Successor of Internews Russia suspends activity after police search
New York, April 23, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is very concerned about the effective closure of the Educated Media Foundation in Moscow last week. The foundation, the successor to Internews Russia, has been shut down since last Wednesday, when economic police searched its premises for 11 hours, seized all financial records, and shut down…
Russian journalist found dead hours after broadcast on prior attack
New York, April 13, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Russian authorities to fully investigate the death of Vyacheslav Ifanov, a cameraman for the independent Novoye Televideniye Aleiska (NTA), in the Siberian city of Aleisk. Prosecutors have classified Ifanov’s death as suicide by gas poisoning, but relatives and colleagues suspect foul play.
CPJ calls on Russian President Putin to investigate Ivan Safronov’s death as murder
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls on you to act on your recent pledge to protect Russia’s press corps by ensuring that Moscow prosecutors thoroughly investigate the death of defense correspondent Ivan Safronov. There is sufficient basis to investigate Safronov’s death as murder, given its circumstances and the sensitivity of his reporting beat.
Suspect in Kochetkov murder acquitted in Tula
New York, April 8, 2008—A Russian district court judge on Monday acquitted a man accused in the killing of Vagif Kochetkov, Tula correspondent for the Moscow daily Trud and a columnist for the local newspaper Molodoi Kommunar, according to news reports and CPJ interviews.
Russian editor faces five years in prison for “extremist activity”
New York, March 28, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the criminal prosecution of Viktor Shmakov, editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Provintsialnye Vesti (Provincial News) in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. Prosecutors in the regional capital Ufa, 680 miles (1100 kilometers) east of Moscow, have charged Shmakov with “public calls for the realization…
In Moscow, Klebnikov murder trial delayed as defendant goes missing
New York, March 14, 2007—The Moscow City Court postponed the start of the second jury trial of two men in the July 2004 slaying of Forbes Russia Editor Paul Klebnikov after one of the defendants went missing, according to local and international press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities to locate defendant…
Russian journalists detained, harassed when covering local elections
New York, March 12, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that police and security services harassed several journalists covering local parliamentary elections on Sunday. Police in the southern city of Samara detained reporter Pavel Sedakov and photographer Artyom Pigarov of the independent business daily Kommersant when the two tried to interview a…