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Frankfurt Fair Retracts Invitation To Pro-Chechnya Reporter
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"It
is a political scandal," Politkovskaya
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By
Khaled Schmitt, IOL Correspondent
BONN,
September 29 (IslamOnline.net) – An anti-Chechnya war Russian
journalist dismissed on Sunday, September 28, as "a political
scandal" the decision taken by the Frankfurt International Book
Fair to retract an invitation to the much-celebrated event set for
October 8.
"The
Frankfurt Fair administration has recently sent me a letter in which
it regretted retracting an invitation extended months ago to and
participate in the prestigious fair along with a Russian media
delegation," the German Der Spiegel magazine quoted as
saying famed Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a correspondent
for the Moscow biweekly Novaya Gazeta.
Politkovskaya
said that the Fair administration notified her through an email of
"canceling a symposium on the Chechnyan cause on the sidelines of
the celebrated exhibition for Putin’s sake."
She
said the pressures exercised by the Russian authorities have paid off,
particularly in light of the forthcoming visit of Vladimir Putin to
the Fair, as Russia was chosen to be guest of honor this year.
The
Russian newspaper had issued a series of books against the Russian
military campaign in Chechnya; chief among which are 'Chechnya….
Facts of the War' and 'A Journey to Hell …. A Chechen Diary.'
The
second book has led to issuing a series of statements by world human
rights organizations and the European Parliament against the Russian
violations of human rights in Chechnya.
The
German Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper revealed in April that
Putin had received an official report from his government that showed
that the crimes of killing, murder, abduction and persecution
practiced by the Russian army against Chechen Muslims exceeded 100
cases per month.
No
Interference
Frankfurt
Fair spokesman denied any interference by the Russian government or
that the fair had yielded to Russian pressures to cancel the Chechnya
symposium, dismissing as "groundless" the statements made by
Politkovskaya.
"A
German publishing house, which translated 'A Journey to Hell,'
extended the invitation to the Russian reporter then take it back due
to lack of funds," Holger Eihling told German Der Spiegel.
Eihling
pointed out that more than 2500 publishing houses, Russian publish and
non-Russian -- which printed books against the Russian war in Chechnya
–- will participate in the fair's activities.
On
September 16, a Norwegian cultural institution said it stood ready to
pay the expenses of Politkovskaya's visit to Germany.
Guest
of Honor
The
Fair's administration has previously chosen Russia to be the guest of
honor in 2003 and invited 150 Russian intellectuals and writers to
visit the Fair and highlight the modern Russian literature.
Russia’s
participation through its partition, named 'Russia, A New Page,'
includes a demonstration of its old and contemporary literary
production and seminars to discuss current events in Russia on the
political, economic and social arenas.
Total
costs of Russian participation in the Fair amount to 4.5 million euros
to be completely paid by the Russian government.
2500
publishers from 104 states will participate in the events of the
Frankfurt International Book Fair.
The
new manager of the Fair has decided to expand the activities of the
Fair to include a mini-festival for modern cinema and TV movies. A
cinema house has been set up in the Fair premises to house 400
spectators.
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