television companies each having its own broadcasting licence, are not receiving our programmes. The licence withdrawn on the media minister's order was issued for broadcasting in Moscow and 20 other cities in which branches of the MNVK [Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corporation] company were working. It had nothing to do with the regions in relation to which we were only a supplier of programmes. Independent television companies received them by their own choice and re-broadcast on the basis of their own licences. Now they have lost the signal as well.
According to the information I have by now, our transmitting company Set-Service which is absolutely independent from us and transmits our signal to the international satellite LMI is receiving phone calls from some people who probably are officers of some security agencies. They say that OMON [special-purpose police] will come if they do not stop transmitting our signal to the satellite. I do not know whether it is true but the signal is not sent to the satellite.
This is an actual picture. It reminds me of a television coup. I do not rule out that [TV6 staff] entrance permits [to the Ostankino television centre] will be cancelled tomorrow morning. I will not be surprised if TV6 journalists will be simply barred from entering Ostankino tomorrow.
This is how the state supports us. I have a report in front of me, I found it on purpose.The official news agency RIA reported from Paris on 15 January that President Vladimir Putin said during his visit to France that the state would do everything possible to support the TV6 journalist team. Well, we see this support today in all its glory. I think the authority has demonstrated that they have only one goal: to shut us up.
Now we must understand the situation in detail. I am getting information by telephone and in scraps. Maybe, not all of it is true. So far I have the impression that they went further than the mere suspension of the licence. I saw the documents received from the bailiffs today. There is no mention of an Internet or electricity cutoff, or the disconnection of telephones in Ostankino, or the stoppage of the signal transmission via the LMI satellite.
Back to the Top Next Article
- Back to the Top -