'Mafia' targets journalists abroad p. 15

By: Tom Fenton

Criminal groups in the former Eastern bloc have spread rapidly since the fall of communism, presenting journalists with dangerous reporting challenges sp.

VIRGINIJUS GAIVENIS, A reporter for the Lithuanian daily Respublika, is so worried about retaliation by the Vilnius Brigade, a local mafia, that he now moves his wife and child out of Vilnius whenever he publishes a potentially dangerous story.
"I don't care about myself, but I really worry about my family," said Gaivenis, who took over the work of a crusading colleague, Vitas Lingys, who was shot to death while walking to work last fall.
Lingys is believed to have been targeted by the Vilnius Brigade because of his stories on arms smuggling.
Gaivenis is not alone in his concerns, according to reporters and editors from countries in the former Soviet Union who attended a conference here earlier this year on "The Media and the Mafia."
Although the situation is different in each country, the conference participants agreed that the mafia ? which is the generic name for criminal groups in the former Eastern bloc ? has spread rapidly since the fall of communism, presenting journalists with dangerous reporting challenges.
The Zurich conference was sponsored by the Freedom Forum and held in conjunction with the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers (FIEJ).
"What we're really talking about is the criminalization of these societies," said Stephen Handelman, former Moscow bureau chief for the Toronto Star, who has written a book on the subject.
Among the common themes emerging were:
? Ruthless gangsters, government officials and former Communist security agents are exploiting a lawless vacuum in the transition from communism.
? Crimes that are occurring with regularity include cold-blooded murders, extortion, smuggling, theft, prostitution and fraud.
? Astronomical amounts of money are trading hands in off-the-books sales of national resources.
? Legal systems are not sufficiently developed to regulate currency, banking and exports, let alone provide authorities with the tools to go after organized crime.
Hungarian journalist Endre Acz?l offered this advice: "Those who are really interested in organized crime better forget about petty criminals, prostitution, drugs, rackets and so on. Look into the privatization process in every single European post-communist country. This is where the real crime is happening. All the rest is peanuts."
Acz?l said that while communist governments were able to nationalize property overnight, restoring it to private hands in an equitable manner will take years. And with poorly paid public officials in charge of property worth billions of dollars, Acz?l said, "organized crime and corruption is totally unavoidable."
Giulietto Chiesa, Moscow correspondent for the Italian daily La Stampa, said crooked Russian bureaucrats are pulling off "the biggest swindle of the century" with off-the-books sales of natural resources.
How big? "No one knows. A leading world economist estimated it at $30 billion," Chiesa said.
What happens to that money? Journalists think some is being used to buy state property in the privatization process ? often in sweetheart deals. If this continues in Russia, crime bosses, former KGB agents and colluding officials will own the largest enterprises, the reporters said.
"The West so far has stupidly supported this transmission, having no idea about the result of it," Chiesa said. "This criminalization of Russia will be international very soon. And then the West will realize it misread the process of reform."
Increasingly, the participants said, reporters who make organized crime their beat may pay for their stories with their lives. Most participants agreed that once the mafia marks a journalist for death, there isn't much anyone can do.
"Police in Russia say that if one of the criminal organizations wants to kill the chief of police, they'll do it. Even bodyguards won't help," said Igor Baranovski of the Moscow News.
Still, they take precautions. At Gaivenis' paper in Lithuania, most reporters keep guns handy, and police have given Respublika staffers tips on how to tell whether they are being followed and how to minimize their exposure on the streets.
Peter Vajda of the Budapest daily Nepszabads?g said his paper routinely protects journalists by withholding bylines on stories about organized crime and the ultra-right.
But Martin Dugas of Slovakian television said that in small countries where everyone knows each other, withholding bylines offers little protection. He recommended joint publication of stories likely to put a journalist in danger.
Chiesa urged Western reporters to help colleagues in Central and Eastern Europe by building international teams of investigative reporters.
"Put together three, four or 10 journalists able to work in a coordinated way . . . . It will be difficult to kill one journalist because the whole team will be involved," he said.
Ali Rahnema, FIEJ special projects officer, urged journalists to seek international assistance when threatened.
"Protesting can be effective," Rahnema said. "It helps prevent the next case."
For most of the countries, the transition from communism has meant the creation of a whole new legal system. Participants questioned whether much progress will be made against organized crime until adequate laws are in place.
But even when laws are on the books, there may be no means of enforcing them. Police often find themselves outgunned by criminals with better cars and radios.
Ron Ostrow of the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau said the situation is similar to the United States in the early 1960s.
Ostrow said the Federal Bureau of Investigation became effective against the mob only after Congress enacted a series of measures strengthening law enforcement, including wiretap laws, witness protection programs and the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Chiesa said Italian authorities made headway against the mafia only after journalists ? and the public ? realized they had support from inside the government.