MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) - The granting of political asylum in Britain to former reporter of the newspaper Kommersant Yelena Tregubova, although a private case, nevertheless reflects the press freedom situation in Russia, said Mikhail Fedotov, secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists and an author of the Law on the Mass Media.

"I think it is a private case in a general trend, and it is not a good sign. It's unfortunate when people leave their home country. But it is even worse when they do so seeking political asylum," Fedotov told Interfax on Wednesday.

The Russian authorities "Must give some thought to this general trend, not the case of Yelena Tregubova alone," he said.

"If press freedom is observed - something which has survived only in the text of the Constitution - no Russian journalist will seek political asylum abroad, and no one will have pretexts to grant it," Fedotov said.

The British Home Office has informed Russia journalist Yelena Tregubova, who resides in London, that it has granted her request for political asylum, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Wednesday.

"Ms Tregubova said by telephone from London that she had received a letter from the Home Office informing her that her application for political asylum had been approved," the ABC writes. "This is an immense relief. This is a very big, a very bold step (by the British Government,)" Tregubova said.

Tregubova, known for her scandalous book Tales of a Kremlin Digger, applied to Britain for political asylum a year ago, claiming that she feared reprisals.