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Jessica Golloher reports from Moscow on a lawsuit brought by Josef Stalin’s grandson against a newspaper. The libel suit focuses on an article that described Stalin’s actions leading to the deaths of millions of Soviet citizens.
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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman, and this is The World. A Russian newspaper published a story back in April about one of the many crimes of Joseph Stalin. While the details were new, the dark impression the story gave of the late Russian dictator was not. Still, at least one Russian citizen took offence. He is Stalin’s grandson, and he’s suing the paper. Jessica Golloher reports that the case provides an example of the rough environment that Russian journalists operate in.
JESSICA GOLLOHER: The article, in Novaya Gazeta was based on declassified Kremlin documents. It stated that Joseph Stalin had personally ordered the killing of Soviet citizens. Stalin’s grandson, Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, disputes that. His lawsuit seeks nearly $300,000.00 in damages from the newspaper. Dzhugashvili’s lawyer claims that the article smeared Stalin’s reputation as an outstanding leader. Allison Gill with Human Right’s Watch in Moscow has a different perspective.
ALLISON GILL: To me, it smacks of harassment. It smacks of harassing a newspaper for doing its job.
GOLLOHER: Gill says it’s unfair that journalists have to contend with such a lawsuit in a country that calls itself a democracy.
GILL: The claim of the complainant here is going to be very difficult to prove; and, it’s going to cost Novaya Gazeta time and money to defend itself when, in fact, we have a pretty well-established historical record here, that establishes what Stalin did as a leader.
GOLLOHER: Millions of people died during Stalin’s purges and “Campaign of Terror,” but that’s a part of the historical records some Russians prefer not to dwell on. In a poll conducted last year, Russians voted Stalin, “one of their favorite historical figures.” That means reporters digging-up Stalin’s record can expect to hear from critics. But Allison Gill says the pressure goes well beyond criticisms.
GILL: It’s dangerous for reporters to work in Russia. There have been many murders and attacks—physical attacks and threats against journalists, just for doing their jobs. So, they face harassment at almost every level.
GOLLOHER: The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Russia as the third most dangerous country for reporters to work in behind only Iraq and Algeria. Four journalists who reported for Novaya Gazeta have been murdered in the last eight years. The newspaper claims that they were targeted for their investigative reporting.
CHRISTOPHER BOYAN: The local, the “homegrown” Russian journalists, who are really “on the inside”, that “know the score” – they know “who’s who” – that knows “what’s what” and that are really, you know, doing their business and practicing their profession, are running some real measurable risks.
GOLLOHER: Christopher Boyan is Bureau Chief for the news agency AFP in Moscow. He says he’s not bothered that Stalin’s grandson is suing Novaya Gazeta, because he feels that everyone has the right to file a lawsuit. The problem in his view is that Russian courts tend not to protect the press.
BOYAN: There is a problem with the judiciary, and there is a problem with the notion of being able to take cases to the court—cases where, you know, journalists are threatened, or where publications are suppressed, or information distorted. There is something of a culture of impunity here.
GOLLOHER: The lawsuit brought by Stalin’s grandson was given a preliminary hearing last week. No word yet on when it will go before a judge. For The World, I’m Jessica Golloher, in Moscow.
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