2009

Anatomy of Injustice: The Unsolved Killings of Journalists in Russia   This report was researched and written by Nina Ognianova, CPJ Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, with assistance from Muzaffar Suleymanov, CPJ research associate, and Alex Lupis, CPJ Europe and Central Asia program coordinator from 2000 to 2006. The reporting is based on four…

It is a sad irony: While the world celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Russia itself is relapsing to some of its Soviet ways. In fact, for journalists, Russia is a more dangerous place now than it was during the Cold War. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists prepared this report to highlight the alarming and ongoing problem of deadly violence against critical journalists in Russia and the government’s consistent inability to bring justice in these cases. CPJ’s analysis points to systemic failures that if left unaddressed will further erode free expression and the rule of law in…

Secrecy, indifference, conflicts mar investigations into journalist deaths. Moscow has a responsibility to uphold the rule of law. Its international partners have an obligation, too.

By Jean-Paul MarthozThe struggle for human rights demands the exertion of internal and external pressure. If Russia has seemed resistant, it is not as impervious as it might seem.

Assassins targeted the 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.

By Leonid NikitinskyIf justice failed when juries acquitted suspects in two high-profile cases, it was not the jurors’ fault. Indeed, the jury system may prove the best route to justice.

Enterprising young reporters tackling sensitive local topics are often isolated and vulnerable to reprisals from powerful forces.

Anatomy of Injustice: The Unsolved Killings of Journalists in Russia   A centralized federal system, overseen in Moscow with regional offices throughout the country, investigates and prosecutes most serious crimes in Russia, including murders. A system of Investigative Committees is in charge of most criminal probes. The Russian Investigative Committee in Moscow, headed by Aleksandr…

The two victims were energetic journalists, expert in their fields, fair in their reporting. They died in suspicious circumstances that have not been fully investigated.