Police in St. Petersburg seize copies of opposition newspaper
New York, April 30, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the seizure on Sunday of thousands of copies of a special edition of Obyedinyonny Grazhdansky Front, the weekly newspaper of the United Civic Front (OGF), a Russian opposition group headed by the Kremlin critic and former chess champion Garry Kasparov. Confiscated by police…
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…
