Europarl Resolution

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Session document
8 February 2002

B5-0054/2002
B5-0067/2002
B5-0084/2002
B5-0092/2002

RESOLUTION
pursuant to Rule 50(5) of the Rules of

Procedure by
– The Lord Bethell, Arie M. Oostlander and Bernd Posselt on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
– Jannis Sakellariou, Constanze Angela Krehl and Catherine Lalumi?re on behalf of the PSE Group
– Astrid Thors on behalf of the ELDR Group
– Elisabeth Schroedter, Bart Staes and Claude Turmes on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
replacing the motions by the following groups:
– Verts/ALE (B5-0054/2002),
– PPE-DE (B5-0067/2002),
– PSE (B5-0084/2002),
– ELDR (B5-0092/2002),
on the jailing of the Russian military journalist Grigorii Pasko and the closure of TV-6

European Parliament resolution on the jailing of the Russian military journalist Grigorii Pasko and the closure of TV-6

The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions in support of Russian military journalist Grigorii Pasko, who, in an earlier trial in 1999, was acquitted of espionage but found guilty on lesser charges; Mr Pasko appealed the verdict, but so did the prosecutors, insisting he was a spy; subsequently, the Supreme Court reversed its decision and ordered another trial,

– having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Union and Russia, which entered into force on 1 December 1997, with regard in particular to Title I, Article 2,

– having regard to the fact that the independence and plurality of the news media are a key element in the democratic values upon which the strategic partnership between the EU and Russia is founded, which also remains the basis for the common fight against terrorism,

– having regard to the declaration of the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the situation of the media in Russia from 29 January 2002,

A. deeply concerned and stunned by the jailing of Grigorii Pasko, who, in a new trial on 25 December 2001, was found guilty of 'high treason in the form of espionage' by the military court of the Russian Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok, which also stripped Mr Pasko of his military rank of captain (second class) and ruled that he should pay the costs of the trial,

B. notes that Mr Pasko and his lawyer, Anatolii Pushkin, deny the charges, stressing that the trials were punishment for Mr Pasko's reports on environmental abuses by the Russian navy and that the verdict was passed under open pressure from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and was based on false evidence fabricated by that agency,

C. whereas the Russian law on the media stipulates that 'any journalist has the right to search, ask, receive and circulate information' (Article 47),

D. whereas President Putin has stated publicly that freedom of the media is necessary for the democratic development of his country and that financially secure media groups, free from control of both the state and big business, will be the future guarantee of Russian media freedom,

E. whereas, according to the terms of Articles 41 and 42 of the Russian constitution, withholding information with respect to the environment or to catastrophes endangering human life is a criminal offence,

F. noting that the newly elected leader of Russia's upper house of parliament, Sergei Mironov, on 26 December 2001 criticised the jailing of Grigorii Pasko, saying he now understands 'how a man feels who is condemned for something he is not guilty of',

G. noting the growing public support for Grigorii Pasko in Russia, culminating in the picketing on 10 January 2002 of the buildings of the FSB department for the Pacific Fleet, the Pacific Fleet military prosecutor's office and the Pacific Fleet military court,

H. whereas Amnesty International has adopted Mr Pasko as a prisoner of conscience and has said that his prosecution appears to be 'motivated by political reprisal for exposing the practice of dumping nuclear waste' in the Russian Far East,

I. noting that the defence of Grigorii Pasko has filed an appeal against the verdict and is seeking a full acquittal,

J. whereas the conviction of the Russian citizen Grigorii Pasko, who on 25 December 2001 was sentenced to four years' labour for treason through espionage, seems to involve several violations of the standards drawn up in the European Convention on Human Rights, as also ratified by Russia,

K. seriously concerned about other events affecting the Russian media and especially the decision by Russia's highest arbitration court to close down the last national independent television station, TV-6, resulting in a considerable impoverishment of the Russian audiovisual panorama,

L. whereas a new company, to be named '000TV' will make a bid for the licence in a spring tender,

1. While respecting the decisions of the judicial institutions of the Russian Federation, calls on Russia's prosecutor-general, Vladimir Ustinov, to speed up procedures for the revision of the judgement of the court in Vladivostok;

2. Calls on the Russian authorities to ensure that Mr Pasko's appeal is heard swiftly and is handled in accordance with the general principles of the rule of law which Russia is obliged to respect under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Russian constitution;

3. Calls, in this respect, on the Russian authorities to release Grigorii Pasko from custody pending the hearing of his appeal in the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court;

4. Invites the Russian authorities, in accordance to President Putin's view on the media, to take measures enabling the plurality of the media in Russia to be preserved and strengthened and to rein in the secret services;

5. Regrets that the closure of TV6, the last nationwide private television channel, has resulted in a considerable impoverishment of the Russian audiovisual panorama;

6. Calls upon its colleagues in the Russian State Duma to use their political weight in order to ensure freedom of the press, and, in particular, the rights of journalists so as to guarantee the right to information of the population of their country;

7. Calls on the Council to express the European Union's concerns and to protest to the Russian Government about the worsening of the situation in the field of press freedoms and civil rights in Russia;

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation.