Washington, November 18, 2004—The family of slain journalist Paul Klebnikov is calling on reporters worldwide to launch an investigation into the unsolved murder of the Forbes Russia editor, gunned down in a contract-style slaying outside his Moscow office in July, the journalist’s brother said today. “In this awful tragedy there are seeds of hope. We’ve…
New York, October 15, 2004—Ten years after a reporter for the Moscow-based independent newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets was murdered when a booby-trapped briefcase exploded, no one has been brought to justice in the slaying and the statute of limitations is about to expire. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed outrage today that such a heinous crime…
New York, October 12, 2004—A Russian district court judge yesterday acquitted a factory welder in the October 2003 murder of Tolyattinskoye Obozreniye Editor Aleksei Sidorov. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which questioned whether the prosecution was aimed at the true killer, called today for a new and more credible investigation.
New York, October 8, 2004—Authorities in the southern Russian republic of North Ossetia are pursuing a criminal investigation against Yuri Bagrov, a reporter covering the North Caucasus for The Associated Press. The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned the government probe may be motivated by Bagrov’s reporting on politically sensitive issues, including the war in…
New York, October 4, 2004—Moscow police have backed away from statements made by their chief last week in which he said two Chechen men were considered suspects in the murder of Paul Klebnikov, editor of Forbes Russia, according to local press reports. Police Chief Vladimir Pronin was widely quoted in local and international news reports…
New York, September 28, 2004—Moscow police said today that they have arrested two Chechen men suspected in the July 9 murder of Paul Klebnikov, editor of Forbes Russia, according to local and international press reports. Police Chief Vladimir Pronin said the men, arrested last night, had been wanted in connection with a kidnapping case. Three…
New York, September 21, 2004—Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) closed the pro-Chechen Web site KavkazCenter on Friday after coming under intense pressure from the Kremlin, according to local and international press reports. The closure came one week after Lithuanian Ambassador to Russia Rimantas Sidlauskas was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow for an…
New York, September 7, 2004— Independent media coverage of last week’s hostage crisis in Beslan, Russia, was obstructed several times by detentions or harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. Thirty to 40 heavily armed fighters, allegedly of Chechen, Ingush and North Ossetian origin, took more than 1,000 children, parents and teachers hostage on…