Lyudmila Alexeeva, Photo for Radio Liberty in Exile by Yuri Timofeev.
March 21, 2013
For Immediate Release
CUSIB Marks 6-Month Anniversary of the Unjust Firing of Radio Liberty Journalists
CUSIB is urging the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to pay close attention to a statement made by Russian human rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Lyudmila Alexeyeva, as Russian authorities are searching the offices of human rights NGOs in an effort to intimidate them: “To save the reputation of Radio Liberty, it should have been done the day before yesterday …. Radio Liberty has suffered an irreparable damage, but it is never too late to correct mistakes, even knowing that the damage that was done is enormous.”
Lyudmila Alexeyeva made this statement during an exclusive interview with fired Radio Liberty award-winning human rights reporter Kristina Gorelik on the 6-month anniversary of the unjust and misguided dismissal of dozens of experienced Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalists in Russia. The previous management also had fired journalists in Kazakh, Turkmen and other RFE/RL services and cancelled their human rights programs.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva is calling for the restoration of the former team of Radio Liberty (Radio Svoboda) that was so “imprudently discarded.” Many other pro-democracy leaders in Russia, including former President and Nobel Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev, have made similar calls to the BBG, the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Secretary of State. We concur.
CUSIB remains dedicated to protecting the rights of human rights journalists. We refuse to step back, give up, or abandon these brave reporters and their audience.
CUSIB urges the dedicated RFE/RL journalists not to lose hope. There are many Americans outside of CUSIB, including Members of Congress and U.S. NGOs who share Lyudmila Alexeyeva’s sentiment that: “Anxiety about what had happened to Radio Liberty, a radio so important for us, is also widespread in the United States. And because one can feel this concern in Congress, among government officials, in civic organizations, I am confident that the problem is being solved and it will be solved.”
CUSIB trusts that RFE/RL’s new Acting President, distinguished journalist and media executive Kevin Klose, will have the fortitude to achieve these goals without any further delay and with full support from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
For further information, please contact:
Ann Noonan, co-founder and Executive Director
Tel. 646-251-6069
Ted Lipien, co-founder and Director
Tel. 415-793-1642
You may also email us at: contact@cusib.org.
The Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB) is a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization working to strengthen free flow of uncensored news from the United States to countries with restricted and developing media environments.