| Submit your comments on this article |
| Russia |
| Murder in Russia is latest in string of attacks on journalists |
| 2004-07-11 |
| The drive-by murder of American journalist Paul Klebnikov in Moscow was the latest in a series of attacks on reporters and editors working in Russia. "Russia is consistently one of the world’s most dangerous places to be a journalist," said Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, noting that 14 journalists in Russia have been killed here in the last four years. None of the killers has been prosecuted, and Cooper said "this shameful record of impunity" and "the Kremlin’s indifference to press freedom" have created a murderous and dangerous climate for journalists. The group Reporters Without Borders also has described Russia as ""one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists." Klebnikov, 41, editor of the newly launched Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was killed by two gunmen as he left his office late Friday night. He was the first U.S. journalist to be murdered in Russia. Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov has taken over the investigation into Klebnikov’s slaying, according to the Interfax news agency, and police have recovered the gunmen’s car. Slugs were recovered from the scene, confirming reports of two gunmen, but no other significant developments in the latest attack on a reporter. Journalists from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have been assaulted in recent months, and last week marked the one-year anniversary of the poisoning death of crusading journalist Yuri Shchekochikin. A former member of the Russian parliament, he had written about the possible involvement of Russian security agencies in a series of apartment bombings in Moscow in 1999, explosions that the government has blamed on Chechen terrorists. Two investigative newspaper journalists, Alexei Sidrov and Valery Ivanov, were murdered last year in the Russian automaking center of Togliatti. Both men were investigating corruption in the car industry, and a senior Russian official called Sidrov’s stabbing death "a deliberate act of terror." |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |