Russia / Europe & Central Asia

  

Attacks on the Press: Killed in 2012: A Worldwide Roundup

  Killed in 2012: A Worldwide Roundup The number of journalists killed in the line of duty rose sharply in 2012, as the war in Syria, a record number of shootings in Somalia, continued violence in Pakistan, and a worrying increase in Brazilian murders contributed to a 49 percent increase in deaths from the previous…

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Attacks on the Press: Missing

Police never bothered to look for cartoonist Prageeth Eknelygoda. It’s not unusual. By María Salazar-Ferro

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Attacks on the Press: CPJ Risk List

From conflict-ridden Syria to aspiring world leader Brazil, 10 nations on a downslope. By Karen Phillips

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Kazbek Gekkiyev, a VGTRK television reporter, was killed by suspected Islamist guerillas, investigators claimed. (AP/VGTRK Russia)

Harsh punishment would not fix Russian impunity

Every second crime committed in Russia goes unsolved, President Vladimir Putin said Friday, addressing a conference of the nation’s high-ranking Interior Ministry officials. “The low crime-detection rate and impunity for the criminals do not serve justice but undermine public trust in law enforcement agencies, as well as the state per se,” Putin said, according to…

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Chernovik founder Gadzhimurad Kamalov was killed in December 2011. Investigators have failed to determine the identities of the assailants or the masterminds. (Reuters/Lekai Dmitri)

In Russia, brazen murder of Chernovik founder is unsolved

Gadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of the independent daily Chernovik, was murdered in Makhachkala, capital of Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan, on December 15, 2011. The slaying was brazen, coming on the national Day of Remembrance for journalists killed in the course of their work. The late-evening assault took place outside Chernovik’s newsroom, located on Makhachkala’s Magomed…

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Journalist deaths spike in 2012 due to Syria, Somalia

Syrian violence contributed to a sharp rise in the number of journalists killed for their work in 2012, as did a series of murders in Somalia. The dead include a record proportion of journalists who worked online. A CPJ special report

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(AFP/Pedro Pardo)

Journalists still murdered where impunity reigns

Almost half of the 67 journalists killed worldwide in 2012 were targeted and murdered for their work, research by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows. The vast majority covered politics. Many also reported on war, human rights, and crime. In almost half of these cases, political groups are the suspected source of fire. There has…

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Former police official Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov arrives in court Friday. He was jailed for 11 years for his role in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. (Reuters/Anton Petrov)

Russia still far from solving Politkovskaya murder

New York, December 17, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for a retrial of a key defendant in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. The defendant, a former senior police official, was sentenced Friday in a deal that Politkovskaya’s family and colleagues fear will not ultimately identify the crime’s true masterminds. Moscow City Court wrapped…

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People holding portraits of Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow on October 7, the 6th anniversary of her murder, call on authorities to punish the killers of journalists in Russia. (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Closed trial in Politkovskaya case dashes hopes

The trial of Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a former police lieutenant colonel and a key suspect in the 2006 murder of prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, started at Moscow City Court today under presiding Judge Aleksandr Zamashnyuk. 

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Kazbek Gekkiyev was shot dead on Wednesday. (Reuters/VGTRK)

News anchor shot dead in Russia’s North Caucasus

New York, December 6, 2012–Authorities should immediately investigate Wednesday’s murder of a journalist in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.Two unidentified men shot Kazbek Gekkiyev, 28, in the head three times while he was returning home from work with his friend at…

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