Russia leader picks critics for interview
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 16, 2009 00:00
MOSCOW - Democracy remains indispensable to Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev said in a rare interview published yesterday with a hard-hitting paper scarred by tragedy and bitterly critical of the Kremlin.
Aides said the president's interview was aimed at lending support to the Novaya Gazeta, amid intrigue over possible differences between Medvedev and his predecessor Vladimir Putin as he prepares to mark one year in power. Putin never talked to the newspaper while yesterday's comments marked Medvedev's first major interview with any Russian newspaper since taking office on May 7 last year. Asked whether Russians were effectively sacrificing democracy for the sake of economic well-being, Medvedev insisted there could be no such bargain and that democracy was already established in the country.
"You cannot under any circumstances set a stable and successful life against an array of political rights and freedoms," he said. "You cannot set democracy against satisfaction.... I don't think we need to rehabilitate democracy. We've had democracy, have it and will continue to have it."
Under Putin, Russia enjoyed several years of strong economic growth but was criticized by the West for building economic stability at the expense of a flourishing democracy.
The Novaya Gazeta is the Russian newspaper most critical of the Kremlin and has been shadowed by tragedy, notably the shooting dead in 2006 of star reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who uncovered a string of abuses in Chechnya, and the fatal shooting of intern Anastasiya Baburova this year.
"The president wanted to lend moral support" to the publication, said Medvedev's spokeswoman, adding he had not been left indifferent by the "horrific" crimes against the paper.
When Medvedev, a lawyer by training, replaced Putin as president in May, liberal analysts hoped he would promote further democratic reform in Russia but there has so far been little sign of real change. But, observers scrutinized the relationship between Medvedev and Putin - now a powerful PM - for signs of splits. Medvedev remained aloof from one of the main issues at the center of current intrigue, the repeat trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia's former richest man.
"You cannot under any circumstances set a stable and successful life against an array of political rights and freedoms," he said. "You cannot set democracy against satisfaction.... I don't think we need to rehabilitate democracy. We've had democracy, have it and will continue to have it."
Under Putin, Russia enjoyed several years of strong economic growth but was criticized by the West for building economic stability at the expense of a flourishing democracy.
The Novaya Gazeta is the Russian newspaper most critical of the Kremlin and has been shadowed by tragedy, notably the shooting dead in 2006 of star reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who uncovered a string of abuses in Chechnya, and the fatal shooting of intern Anastasiya Baburova this year.
"The president wanted to lend moral support" to the publication, said Medvedev's spokeswoman, adding he had not been left indifferent by the "horrific" crimes against the paper.
When Medvedev, a lawyer by training, replaced Putin as president in May, liberal analysts hoped he would promote further democratic reform in Russia but there has so far been little sign of real change. But, observers scrutinized the relationship between Medvedev and Putin - now a powerful PM - for signs of splits. Medvedev remained aloof from one of the main issues at the center of current intrigue, the repeat trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia's former richest man.