Ufa

Radio Titan suffered the same fate as the Titanic
On May 27, at about 5 p.m. in Ufa, several dozen people blocked Karl Marx Street. They protested against the government's persecution of the local radio station Titan. The police quickly dispersed the protesters, detaining the activists. Among others, the head of the radio station and ex-candidate for the presidency of the republic, Rafis Kadyrov, was jailed.

The conflict between Titan and the Ufa authorities began last week over a rather banal issue. Officials decided to terminate the lease agreement for the radio station building, concluded with one of its founders, the Titan Company.
Journalists perceived this as a purely political action - an infringement of freedom of speech - and called on the air to the entire population of Ufa to stand up “to defend democracy.” As Kommersant has already reported, during the campaign for the presidential elections in Bashkiria, which will be held on June 14, the local Central Election Commission eliminated in advance all candidates who could compete with the current head of the republic, Murtaza Rakhimov. And the radio station has recently provided airtime to many opposition-minded politicians, in particular failed presidential candidates.
The Ufa courtyard in which the editorial office was located was renamed "Freedom Square" by Titan, and his supporters and police officers were on duty around the clock all week. Meanwhile, one after another, programs were broadcast with calls to take to the streets of the city to resist “the tyrannical regime that is strangling independent media in the republic,” “to save and seize the state television broadcast in order to have the opportunity to convey the truth about the lawlessness happening in the republic,” etc. . P.
On Monday, the authorities' patience ran out, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bashkiria opened a criminal case against the president of the Titan Company, Altaf Galeev. He is charged with publicly insulting a government official while on duty. Broadcasting of "Titan" was stopped.
This outraged the defenders of the radio station even more, and they took decisive action, blocking one of the central highways of Ufa - Karl Marx Street. But the police were ready for such a development and literally dispersed the protesters in a matter of minutes. At the same time, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Galeev offered armed resistance and even fired several times into the air.
As a result, the entrepreneur and several dozen of his most active supporters were detained. Among them was ex-candidate for president of the republic, banker Rafis Kadyrov. A case was opened against him, Galeev and radio station employee Liliya Ismagilova for causing “minor bodily harm” to law enforcement officers. The rest of the rioters will apparently get off with administrative penalties.
Now Ufa's "Freedom Square" is completely freed from its defenders and is guarded by the police. And most of the opposition leaders to whom it provided airwaves actually renounced their support for the radio station. Back on May 24, many of them signed a joint statement condemning both the arbitrariness of local authorities against independent media and the extremist calls of Titan.
NIKOLAY-PETROV, Ufa

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 96 dated May 30, 1998, p. 7

Ufa – Kommersant newspaper No. 96 (1499) dated 05/30/1998