Two charged in Klebnikov murder acquitted
Editor’s note: The final paragraph has been amended to make clear that 12 murders remain unsolved. New York, May 5, 2006— A Moscow jury acquitted two Chechens today of the murder of Forbes Russia editor-in-chief Paul Klebnikov after a trial criticized by the Committee to Protect Journalists for its lack of transparency.
Opposition editor placed in two-month pre-trial detention
New York, May 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the detention of an opposition newspaper editor for criticizing the president of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. Viktor Shmakov, editor-in-chief of Provintsialniye Vesti (Provincial News), was arrested April 28 by Federal Security Service (FSB) agents in Ufa, the capital of the semi-autonomous republic,…
Protests against Kremlin control of broadcast media
New York, April 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed solidarity today with the more than 1000 Russian journalists and activists who protested the Kremlin’s control of television news reporting. The demonstrators rallied in downtown Moscow Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the hostile takeover by state gas monopoly Gazprom of the leading independent…
Prosecutor files criminal libel charges against editor
New York, April 14, 2006—Prosecutors in the western city of Kaliningrad have filed criminal libel charges against Arseny Makhlov, publisher of the weekly Dvornik, the Moscow-based news agency Regnum reported today. The charges relate to three articles in Dvornik during 2004 and 2005 which criticized a local prosecutor for accepting money to close a fraud…
Russian reporters death prompts questions among family, colleagues
New York, April 11, 2006—Family and colleagues of Russian journalist Vagif Kochetkov, a 31-year-old who died in January from injuries suffered in an attack the month before, are raising questions about the motive for the assault and local prosecutors’ conclusion that it stemmed from a robbery, according to local press reports. Kochetkov, who died on…
Journalist arrested in case stemming from Chechnya coverage
New York, April 3, 2006—Moscow police have arrested journalist Boris Stomakhin after he failed to appear for a June 2004 trial on criminal charges of inciting inter-ethnic hatred in news reports about the war in Chechnya. Stomakhin edits the independent Moscow monthly newspaper Radikalnaya Politika (Radical Politics) and contributes to the pro-independence Chechnya news Web…
U.S. journalist returns home after interrogations in Dagestan
New York, April 3, 2006—Freelance journalist Kelly McEvers left Russia today after authorities in the southern republic of Dagestan interrogated her in four prolonged sessions, confiscated her possessions, and restricted her movements last week. McEvers flew from Dagestan to Moscow on Sunday evening and departed the Russian capital on a flight to Washington, D.C., this…
Russian authorities in Dagestan detain, question U.S. journalist
New York, March 31, 2006—Authorities in the southern republic of Dagestan have interrogated U.S. journalist Kelly McEvers in four prolonged sessions this week, confiscated her possessions, and instructed her not to leave the region, she told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a telephone interview today. Police officers first detained McEvers at 4 p.m. Wednesday…