Front -free struggle

The owner of the Kommersant Publishing House Alisher Usmanov said that he had acted correctly, having fired the editor -in -chief of the magazine "Power" Maxim Kovalsky for "Hooligan publications" in the last issue. Thus, Usmanov reacted to an open letter from journalists of a publishing house, Gazeta.ru reports. "I believe that I did the right decision and do not intend to refuse it. I can emotionally understand the journalists who spoke out in support of the dismissed top managers. However, I once again wanted to identify my position. The magazine" Kommersant Power "is a respectable independent socio-political publication that enjoys authority and influence on public opinion. However, the authors crossed the grains, violated the grains. Elementary ethical norms that are adopted in a decent society, ”said Usmanov ( full text of the application ).

According to him, the reporters of the "Kommersant" expressed, expressed and will express their position freely. " “But it is necessary to do this in the correct form that does not offend a draw of dignity,” Usmanov said. He also expressed his readiness "to fully understand each other in the near future to meet everyone from among the signatories."

On Wednesday, leading journalists of the Kommersant Publishing House came in support of Maxim Kovalsky. “We consider his dismissal as a shares of intimidation,” the open letter says ( full text ). The letter was signed by Grigory Revzin, Anna Narinskaya, Dmitry Butrin, Oleg Kashin, Olga Allenova, Grigory Dashevsky and many other journalists.

The purpose of Kovalsky’s dismissal is “not to allow any critical statement to Vladimir Putin, even in an indirect form of publishing photos of texts, where they speak out of it without proper food,” the open letter says. "We are forced to cowardly, which is unworthy and unproductive. The attempt to present the dismissal of a person for a professional position for the purity of the Russian language is especially embarrassing. This is the same falsification that offended people in the elections," the journalists emphasize.

The day before, Usmanov announced personnel changes in the leadership of the publishing house. In addition to Kovalsky, the general director of Kommersant-Holding CJSC Andrei Galiev was sent to resign. The reason for the resignations, according to Usmanov, was the publication of a number of materials in the last issues of the magazine, which the owner, which had never been interfering with the journalistic activity of his publications before that time, regarded a violation of journalistic ethics.

“These materials border on petty hooliganism,” Utenov explained, not excluding the possibility of applying to the court for their publication with a lawsuit against Maxim Kovalsky.

The last issue of the magazine "Kommersant Power" was devoted to the results of the parliamentary elections and protests against falsifications. The main material of the number was entitled "The Victory of Homelands", the cover was depicted by Vladimir Putin, looking into the electoral urn. The material under the heading " Apple Pui " talked about the vote of Russians living in the UK. The report is illustrated by the photographs of the Hutin Pui graffiti and the ballot balloon with the inscription "Putin, the fuck went."

Director General Demyan Kudryavtsev resigned and published an official apology in his blog: "When issuing the 49th issue of the Power magazine", internal procedures and rules of the Kommersant Publishing House, professional journalism and legislation of the Russian Federation were violated. The leadership of the publishing house regrets this and brings its apologies to readers and partners. " Meanwhile, a source familiar with the situation said that Kudryavtsev’s resignation would not be accepted. According to him, Kudryavtsev took responsibility for the failure that occurred in the journal, but is not in solidarizes with such violations of legislation and journalistic ethics.

In turn, the dismissed editor-in-chief of the "authorities" Maxim Kovalsky said that he did not regret the content of the last issue of the publication, due to which he was resigned. "I do not begin to discuss, deservedly, undeservedly resigned me - this is the position of the leadership. But I have a firm confidence that I did everything right, and I do not regret that the last issue of the magazine was just that," Kovalsky said. “I can also notice that I was at the head of the magazine for more than 12 years and I feel sorry for it to part with it,” he added. The dismissal statement was also filed by the deputy Kovalsky Veronika Kutsyllo.