Although the freeing of Radio Liberty correspondent Andrei Babitsky, who disappeared in Chechnya on January 16, is certainly welcome news, it is by no means the end of this story. The Babitsky affair has become a crucial litmus test of acting Russian president Vladimir Putin's policies, as well as of the ability of Russian society to understand and respond to those policies. Although Putin has made numerous statements, since taking office, that would seem to indicate his support for civil liberties in general and press freedom in particular, it is evident that he envisions a society in which all resources are marshaled in support of government policies. The stronger the government, the stronger personal freedom . . .
Democracy is a dictatorship of law.
Although Putin pays lip service to the idea that an independent press is a powerful safeguard against state corruption, he believes unambiguously that the role of the press is to generate public support for state initiatives, and not public discussion of them. Yastrezhembsky, who has been responsible for the strict control of information regarding the military action in Chechnya, is not the only member of Putin's government to go on record with such views. I don't agree with the thesis that the state is more dangerous to the media than the media is to the state. I believe quite the opposite. But, unfortunately, both his courage and his journalistic qualities were not utilized for the good of Russia, but to its detriment.