Repugnant conviction of prominent weekly The New Times

Reporters Without Borders today condemned as “repugnant” a defamation conviction handed down by a Moscow court to the independent weekly The New Times for a report into police corruption and abuse. The verdict, obtained through false testimony, nullified the newspaper’s solid, truthful investigation headlined “OMON slaves” – in reference to the OMON riot police - published in February this year, the worldwide press freedom organisation said, calling for it to be acquitted. The New Times was also ordered to refute some of the information in the report and to pay a fine of 4,330 roubles (more than 100 euros) for moral injury. The organisation reaffirmed its backing for the newspaper, which has distinguished itself by its serious investigative reporting on sensitive issues that are in the public interest. The paper’s deputy editor, Ilya Barabanov, was in August 2010 awarded the Peter Mackler prize for Courageous and Ethical Journalism for the “OMON slaves” report. In the report, Barabanov exposed abuse of power within the OMON, which comes under the control of the interior ministry. He described how OMON police officers were encouraged to violently put down demonstrations, exploit illegal immigrants and to make prostitutes pay for their protection. The story was produced from a series of interviews with former officers. Moscow’s General Directorate of Internal Affairs (GUVD) sued The New Times claiming that Barabanov’s report was an attack on its dignity and reputation and was based on unchecked sources. The head of the GUVD on 2 September obtained an order from the Moscow court to search the newspaper’s offices to identify the sources of the report.. Finally, the officers were pressured to give false testimony in the court case against the newspaper. Most of those who had been interviewed withdrew their comments soon after the article was published, claiming they had been distorted. At a hearing on 19 November, former OMON officer, Sergey Taran, said that he could not recall the subjects raised by the journalist. Barabanov told Reporters Without Borders that the reason for the U-turn was that the had been threatened and bribed by the GUVD. The officer had been re-hired by a GUVD service, shortly before the hearing. The New Times condemned this pressure in a new report, headlined “How to break the OMON soldiers”. These reactions confirm the serious dysfunction and abuses within this body that were exposed by Ilya Barabanov’s investigation, the organisation said. In condemning The New Times, the Moscow court discourages quality investigative journalism that aims to expose and inform the public about serious social problems such as abuses on the part of the Russian police services, it added.