We issued this statement on the first anniversary of the brutal attack on Mikhail Beketov, editor-in-chief of the Khimki-based independent newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda, who was beaten nearly to death and left in his backyard. Beketov had criticized the Khimki administration’s decision to cut down a vast area of the region’s forest in order to build a highway. As a result of the attack, Beketov underwent a series of surgeries, had a leg and several fingers amputated, and is still hospitalized…
“We are deeply concerned that a year after our colleague Mikhail Beketov was savagely beaten, his assailants and those who commissioned them are still at large,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. “We call on Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika to ensure that the investigation into this brutal attack is carried out thoroughly and effectively. Impunity must not be left to reign supreme in this important case.”