#9 - JRL 2006-131 - JRL Home
Russian Duma Speaker Says Press Freedom Key To Democracy

MOSCOW. June 5 (Interfax) - The free press is an inseparable element of democracy, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said in his greetings to the 59th World Newspapers Congress in Moscow.

"The free press and the right of citizens to receive reliable information are inseparable elements of democracy. Authorities' and citizens' awareness of national and international events depend on the freedom of press to a large extent," he said.

Modern challenges have spurred debate about the freedom of speech and the media's role in the protection of professional journalist ethics, he said. "The coverage of the turbulent events of the 20th and 21st centuries - September 11, Nord-Ost, Beslan, Hurricane Katrina and operations in Iraq - was a real test for people, the media and the authorities," he said.

Such tragedies cannot be purely local, as their aftereffects change the entire world, Gryzlov said. "Such events are moments of truth in the defense of free world values. They guide the development of the freedom of speech for decades," he said.

Mankind repeatedly faces choices of democratic values, the freedom of speech, the freedom of worship and the right to live. "This choice depends on every one of us," Gryzlov said.