Freedom of press to be restricted in Russia in case of anti-terrorist operations

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday November 01, 2002 18:23 by cSc

From euronews.net

Post-siege media curbs in Russia

The freedom of the media in Russia is under the spotlight after deputies in Moscow approved tough new curbs on reporting. The restrictions will apply to coverage of so-called "anti-terrorist" operations and it has not gone unnoticed that they could well have complicated efforts to report last week's theatre siege. Under the new bill, the media may well have been unable to report key aspects of the Kremlin's controversial operation to free hundreds of theatre-goers held captive by Chechen militants.

This may have included the mention of a powerful knock-out gas which sent the hostage-takers to sleep but which also killed 117 of those being held. More than 200 ex-hostages remain in hospital. The bill, which must now go before the Federation Council upper house of parliament, again focuses attention on President Vladimir Putin's patchy record on media freedoms.

http://www.euronews.net/create_html.php?page=detail_info&lng=1&option=1,info