Vladimir Zhirinovsky has all but admitted to using obscene language in an angry outburst aimed at George Bush and caught on film during a visit last year to Iraq. Zhirinovsky is still planning, however, to sue the channels that have shown the controversial footage over the past few days, accusing them of violating his privacy and publishing the tape without his permission.
On Tuesday the uncensored monologue of a person very much resembling an intoxicated Vladimir Zhirinovsky was the issue for discussion at the State Duma Council – the governing body of the lower house, which comprises the heads of all the political factions. Over the past weekend the scandalous footage of Zhirinovsky's rant about George W. Bush, made up mainly of expletives, was played on all Russia's federal television channels, and the vice-speaker's colleagues seem somewhat taken aback by his behaviour.
''If this did take place, then it's a real scandal,'' the head of the Duma ethics commission Galina Strelchenko told RIA-Novosti news agency. After the session Strelchenko told the journalists how Zhirinovsky responded to the questions of his surprised colleagues. The head of the far-right Liberal-Democratic Party claimed that the video was a fabrication and is altogether groundless. He also urged the Duma leaders to guard him from attacks.
Nonetheless, the outspoken vice-speaker will have to prove his innocence at least once more at a session of the Duma ethics commission on Friday. The commission is set to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident so as to establish how the journalists came across the video that has cast the vice-speaker in an especially bad light. It is noteworthy, that the chairwoman of the commission is ready to believe Zhirinovsky and to accuse journalists of forgery.
''We want to known where they got that tape and whether it is real,'' Strelchenko said. ''To carry out a decision the commission by all means will need truthful documents. It this is a matter of slandering our colleague, the commission will act as his defender.''
Strelchenko has no doubts that he will personally attend the examination of his case. ''Vladimir Volfovich [Zhirinovsky] is the most disciplined deputy. Wherever he is invited, whenever he is invited, he always appears on time. And if he can't, he will, by all means, let someone know.''
The lion's share of the expletives in Zhirinovsky's recorded statement was addressed to George W. Bush, who, the Russian deputy predicted, would end up in a Butyrskaya prison cell soon. Besides, the vice-speaker uttered unquotable expressions concerning Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, George Bush Sr., as well as threatening to send Australia to the ocean floor, and suggested that instead of bombing Iraq, America, together with Russia, should attack Tbilisi and Baku.
TV crews of the TVS and Moskovia channels recorded it all last September at a private party that Zhirinovsky attended during his trip to Iraq. Neither of the channels dared to play the footage then, but last week the controversial video was leaked on the web. Newsru.com posted the video on its site, and over the weekend NTV and TVS, as well as some other national channels showed the tape in their weekly analytical programmes. All the obscenities in Zhirinovsky's speech were removed, making his monologue sound like one long 'beep'.
If it is proven that the video is not a fake, Zhirinovsky may lose his vice-speaker's post in the State Duma, Galina Strelchenko said on Tuesday. But, to all appearances, most of the deputies are reluctant to apply harsh sanctions against the LDPR leader. ''So far, we are not intending to take any measures [against him],'' Gennady Seleznyov said of his deputy. ''We'll wait and see, and in general, I treat those videos philosophically,'' Artur Chilingarov, another Duma vice speaker, told the press.
According to the People's Deputy Group leader Gennady Raikov, in line with the house regulations only the LDPR faction itself has the power to recall Zhirinovsky from the vice-speaker's post.
In the meantime, it appears that it will not be difficult for the commission to authenticate the video. As Gazeta.Ru has learnt, Zhirinovsky himself has virtually acknowledged the fact that the video is genuine. At the same time, LDPR lawyers are working on a lawsuit to be filed shortly against the channels that played the video.
If the tape indeed is a fabrication, Zhirinovsky will undoubtedly accuse the press of libel, however, the charges contained in his suit concern violations of privacy and showing the video without his permission, though the draft claim may be subject to some further changes. In the meantime, the head of the LDPR's legal service has gone to Saratov where he is defending Eduard Limonov.
The director of the Institute for the Problems on Information Law Andrei Rikhter explained to Gazeta.Ru that the journalists are guarded against such claims by the law on mass media. Article 49 of that law provides that a journalist is required to obtain permission for a publication from the person it is about with the exception of cases when such publications are necessary for securing public interests. ''And this is in the public's interest,'' Rikhter noted, ''since Zhirinovsky is the deputy chairman of the State Duma and he was speaking of the national interests, not about his family and children.''