Deputies pardoned Posner

On January 27, in the afterword of the author’s program on Channel One, Vladimir Pozner again apologized for a slip of the tongue in one of the programs (on air on December 23, the journalist, commenting on the response to the “Magnitsky Law,” called parliament “the State Duma” and immediately apologized for the mistake).

“I had a rather long New Year’s vacation. I was absent for quite a long time, and I know that my person was discussed quite a lot, and therefore I would like to say the following about this: I made a slip in one program and apologized, sincerely apologized, and again for this I apologize for the slip, and only for this slip,” Posner said at the end of the interview with violist Yuri Bashmet.

In response, the authors of the bill providing for sanctions against journalists with foreign citizenship (more details in the PublicPost material ) decided to postpone it for now. PublicPost spoke with the authors of “Posner’s Law” and the TV presenter himself.

Vladimir Pozner, TV presenter:

"I don't comment at all on what I say. I said what I said.

I have absolutely little interest in these things: deputies do what they want; I say what I think is necessary."

Igor Zotov, State Duma deputy from the A Just Russia faction, a group of independent deputies:

“I will talk to my comrades and recommend to them not to introduce it (the law - editor’s note) into the Duma for now. But if such incidents and incorrect statements are repeated again, not necessarily from Posner, from journalists with double or triple citizenship branches of government, then we will initiate the introduction of the law and seek its adoption.

— Will the law affect only Russian journalists with foreign citizenship?

Optional. Perhaps all journalists who have violated professional ethics. I'm not saying you can't criticize. The law is in my safe. I will not reveal all the secrets of this law, but everyone should think about being correct and observing journalistic ethics when taking interviews, speaking on television and radio channels, writing in newspapers.

— Why did you decide not to introduce the law? Maybe a signal came from the presidential administration?

Posner, under our pressure, apologized in the program, which is why the State Duma is making this decision. Nobody put pressure on me. I am very big in mass: it’s hard to put pressure on me. It was the decision of the deputy corps."

Andrei Lugovoi, deputy from the LDPR faction:

“I feel deep satisfaction from the apology that Posner made to the country and to the entire Russian people. I think this happened primarily thanks to our principled position and the position of those people who prepared the letter and the law. Thanks to our energetic pressure and those educational Due to the measures we took, Posner was forced to do this. Therefore, at the moment, we will probably not insist on developing this topic, although we have a law ready and we can introduce it at any time. We reserve the right. in the event that Posner or gentlemen like him ever allow any impudent statements addressed to the highest authorities, act firmly, professionally and principledly.

— Igor Zotov did not rule out that the law will be expanded and all journalists will fall under it, regardless of citizenship.

We discussed this in the context that we have freedom of speech, and journalists, taking advantage of their position, have the right to subject any criticism to the actions of any official, politician, bureaucrat, but there must be rules of decency. There should be no derogatory insults against the highest authorities.

If we allow this kind of action in the public sphere, we simply will not have respect for the authorities. We don't have much of it anyway. Unfortunately, in both tsarist and communist times, we allowed many things, so in the end we have a kind of nihilism towards any government.

— Are journalists to blame for this?

No, society, journalists and the government itself are to blame for this. If journalists or politicians indulge in such insults, they must be corrected. Criticism must be constructive - one must not descend to redneckness, rudeness and similar things that journalists sometimes allow themselves when criticizing the authorities and going to the authorities."

Mikhail Starshinov, deputy from the United Russia faction:

“After the steps that were taken by the deputies, Vladimir Pozner was forced to apologize. Taking this into account, we will not insist that our bill be adopted now, although it has already been written and is ready to be submitted to the State Duma. I admit that I am overjoyed I don’t feel this situation, but overall I’m satisfied with the apology. Posner, as I already said, had to take back his words; without a clear and consistent reaction from parliamentarians, this would hardly have happened.

We always welcome dialogue between the authorities and the media, as well as constructive criticism. However, I would like to once again draw the attention of the entire journalistic community to the inadmissibility of such offensive statements regarding our country and the highest bodies of state power."