08/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Culture and Education has asked for Russian journalist Andrei Babitsky to be allowed to come and testify on the situation in Chechnya at meetings of Parliamentary committees to be held on the fringe of the Assembly's plenary session from 3 to 7 April. Following an exchange of views with Alexandre Levy of "Reporters sans frontieres", the Committee expressed its concern regarding the objectivity and independence of information accessible to the Russian public on the situation in Chechnya. The chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, Pedro Roseta (Portugal, EPP) considered that "the way Mr. Babitsky's and other similar cases have been handled by the Russian authorities does not reflect their alleged commitment to freedom of expression".