"The freedom forum weekley", jan. 23, 1995
Chechen war can destroy free press, democratic image, Russian judge says
ARLINGTON, Va. - Russian Judge Ernest M. Ametistov called for mobilization of the mass media, public opinion and political leaders around the world to bring pressure on Boris Yeltsin to end the bloody war in Chechhya.
Speaking Jan. 16 at the Freedom Forum World Center, Ametistov repeatedly branded the Chechen conflict "terrible" and "shameful."
"The main danger for all human rights and freedoms, especially freedom of the press, is [this] current situation in Russia," said the judge from Russia's highest court. "It is necessary to stop the bloodshed in Chechnya at any cost and begin the (peace) talks. ... I want to call on all mass media ... opinion of this country and other countries and all public officials ... to use all their influence to stop this shameful war."
He blamed the situation on an overly tolerant attitude by the Russian government toward freedom and dissent. "The current situation in Russia is the result of this problem," he said. "Freedom should be tolerant, but to what limits?" The Russian government "went too far," Ametistov said. "The tolerance of democracy must have strict limits which cannot be crossed,"
Ametistov added that as a result of this tolerance, the situation in Chechnya now threatens to overturn democratic advances made since the fall of the Soviet Union. "The main and most tragic thing is that the image of democratic government has already become considerably worcs," he said "After this war, during this war, this image could be completely destroyed."
If that occurs, he said, the questions is which forces would move into the leadership vacuum. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a member of the Russian parliament aligned with reactionary forces, "has a very big chance" of succeeding Yeltsin as president, Ametistov said. "It's impossible to unnderestimate him. He's a very big danger. ... If he should win, what we have now in Chechnya we could have around Russia in all previous republics of the Soviet Union and very serious internal conflicts in Russia."
From a constitutional point of view, Chechnya has no right to withdraw from Russia, he said. "The tragedy is that the president is right ... but how he's doing it, how the government is doing it, how army is doing it is wrong because it is a gross violation of human rights."
Ametistov said he "cannot believe" Yeltsin's claim that he was unaware that the bombing of Chechnya continued after his supposed order to stop it. "It's impossible to believe. ... He's in charge, and I think he should bear all resposibillity for everything that has happened."
