Turkish journalists fired on in South Ossetia
Journalists came under fire in their car on August 10 near Tskhinvali. According to the Turkish Daily News, Turkish journalist Recep Öztürk was wounded. It is not clear who was shooting at them–the lines have been fluid as the Georgians and Russians battle in South Ossetia. At least three journalists have been killed and 10…
Israeli journalist seriously injured in Gori
New York, August 13, 2008–A veteran reporter with the Tel Aviv-based Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth was severely injured on Tuesday in an attack in the central Georgian city of Gori. It was the same attack that killed Dutch cameraman Stan Storimans and injured his RTL Nieuws colleague Jeroen Akkermans.
Dutch cameraman killed, reporter wounded in Georgia
New York, August 12, 2008–Stan Storimans, a cameraman with Netherlands-based television channel RTL Nieuws, was killed today during bombing in the central Georgian city of Gori. His colleague, reporter Jeroen Akkermans, suffered shrapnel wounds to his leg and was hospitalized in a Tbilisi clinic, Jaspir Teijsse, a spokesman for RTL Nieuws, told CPJ Storimans was…
Two killed, several injured or missing in South Ossetia
New York, August 11, 2008–Two journalists were reported killed, at least eight were injured, and two have gone missing since fighting erupted between Georgian, Russian, and local forces in the disputed region of South Ossetia. No press-related casualties have been immediately reported in the conflict in another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia.
Independent weekly editor charged with extremism in Dagestan
New York, August 7, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the decision of regional authorities in Dagestan to open a criminal case against Nadira Isayeva, editor-in-chief of an independent weekly, after the newspaper quoted a former guerilla leader in an article. According to news Web site Lenta, regional prosecutors in Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala,…
Facing harassment, Web site editor flees Russia
New York, August 7, 2008–The editor-in-chief of independent news Web site Ingushetiya has fled Russia and is seeking asylum in Europe, daily The Moscow Times reported today. Ingushetiya’s lawyer, Kaloy Akhilgov, told CPJ that Roza Malsagova left Russia two weeks ago being harassed, threatened, and beaten by Ingush authorities. She also faces criminal prosecution. Earlier…
In Russia, CPJ condemns conviction of Novaya Gazeta editor
We released the following statement today after a magistrate court in the city of Samara convicted Sergei Kurt-Adzhiyev, editor of the shuttered local edition of the Moscow-based independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, of using counterfeit Adobe, Microsoft, and 1C software to produce the newspaper. “The allegation of software piracy is nothing but a lame excuse for…
RUSSIA: Web site editor kidnapped, beaten, threatened in Ingushetia
New York, July 28, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Friday’s vicious attack on Zurab Tsechoyev, editor of Mashr, a human rights Web site based in the volatile North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. At least 50 armed, masked men in camouflage gear raided Tsechoyev’s home, shoved him into an armored personnel carrier, drove him to…
In Bashkortostan, journalists convicted of extremism
RUSSIA: New York, July 2, 2008—Two journalists in Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic have been convicted under the country’s vague extremism law. Each has been sentenced to serve a suspended two-year prison term. Their newspaper has been shuttered. On June 25, the Kirov District Court in the regional capital of Ufa, in the central Russian Republic of…
English-language paper closes because of state harassment
New York, June 19, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by the closing of the alternative English-language biweekly The eXile in Moscow. The paper announced on its Web site last week that it was forced to shut down after nervous investors withdrew support in the wake of a politicized audit of its content. “Russian…