Pozner Show Will Continue Airing on Channel 1 – TV Personality
MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) – Famous TV anchor Vladimir Pozner has said that his show will continue airing on Channel 1 and that he has not had to apologize to anyone for his comments about the Russian law enforcement system.
“Let me get things clear. I did not apologize, I was not fired, reports of my departure are absolute nonsense, and if no accident occurs, this is not my last show today,” he said on his show on Channel 1 on Sunday.
“It all started when some State Duma member – I don’t remember his name – insisted that I apologize for my not very complementary statements about justice in Russia and that I be dismissed, if I don’t apologize. Then some Internet source reported that my last program would go on air on the 11th after which I would leave for France forever,” he said.
Pozner said he would continue working on his show and “expressing my own opinion without any constraints” because a significant part of television viewers like that.
“I know that far from everyone likes me. Some people don’t even like my clothes, say, my jackets, and they say it live on air. Apparently it troubles them that much or they don’t have anything else to talk about. Others are irritated by the fact that I have three passports. I understand them, I would be irritated too. However, I can get over that,” Pozner said.
The scandal broke out after, in one of his programs, Pozner compared interrogations of opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev to methods used by the KGB (Soviet secret police), which, according to the journalist, beat suspects into making “sincere confessions.”
On October 31, State Duma deputy Ilya Kostunov, a member of the ruling United Russia party, sent a letter to Channel 1 General Director Konstantin Ernst demanding Pozner’s dismissal.
Pozner was unfazed by Kostunov’s demand. He said that Ernst did not discuss the Duma deputy’s demand with him. “He will either ignore it or fire me. There are only two options, that is apparent,” he told PublicPost.