Fixer abducted in February has been released
March 18, 2004, New York—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has learned that Ruslan Soltakhanov, a fixer and driver working for Atlanta-based Cox Newspapers, was released from captivity on March 12 after being abducted in February. On February 13, several unidentified men abducted Soltakhanov from his home in Mozdok, just west of Chechnya in North…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Preface
By Ted KoppelThis is not a good day. As I write, pop star Michael Jackson has been arrested for allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct with a minor. His residence cum theme park, “Neverland,” has been invaded by police, sheriff’s deputies, and a team of forensic specialists. I am not empathizing with Michael Jackson, although this…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Introduction
By Ann CooperIn real-time images, the war in Iraq splashed across television screens worldwide in March, with thousands of journalists covering the U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein and his regime. The conflict and its aftermath had a far-reaching impact on the press and its ability to report the news, with the reverberations felt in some…
Attacks on the Press 2003: North Korea
North Korea’s goal in a global nuclear crisis put the country on the front page of international papers throughout 2003. But the regime’s absolute control over news and information ensured that the world continued to know little about what happened inside the country’s tightly fortified borders.
Attacks on the Press 2003: Russia
Russian president Vladimir Putin and his coterie of former intelligence officials pressed ahead in 2003 with his vision of a “dictatorship of the law” in Russia to create a “managed democracy.” Putin’s goal of an obedient and patriotic press meant that the Kremlin continued using various branches of the politicized state bureaucracy to rein in…
JOURNALIST HARASSED AND FIXER ABDUCTED
New York, March 2, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns the harassment of Cox Newspapers Moscow correspondent Rebecca Santana and the abduction of her fixer and driver, Ruslan Soltakhanov, following a recent reporting trip to Chechnya. Santana and Soltakhanov—who has been a fixer and driver for other Western journalists working in Chechnya—traveled in…
CPJ concerned by security services’ harassment of media
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, is extremely concerned about deteriorating press freedom conditions in Russia. Recent steps taken by the Federal Security Service (FSB) to harass and intimidate independent journalists in retaliation for their work are particularly troubling. While FSB officials say they are safeguarding national security, journalists say they have become targets for reporting on government corruption and FSB abuses.