Magazine editor fired for election fraud story

The editor of a prominent Russian news magazine has been fired after it printed a photograph featuring an obscene message addressed to Vladimir Putin as part of extensive reports on alleged fraud in the 4 December parliamentary election.

Maxim Kovalsky said yesterday he had been dismissed as editor of Kommersant-Vlast over the magazine’s Monday edition, which included several articles examining alleged electoral violations favouring the prime minister’s United Russia party.

The dismissal suggests that Mr Putin still holds vast influence over the Russian media, despite mass protests against him and a decline in his ruling party’s support at the election.

Mr Kovalsky said: “The reason is the issue about the election.”

He said he believed the Kremlin had put pressure on Kommersant Publishing House owner Alisher Usmanov, a metals tycoon.

He added that he had no regrets about the publication, saying: “I acted absolutely consciously and believe I did the right thing.”

A spokeswoman for Metalloinvest, a company owned by Mr Usmanov, confirmed that Mr Kovalsky and the head of the magazine’s parent company, Kommersant-Holding, Andrei Galiyev, had been fired.

Asked for comment, the spokeswoman sent a report from gazeta.ru, a news website also linked to Mr Usmanov, that cited the oligarch as saying unspecified material that appeared in recent issues of Kommersant-Vlast had violated journalistic ethics. Mr Usmanov is quoted as saying: “These materials border on petty hooliganism.”

Tens of thousands of Russians protested on Saturday over the parliamentary election they said was rigged in favour of United Russia, calling for a new election.