For the sake of a nice word

On June 19, RIA Novosti refused to allow UCF leader Garry Kasparov and other participants of the National Assembly to hold a press conference. The news agency refused a letter dated June 6 with a request to hold a press conference on July 3, 2008, by members of the Presidium of the National Assembly on the topic “On the work of the National Assembly.” Leaders of the “Other Russia” Garry Kasparov, Eduard Limonov, as well as ex-adviser to the Russian President Andrei Illarionov and former head of the Central Bank of Russia Viktor Gerashchenko planned to take part in the press conference.
Actually, it’s an ordinary event - everything that the “Other Russia” has been denied lately: renting premises, holding protests, it’s not always possible to even board a plane or train - they are also “denied”.

But something else is interesting in this story: on June 3, at the World Forum of Editors, where Garry Kasparov made a report “The Mythology of the Putin Regime,” Evgeny Abov, who represented the RIA Novosti agency at the forum, argued with him. Abov argued that there is freedom of speech in Russia, and as proof of his words, he stated that if Garry Kasparov applies for a press conference at RIA Novosti, then of course he will be provided with a hall.
Naturally, this did not happen. All that remains is to wait for Evgeniy Abov to admit that there is still no freedom of speech in Russia. But somehow it doesn’t work out well.