A television show by the leading liberal journalist Vladimir Pozner on Channel One was censored before airing, possibly on the orders of the broadcaster’s chief, Konstantin Ernst, The New Times reported Monday.
In an afterword to the program, recorded and aired Nov. 21, Pozner criticized Russian authorities over their reaction to the extradition of alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout from Thailand to the United States earlier this month.
Pozner said on his eponymous show that foreigners mistreated Bout because Russian authorities themselves mistreat their citizens, citing cases of former Yukos executives Vasily Aleksanyan, Svetlana Bakhmina and Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
The speech was not aired, which Pozner said could only be done on Ernst’s orders. He has not commented on the story so far.