Ingushetia police detain, beat, deport journalists
New York, January 29, 2008—Police in the southern Russian Republic of Ingushetia detained, beat, and deported journalists and human rights activists who tried to cover an opposition rally in the regional capital on Saturday, according to CPJ sources and local news reports. Authorities mounted a massive crackdown against the roughly 200 protesters in Nazran. Riot…
Officials harass independent newspaper in Uralsk
New York, January 29, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ongoing harassment of a popular newspaper in western Kazakhstan which exposed local government corruption. The independent bi-weekly Uralskaya Nedelya has been subjected to retaliation from government officials since it began a series on corruption last July, Editor-in-Chief Tamara Yeslyamova told CPJ. Three printing companies…
Russian daily says Politkovskaya reports spur Chechnya investigation
New York, January 25, 2007—The Chechnya prosecutor’s office is investigating officers of the southern republic’s Interior Ministry in connection with articles by the slain investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, the Moscow business daily Kommersant reported Wednesday. The daily quoted Chechnya prosecutor Valery Kuznetsov as saying that Politkovskaya’s accounts of alleged torture last spring prompted his office…
Chechnya police may be behind Politkovskaya murder, Russian officials tell CPJ
Moscow, January 23, 2007—Russia’s prosecutor general has opened a criminal investigation into several police officials in Chechnya who may have killed reporter Anna Politkovskaya because she was about to publish an article alleging their involvement in torture. The information was disclosed to a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists in a meeting on Monday…
Journalist severely beaten in the Russian far east
New York, January 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the brutal assault on Tamara Golovanova, a reporter for the newspaper Vesti in the far eastern city of Partizansk, who was beaten on Friday while covering a story at a municipal office. The attack occurred in mid-afternoon, when Golovanova was interviewing people at the city…
Independent reporter convicted of defaming president
JANUARY 22, 2007 Posted February 6, 2007 Kaziz Toguzbayev, Kub LEGAL ACTION Judge Natalya Rusakova of the Bostandyksky Court in the Kazakh financial capital, Almaty, sentenced reporter Toguzbayev to a two-year suspended sentence under Article 316 of the criminal code for “insulting the honor and dignity” of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, according to CPJ sources and…
Turkish-Armenian editor murdered in Istanbul
New York, January 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder today of a prominent Turkish-Armenian editor outside his newspaper’s offices in Istanbul. Hrant Dink, 52, managing editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, was shot three times in the neck, according to the Turkish television channel NTV.
Popular Moldovan radio station still off the air; CPJ deplores shutdown
New York, January 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the suspension of the popular Chisinau-based public radio station Antena C. The station, which frequently aired reports critical of the government, has been off the air for more than a month, and local sources said they fear it is part of an official clampdown on…
Journalist says he was abducted, threatened
JANUARY 17, 2007 Posted: January 26, 2007 Ilya Chachibaya, Giya Boklomi ABDUCTED, THREATENED Two unidentified men briefly abducted Chachibaya on his way to work in the western Georgian city of Zugdidi, according to local press reports and CPJ interviews. The men intercepted Chachibaya, forced him inside their sedan, threatened him, and told him to stop…