210 results arranged by date
In Russia, even official statistics present a depressing picture: Contract-style murders of journalists, more often than not, remain unsolved. Even the rare investigations that result in trials do not answer the main question: Who ordered the killing?
Reporters who dig up carefully buried facts about those in power can easily find themselves in danger. In countries where a tradition of watchdog journalism has not yet taken hold, the risks of practicing investigative reporting can be real and physical for those reporters that take it on.
New York, February 19, 2009–Three defendants in the October 2006 murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya walked free out of the Moscow District Military Court today after a jury unanimously acquitted them of helping to organize the crime, according to local news reports. The state prosecution said it will appeal the verdict.
New York, February 11, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for Russian authorities to immediately investigate a death threat that was sent to a human rights research center. In an e-mail, a neo-Nazi group threatened to murder a number of journalists and intellectuals in the next year, according to the recipient of the threat.
When Vladimir Putin’s handpicked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, won 68 percent of the vote in Russia’s presidential election March 2, many saw in the new leader a moderate technocrat who might liberalize the country’s press policies. In his May 7 inauguration speech, Medvedev declared that the protection of human rights and freedom would drive “the sense…
New York, February 5, 2009–Russian authorities must launch a serious investigation into an evident attack on Yuri Grachev, editor of pro-opposition weekly Solnechnogorsky Forum, who is hospitalized with a concussion, broken nose, and lacerated cheek, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. An initial statement from authorities, which suggested the injuries might be the result…