Problem of media freedom discussed at the Human Rights Centre of Kabardino-Balkaria

Today, a roundtable was held at the Human Rights Centre of Kabardino-Balkaria with participation of mass media representatives to discuss the situation with the freedom of speech in the Republic, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent informs.

The reason for the event was the stop of radio broadcast "Looking for Way Out" by journalist Murtaz Pachev by Kabardino-Balkarian Radio in September 2006.

In Valery Hatazhukov's opinion, "the formal pretext to stop the radio broadcast was Pachev's alleged violation of the preparation technology of the broadcast. Meanwhile, everyone understands that the reason was in the contents of the broadcast, which dealt with corruption in law enforcement bodies."

Journalist Murtaz Pachev told that he had applied to court claiming illegality of the reprimand imposed on him, deprivation of his premium, and demanding to resume the broadcast that was put on air live without any prior recording.

"The complaint was lodged to the magistrate court. It should have been considered within two months. Instead, it was kept there for three months and returned back. Further, the complaint was kept for a long time by the federal judge. Then, finally, he considered it, refused to satisfy, but doesn't issue his decision for almost a month already. I think that the court is deliberately creating obstacles for further appeal against the decision," Zaur Shokuev, a lawyer of the Human Rights Centre, said.