Posted September 15, 2009
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Summary
2. A Record of Impunity: Seventeen Deaths
Secrecy, indifference, and conflicts mar investigations into journalist deaths. Moscow has a responsibility to uphold the rule of law. Its international partners have an obligation, too.
SIDEBAR: Roadmap for the International Community
3. High Profile, Low Success: Two Cases Fall Apart
Assassins targeted internationally known journalists Paul Klebnikov and Anna Politkovskaya two years apart in Moscow. Despite promises, arrests, and trials, no one has been brought to justice.
SIDEBAR: In Defense of Jury Trials
4. Local Journalists at Risk: Profound Impact, Grave Dangers
Enterprising young reporters tackling sensitive local topics are often isolated and vulnerable to reprisals from powerful forces. Eduard Markevich and Pavel Makeev paid the ultimate price.
SIDEBAR: A Federal System to Investigate, Prosecute
5. No Foul Play: Brushing Aside Suspicious Deaths
Yuri Shchekochikhin and Ivan Safronov were energetic journalists, expert in their fields, fair in their reporting. They died in suspicious circumstances that have not been fully investigated.
SIDEBAR: When Everything Is ‘Top Secret’
6. Investigating the Investigators: When Police Are Suspects
Can President Medvedev halt attacks on the press without moving against corruption in law enforcement agencies? The slayings of Maksim Maksimov and Magomed Yevloyev show how the issues are intertwined.
SIDEBAR: Public Apathy Hampers Press
7. The Robberies: Reaching for a Dubious Motive
Investigators are quick to classify slayings as street crimes rather than examine more sensitive motives. The murders of Natalya Skryl and Vagif Kochetkov were mischaracterized—and then botched.
SIDEBAR: In Their Words
8. The Togliatti Murders: ‘They Can’t Kill Us All’
Valery Ivanov and Aleksei Sidorov were friends and colleagues, a pair of crusading editors out to expose crime and make a splash in Russia’ car-making capital. They were murdered 18 months apart.
SIDEBAR: No Place for Justice
9. The Deadly Caucasus: Reporting at Extreme Risk
Journalists have been silenced for covering Chechnya and its neighboring republics, Dagestan and Ingushetia. Opaque investigations into the killings of Vladimir Yatsina, Magomedzagid Varisov, Telman Alishayev, and Anastasiya Baburova have fed deep skepticism.
SIDEBAR: ‘Who Needs Your Truth?’
10. A (Limited) Success: Landmark Convictions Won
Guilty verdicts in the killing of Igor Domnikov show that persistence can lead to justice. But critics say the case, successful as it has been, remains far from complete.
SIDEBAR: A Measure of Justice
11. Recommendations
Appendix I: Excerpts From the Work of Journalists Slain in Russia since 2000
Appendix II: Key Statistics
Video Report: The authors discuss impunity in journalist killings in Russia
This report made possible by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. To request a printed copy of this report, e-mail [email protected].
Photos, top row: Natalya Skryl (Novoye Vremya), Valery Ivanov (CJES), Igor Domnikov (Novaya Gazeta), Anna Politkovskaya (Novaya Gazeta), Vagif Kochetkov (CJES), Paul Klebnikov, Vladimir Yatsina (CJES), Telman Alishayev (CJES). Photos, second row: Eduard Markevic (CJES), Aleksei Sidorov (CJES), Pavel Makeev (CJES), Yuri Shchekochikhin (CJES), Magomedzagid Varisov (CJES), Anastasiya Baburova (Novaya Gazeta), Maksim Maksimov (CJES), Magomed Yevloyev (CJES), Ivan Safronov (Kommersant).