As democracy dies in Russia, another journalist is killed Posted 10/8/2006 7:57 PM ET
On Saturday, an outspoken Russian journalist named Anna Politkovskaya, 48, was murdered, execution style, as she stepped out of the elevator in her apartment building. The trademark report she was preparing for today's edition of her newspaper, Novaya Gazeta— about alleged Russian war crimes in Chechnya, sure to anger the Kremlin yet again — will be published only in part. Some of the information died with her.
Politkovskaya's murder was at least the 12th killing of journalist who had angered the Kremlin during President Vladimir Putin's six years in power. The Kremlin response was eloquent: As of late Sunday it was silent, even as the United States expressed shock and the European Union called the crime "heinous."
Though nobody can make a direct link to the Kremlin, it is emblematic of the Stalin-lite control Putin has gradually wielded. The former ... >>full
Vladimir Rakhmankov / Image by MosNews Vladimir Rakhmankov / Image by MosNews Website Editor on Trial for Picturing Putin as Russia’s Phallic Symbol
22.09.2006
MosNews The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the prosecution for criminal insult of a Russian journalist who satirized President Vladimir Putin’s campaign to boost the birth rate, the group said in a statement published on its official website.
Vladimir Rakhmankov, editor-in-chief of the independent news Web site Kursiv, went on trial today in the city of Ivanovo, northeast of Moscow, charged with insulting the president in a May article titled “Putin as Russia’s phallic symbol.” The article satirized Putin’s goal, outlined in the president’s state of the nation address in May, of increasing Russia’s population.
If convicted under Article 319 of Russia’s criminal code, “Insulting a Public Official,” Rakhmankov could face up to 12 months of corrective labor. Local prosecutors brought the case without the involvement of Putin or presidential ... >>full
RFE/RL Mourns Death of Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya (Washington, DC--October 8, 2006) RFE/RL Acting President Jeffrey Trimble released the following statement in reaction to the death of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow October 7, 2006.
"I and my colleagues at RFE/RL are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Politkovskaya. I also express our deepest sympathies to her family, who have lost her loving care and spirit.
"We condemn the persons who are responsible for this violent and senseless act against a journalist who worked in the best interests of the people of the Russian Federation. We call upon the Russian authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation of this crime, and to do more to ensure the safety of independent journalists in their country.
"Anna was a frequent contributor to RFE/RL's Russian-language programs; in fact, her final interview was with RFE/RL, and took place just two days before ... >>full
Top Official in Russia's Itar-Tass News Agency Killed By VOA News 16 October 2006
The business chief of the Russian state news agency Itar-Tass has been stabbed to death in his central Moscow apartment.
Authorities say 55-year-old Anatoli Voronin died of multiple knife wounds. Reuters news agency quotes prosecutors as saying police are looking at several possible murder scenarios, including a theory the killing may be linked to a personal dispute rather that his work.
Flowers at the Moscow building where Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed
Flowers at the Moscow building where Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-10-16-voa61.cfm The death is the latest in a spate of high-profile killings in Moscow in the past month. Acclaimed journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and killed in an apparent contract murder October 7. There have been no arrests.
Deputy Central Bank governor and anti-corruption advocate Andrei Kozolov and his driver were shot dead in Moscow on September 13.
Monday, May 2, 2005 Russia: Monitors Say Russia Among World's Most Dangerous Countries For Reporters <GRAPHIC>By Catherine Fitzpatrick
</GRAPHIC> Russia has long suffered from the reputation of being among the world's most dangerous countries for journalists. The perception has been built over time by various international press-freedom monitors who, year after year, find Russia overrepresented among the world's developed nations and even among the Community of Democracies in terms of murdered reporters. Their colleagues in Russia have even longer lists of reporters allegedly killed for journalism.
Killings of journalists are widely used by analysts to measure the level of press freedom in a country. To be sure, if few or no media workers are killed, it can mean that there is so little freedom that no reporter ever sticks his neck out far enough to be killed. If many reporters are killed, it can be explained by a war zone or rampant crime and settling ... >>full
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