Ekho Moskvy in danger after the dismissal of its veteran journalist Alexander Plyuschev

The Ekho Moskvy radio journalist Alexander Plyuschev was fired on Thursday by the state-controlled holding Gazprom Media, which owns a 66 percent share in the radio station. According to Mikhail Lesin, the head of the media holding, the dismissal was due to the violation of “all permissible moral and ethical norms” by the journalist.

In fact, the firing has apparently to do with a post by Plyuschev on Twitter, where he commented on the death of the son of Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov on the 3^rd of November. Remembering that Ivanov’s son killed a 68-year-old retiree with his car several years ago, the journalist wondered whether his death was “proof of the existence of God/higher justice”.

However, Ekho Moskvy’s editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov stated that the decision has no force for him and that he would ignore the Gazprom Media ruling. According to the radio station’s statute, only the editor-in-chief can dismiss the editorial staff and therefore, he said, “Alexander Plyuschev remains a journalist of Ekho Moskvy”.

It is not the first time when the radio station is under pressure. It suffered several attacks during President Vladimir Putin’s rule and, recently, it got a Government warning for “information justifying war crimes” for a talk show hosted by Plyuschev. The situation is uncertain: because of his defiance, Venediktov himself could be fired by Lesin, and the Ekho Moskvy’s independence and future are both in danger.

 
Photo: http://www.sptimes.ru