Translated material
Unparliamentary behavior
An open letter from the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta in St. Petersburg to the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly, Vyacheslav Makarov.
Dear Vyacheslav Serafimovich!
You are, of course, aware of the conflict that occurred in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, October 5, when deputy Anatoly Drozdov insulted the correspondent of Novaya Gazeta in St. Petersburg, distorted her last name to the point of indecency, and allowed himself to engage in minor assault (the video is available in the editorial office, and also posted on Youtube ).
In the editorial office of Novaya Gazeta in St. Petersburg, we analyzed the situation, talking with witnesses to the incident, reconstructed the picture of what happened, had a conversation with the correspondent and drew the appropriate conclusions for ourselves. I, as the editor of the publication, believe that Alexandra showed excessive passionarity, which, however, in no way relieves deputy Drozdov of responsibility.
You can object to me, as representatives of your press service did, that Garmazhapova showed unprofessionalism when she followed Drozdov for a long time, emotionally demanding an apology. And I would agree with you, if not for one “but”. Our surnames, and the surname of Deputy Drozdov, are quite difficult to disfigure to the point of indecency and to play with obscenely. The Buryat surname Garmazhapov is unusual to the ear of the average parliamentarian. Perhaps that is why Deputy Drozdov found her so funny that he decided to practice his wit on her.
I am far from thinking that he wanted to violate Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but this scandal has already received a completely unnecessary resonance for our city.
Yesterday State Duma deputy Aldar Damdinov (prior to his election to the Duma, Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Buryatia) called the editorial office of Novaya Gazeta in St. Petersburg. He expressed his indignation that in the St. Petersburg parliament “they are switching to a person’s nationality and insultingly changing the names of their ancestors,” and said that he intends to raise this issue at a meeting of the United Russia faction.
In this regard, we would like to know whether an analysis of the incident was carried out in the Legislative Assembly, what conclusions Mr. Drozdov made, whether he is ready to voluntarily and forcibly apologize to Alexandra Garmazhapova, and to what extent journalists can henceforth be protected from the rudeness of people’s representatives. Moreover, this is not the first case of unparliamentary behavior within the walls of the Mariinsky Palace.