Russia and impunity

New York, April 5, 2012–Russian authorities must immediately investigate the attack on journalist Elena Milashina and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice. Milashina is a special correspondent for the Moscow-based independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta as well as a contributor to CPJ.

The global rate of unpunished murders remains stubbornly high at just below 90 percent. Senior officials in the most dangerous countries are finally acknowledging the problem — the first step in what will be a long, hard battle. By Elisabeth Witchel

Russian investigators have adopted a more serious tone when discussing unsolved journalist murders, but officials still lack the will to apprehend masterminds of the killings. The lack of convictions takes a serious toll on investigative journalism. By Nina Ognianova

This video companion to Attacks on the Press details a series of journalist murders in Russia since 2000 and the government’s inability to bring justice in most of the cases. (4:57)

Authorities detained at least six journalists covering December protests over flawed parliamentary elections, but in a rare phenomenon Kremlin-controlled television reported on demonstrations that brought tens of thousands of Muscovites onto the streets. In December, a gunman killed the founder of the weekly Chernovik, the 20th work-related murder in Russia since 2000. CPJ advocated extensively…

The Iron Curtain may have fallen, but the state of press freedom in Russia remains bleak.  In what is a post-Cold War first, the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent Luke Harding was expelled from Russia earlier this year.  The Telegraph describes what happened to him, and why deportation might have saved him from a worse fate. Click…