To protect authority of state security services! Russian intellectuals’ appeal to State Duma deputies

Deputies! We were induced to writing this letter to you by the morbid, ambiguous atmosphere that had formed in public opinion around special services. State security institution is not an average state institution, and it is retained and strengthened by any power. In today’s conditions of weakened Russia, of unprotected population, mass economical abuses, when criminals try to profit by transition period of our development, while hostile to Russia foreign forces want to influence the country’s internal and foreign policy, in such conditions, the special services have much more work. Analytics, fight against terror, repulse of information attacks – all this demands high confidence in the bodies. It should be added that mass coming in power bodies of the special services’ representatives, the President’s belonging to the bodies make special services’ workers the subject of rapt public attention, while waking up “statesmen,” to whatever sphere they would belong, to take care of security services’ authority. The campaign in the press, started with publishing in Novaya Gazeta fragments of Litvinenko’s book, supported by repeated Berezovski’s statements, that special services are implicated in houses’ explosions in Moscow and Volgodonsk and in averted explosion in Ryazan, and that was not rebuffed by authorities and not repulsed by pro-government mass media, entailed rumours in society, in political corridors, among intellectuals, and furthers creation of myths, feeds public neuralgia, spreads distrust and fear. Special services themselves, taking into account their specific, cannot effectively defend themselves from such attacks. We, who are directly connected with forming of public opinion, address to the State Duma with the request to create an authoritative parliament commission for investigation of reasons and circumstances of the hexogen explosions in the Russian cities in autumn of 1999. We are convinced that such commission will be able to found out special services’ position on these events.

The letter signed by: V.Chikin, editor-in-chief of Sovetskaya Russia newspaper; A.Prokhanov, writer, editor-in-chief of Zavtra newspaper; S.Kunyaev, writer, editor-in-chief of Nash Sovremennik literary monthly; V.Bondarenko, writer, editor-in-chief of Den Literatury newspaper; writers: Y.Isaev, Lenin Literary Prize laureate; M.Alexeev, State Literary Prize laureate; V.Lichutin, Russia’s Faithful Sons Prize laureate.

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/01/17/35683.html