Russia / Europe & Central Asia

  

CPJ calls for full exoneration of imprisoned journalist Grigory Pasko

New York, June 21, 2002—The Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal on June 25 of imprisoned journalist Grigory Pasko’s December 25, 2001 conviction. Pasko’s defense lawyers are seeking his full acquittal and release. According to Russian sources, state prosecutors plan to use the hearing to ask for a…

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Local journalist attacked

New York, June 18, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the recent attack on German Galkin, deputy editor of the local newspaper Vecherny Chelyabinsk in the Ural city of Chelyabinsk. Two unknown assailants assaulted Galkin outside of his apartment on the evening of Friday, June 14, according to Russian news reports. The journalist…

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Independent newspaper threatened with court-ordered shutdown

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that the independent, twice-weekly newspaper Novaya Gazeta, could be closed by the Basmanny District Court of Moscow at any time following proceedings to seal the paper’s property that were initiated last week by a bailiff. This action comes as a result of an excessive damage award in a recent libel suit against the paper.

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JOURNALISM’S TERRIBLE TOLL: CPJ releases new statistics

389 journalists killed between 1992 and 2001, most murdered with impunity New York, June 4, 2002–The majority of journalists killed in the line of duty during the last decade were murdered because of their reporting, concludes a study released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists. This comprehensive analysis of journalists killed between 1992 and…

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Supreme Court reinstates decree used to jail investigative journalist

New York, May 8, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by yesterday’s decision of the Appeals Board of the Supreme Court to reinstate a Defense Ministry decree that was used to convict and jail Russian journalist Grigory Pasko. Pasko was convicted of treason in December 2001, based on the charge that he intended…

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Regional newspaper editor killed

New York, April 30, 2002—Valery Ivanov, editor of the newspaper Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye in the southern Russian city of Togliatti, was shot dead outside his home last night, CPJ has confirmed. At approximately 11 p.m. Ivanov, 32, was shot eight times in the head at point-blank range while entering his car, a colleague at the newspaper…

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CPJ mourns three journalists killed in helicopter crash

New York, April 29, 2002—CPJ mourns the tragic deaths of three journalists who were killed yesterday morning when their Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Krasnoyarsk Region of Siberia. According to press reports, Natalya Pivovarova, of the 7 Channel television company; Igor Gareyev, of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Broadcasting Company; and Konstantin Stepanov, of the newspaper Segodnyashnyaya…

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Two local journalists violently attacked

New York, April 12, 2002—Two journalists have been injured in separate attacks in Siberia and southern Russia, according to international reports. Yan Svider, a journalist with the opposition newspaper Vozrozhdeniye Respubliki, was attacked today by two unknown assailants in the city of Cherkessk in the southern Karachaevo-Cherkessiya Republic, according to local and international news reports.…

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Berezovsky-backed newspaper editor faces criminal libel charges

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about pending criminal libel charges against Igor Zotov, deputy editor-in-chief of the Moscow independent daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Based on our research, CPJ believes that Zotov is facing politically motivated retribution for Nezavisimaya Gazeta’s critical reporting, as well as for its association with Boris Berezovsky, a vocal critic of Your Excellency and the newspaper’s majority shareholder.

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Missing reporter’s body found in Smolensk

New York, April 2, 2002—The body of 26-year-old Sergei Kalinovsky, editor-in-chief of the daily Moskovsky Komsomolets—Smolensk, was found yesterday by a lake outside the city of Smolensk in central Russia. Kalinovsky, who reported on local politics and crime for the Smolensk edition of the Moscow daily Moskovsky Komsomolets and the local SCS television station, disappeared…

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