Governor of St. Petersburg Anatoly Sobchak (center) and his assistant Vladimir Putin (2nd right) visit Novocherkassk in 1992.
Photo: Âëàäèñëàâ Æóðàâëåâ
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Latvian TV Chief Quits over Putin Show
The decision by the management of Latvian national television to cancel the showing of a French-made documentary about Russian President Vladimir Putin The Putin System has caused a firestorm of controversy and now has resulted in the resignation of general director of Latvian Television Janis Holsteins at a special session of the National Radio and Television Council.
The film was to air on LTV on December 1, the day before the Russian State Duma elections. It was shot by French director Jean Michel Carre with Jill Emery in Europe, the United States and Russia and traces Putin's life and career. It features interviews with colleagues of the Russian president as well as his opponents. When the film was rescheduled from December 1 to December 8, allegedly because of a broken cassette, the Latvian press cried censorship and claimed the Russian embassy in Riga had opposed the showing.
The controversy increased after chairman of the National Radio and Television Council Abram Kletskin told a parliamentary commission on education, culture and science that it was a mistake to schedule the film at all, since Russia could interpret it as an unfriendly gesture on the eve of the signing by the two countries of a border agreement. His comment received a sharply negative response from Justice Minister Gaidis Berzins, and that was followed by accusations by Latvian President Valdis Zatlers and Prime Minister Aigar Kalvitis of censorship by the National Radio and Television Council.
As he resigned, Holsteins declared the rescheduling of the film “an idiotic mistake.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 07, 2007
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