Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-26-Speech-4-179"
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"en.20070426.27.4-179"2
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"Madam President, this week, the European Parliament has dealt with Russia on several occasions, in the sub-committee on human rights with Commissioner Piebalgs, at a joint meeting of the Delegation for relations with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and now here in plenary, because the problems are becoming more and more acute. We have observed the massive human rights violations in Moscow and St. Petersburg with dismay, where peaceful demonstrations against the authoritarian bias of the system were suppressed by violent intervention by the police, with attacks made against passers-by who were not involved and western journalists.
The intimidation and suppression of the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly and the freedom of the press in Russia has become systematic. We are familiar with this type of disinformation and lies from the war in Chechnya. Many media are under government control or operate self-censorship. Independent journalists such as Anna Politkovskaya were murdered. With 13 journalist murders during Putin’s time in office alone, Russia occupies third place after Iraq and Algeria – an alarming result.
The political opposition cannot find any mouthpiece. The freedom of the press and freedom of speech are under immense threat. Potential political opponents of Putin, such as Chodorkovsky and Lebedev are sitting in prison without a fair trial and Gary Kasparov was arrested repeatedly. Non-governmental organisations are harassed by means of laws which curtail the rights of civil society. The Russian leadership is not only using its courts but the entire security apparatus as well in the meantime in order to intimidate political opponents. The powers that be in the Kremlin are hitting out. As a result, progress towards the rule of law and an independent justice system are also under threat. It is a perfidious strategy to brand people who are calling for genuine democracy in the country as extremists so as to take away their credibility. Putin is not a flawless democrat. He comes from the KGB and his origins leave their mark.
Russia is a member of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the United Nations, yet it violates basic fundamental and human rights. The EU is negotiating a new partnership agreement. This agreement must contain a section on human rights which is also a constituent part of all agreements and treaties. We are showing our solidarity with our friends in Russia who are fighting for a peaceful and democratic future."@en1
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