Yuri Shchekochikhin

It has been eight years since Yuri Shchekochikhin, deputy editor of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, died a painful death from a disease that in a matter of days stripped him of his skin, caused his organs to fail one after the other, and led his body to shut down.

On Sunday, on the anniversary of Shchekochikhin's death, family, friends, and colleagues gathered at the journalist's dacha in Peredelkino, southwest of Moscow, to honor his legacy. The group of guests was decidedly mixed. 

CPJ’s 2011 Impunity Index spotlights countries
where journalists are slain and killers go free

By Maria Lipman

Journalists and others who speak out against government abuses are on their own. If they are attacked or encounter legal trouble, they can hardly count on public support.