Reporters stranded at airport for two days, harassed
RUSSIA: New York, February 28, 2008—Security guards at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow continued to hold Natalya Morar and her husband Ilya Barabanov, both reporters with the independent newsweekly The New Times, for a second consecutive day. Authorities have denied Morar access to her lawyer while pressuring her to buy a return ticket to her…
Russian journalist on trial for defaming local governor in Internet chat room
New York, February 23, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the criminal defamation prosecution of Dmitry Tashlykov, a reporter for the Kovrov-based weekly Vladimirsky Krai, for remarks made in an Internet chat room. Tashlykov was charged with defaming Vladimir regional Governor Nikolai Vinogradov in an Internet chat room in January 2006. His trial…
Independent editor jailed in Russia
New York, February 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the fate of Vladimir Chugunov, founder and editor of the independent weekly Chugunka, who has been imprisoned since January 21, according to his family and the independent Moscow daily Novaya Gazeta. Chugunov was summoned to police headquarters in Solnechnogorsk, 40 miles (64…
Russian police search IWPR office in North Caucasus
New York, February 21, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s official harassment of the Vladikavkaz office of the London-based media training and reporting group, the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR). Vladikavkaz police searched the local IWPR premises today, confiscating all computers and office documents, Valery Dzutsev, the institute’s Vladikavkaz coordinator, told CPJ.…
Human Rights Watch executive denied entry visa
New York, February 20, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by Russia’s failure to issue an entry visa to Human Rights Watch (HRW) Executive Director Kenneth Roth. Roth intended to travel to Russia on Tuesday to hold a press conference to present his group’s report on obstacles nongovernmental organizations face in the region. This…
In Moscow, second Klebnikov murder trial starts tomorrow
New York, February 14, 2007–The second jury trial of two Chechen men charged in the July 2004 slaying of Forbes Russia Editor Paul Klebnikov will start tomorrow in Moscow. The Committee to Protect Journalists urges court officials to make the proceedings open to the public, to ensure the suspects are present in court, and to…
Another paper raided over ‘pirated’ software
New York, February 8, 2008—For the second time in a week, Russian police have raided an independent newspaper and seized its computers, accusing it of using pirated Microsoft software. The latest incident was on Wednesday, when police in St. Petersburg raided the offices of the weekly Minuty Veka and its publishing house, seizing its computers.…
RUSSIA: Court orders Kommersant to pay damages to Chechen leader
February 7, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 Kommersant LEGAL ACTION Popular Russian daily Kommersant was ordered to publish a court verdict and to pay 10,000 rubles (US$382) in damages to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov for a July 2006 critical article, according to international and local press reports.
Attacks on the Press in 2006: Preface
By Anderson CooperSilence. When a journalist is killed, more often than not, there is silence. In Russia, someone followed Anna Politkovskaya home and quietly shot her to death in her apartment building. The killer muffled the sound of the gun with a silencer. Her murder made headlines around the world in October, but from the…
Police confiscate Russian newspaper’s computers
New York, February 5, 2008—On Friday, police in the southern Russian city of Togliatti raided the newsroom of an independent weekly, confiscating all 20 of its computers, newspaper staff told CPJ. Special agents from the police department for high-tech crimes told the staff of Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye (Togliatti Review) that they were confiscating the…