Mass Rally Staged in Russia's St. Petersburg Against NTV ReshuffleThousands of people rallied in Russia's second biggest city of St. Petersburg on Sunday to support what the independent NTV television journalists call a fight against the Kremlin control over free media.According to Russian news agencies, some 5,000 people took part in the demonstration at the city's central Troitskaya Square. They, waving placards and Russian flags, protested against the Kremlin- backed reshuffle of the NTV personnel, just one day after a 10,000- strong rally in Moscow backing NTV's stand against last week's boardroom coup by state-dominated gas giant Gazprom. At the two-hour rally, Russian State Duma (parliament) Deputy Igor Artemyev from the Yabloko party told the demonstrators that "by defending NTV we are defending our motherland -- free Russia." "For us, it is important that NTV is not just an information provider but expresses our way of thinking, and in this way it has become our political leader," he was cited as saying, as the crowd cried "Freedom! Freedom!" A leader of the dismissed staffers said that the NTV journalists will "fight to the end." No violations of public order were reported. The head of Gazprom's media arm said his firm would reply Tuesday to an offer by CNN founder Ted Turner to buy into the station, but a final deal could take months. On April 3, Gazprom replaced the board at NTV, Russia's only independent nationwide television network, ousting founder Vladimir Gusinsky and replacing managing director Yevgeny Kiselyov with an American banker. The following day, Turner announced he had struck a deal to buy an NTV stake from Gusinsky, but said he could ensure its independence only if he reaches a deal with Gazprom as well. Industry sources familiar with the talks say Turner's camp wants a deal with Gazprom as soon as possible, with an eye to the U.S. magnate clinching about 30 percent of the group. Alfred Kokh, Gazprom-Media chief and elected chairman of the NTV board of directors at a Gazprom shareholders' meeting, believes that despite a rather volatile situation, a reasonable compromise on the conflict over the TV channel is quite within reach. "We have no scenario of how events could further unfold," he told the news and views program Zerkalo (Mirror) on the state RTR channel on Sunday. "We are trying to prove that we are ready for a dialogue, want to keep the staff intact, and seek to ensure that the channel is independent from the shareholders and creditors," Kokh said. At present, Gusinsky owns 49 percent of NTV and Gazprom owns 46 percent. But the gas company says it controls the station because Gusinsky's share includes a 19 percent stake that was frozen by a court due to outstanding debts to Gazprom. |
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