New York, September 21, 2004—Lithuania's State Security
Department (VSD) closed the pro-Chechen Web site KavkazCenter on
Friday after coming under intense pressure from the Kremlin, according
to local and international press reports.
The closure came one week after Lithuanian Ambassador to Russia Rimantas
Sidlauskas was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow for
an official protest.
Russian Foreign Ministry officials insisted at the September 13 meeting
that Lithuania shutter the "Chechen terrorist" Web site , according to
local press reports. KavkazCenter, hosted in Lithuania by the private
Internet Service Provider Elneta, is based on a server in the Vilnius
apartment of Soviet-era dissident Viktoras Petkus.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry initially balked at the request, saying
that a court ruling was required to shut down the Web site, local and
international outlets reported. But Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas
Brazauskas changed course on September 17 and echoed the Kremlin's criticism
of the Web site, saying, "Our country's law prohibits terrorist propaganda
and the instigation of ethnic hatred," The Associated Press reported.
Brazauskas made the announcement after KavkazCenter posted a statement
by Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev claiming responsibility for
a deadly hostage-taking operation in southern Russian town of Beslan that
killed some 330 people on September 3.
Journalists dispute Kremlin
While KavkazCenter openly supports Chechen rebels fighting
for independence from Russia, some Western and Russian journalists rely
on it for information due to government restrictions on access to the
war-torn region, as well as ongoing security risks for journalists there.
Some Moscow-based journalists who spoke with CPJ challenged the Kremlin's
criticism of KavkazCenter, saying that the Web site does not advocate
violence and regularly publishes breaking news about the war in Chechnya.
"Often they are the first to report on battles... [and] it's quite useful,
because it allows us to call the [Russian] Defense Ministry and get their
side of the story," one Moscow-based foreign correspondent who requested
anonymity told CPJ. "It's very slanted, but it's not any worse than Russian
[government] information."
Background
The Kremlin has spent years pressuring neighboring governments to
close the Web site as part of a broader campaign to suppress independent
sources of information on the war in Chechnya.
Sergei Yastrezhembsky, an adviser to President Vladimir Putin, warned
Estonian authorities in April 2003 that, "Countries which aspire to partnership
and mutually advantageous relations with the Russian Federation should
bear in mind Russia's categorical objection to the hosting of information
resources on behalf of Chechen separatists," the ITAR-TASS news agency
reported.
In 2003, Russia pushed Estonian authorities to close KavkazCenter
after the site posted a dramatic, two-minute video clip on April 20 that
showed a devastating rebel ambush on a bus in Chechnya allegedly carrying
special police.
The video, which was broadcast on some Russian television stations, severely
embarrassed the Russian government, whose upbeat reports about Chechnya
had failed to mention the April 15 ambush. The video provided fresh evidence
that a Kremlin-orchestrated peace process in Chechnya has failed to curtail
violence and normalize life in the region.
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