Makhackala/Agency Caucasus – Efforts by the administration of Dagestan to have the newspaper owners ‘subdue’ their workers returned an editorial rebellion.
Editorial office of the weekly ‘Nastoyasheye Vremya’ newspaper wanted to share with their readers the violation of their right to express their opinions freely without interference from the owners and financiers of the newspaper. The newspaper workers prepared a special issue about the violation of the press act through continual interferences from the owners of media companies. Rizvan Rizvanov, both the owner and the general manager of the newspaper, intervened and stopped the issue from being printed. The Editor-in-Chief Andrei Melamedov resigned in protest. The other workers of the newspapers wrote an open letter to the readers and officially accused the newspaper owners of violating the press act. Another open letter was sent to Suleyman Kerimov, a billonaire senator who was said to be the main sponsor of the newspaper.
Nadira Isayeva, Editor-in-Chief of the weekly Chernovik newspaper, said that his newspaper would be willing to publish the articles that were not permitted to appear in Nastoyasheva Vremya.
Pressure against the print media began after January 28 when the administration officials met to discuss a public rebellion against President Mukhu Aliyev because of frequently frustrating power cuts in Makhackala.Only ‘accredited’ journalists were invited to join the meeting, in which the administration expressed its disapproval of the media coverage of the news items. Lately, security forces raided some newspaper companies. ÖZ/FT
