List of journalists killed in Russia

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This is list of journalists who have been killed in Russia during the Putin presidency, compiled based on data of Russian-based Glasnost Defense Foundation and the Committee to Protect Journalists[1] [2] This list consists of journalists who died from all possible reasons.

Contents

[edit] International concern over killings of Russian journalists

Concern about the killings of Russian journalists in the several years up to 2007 has been voiced in many quarters. Russian authorities have been repeatedly criticized for not arresting and prosecuting the murderers, and critics have noted that many of the journalists killed were critical of the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. [3]

The board of the World Association of Newspapers passed a resolution in June 2007 calling on Russian authorities to investigate journalist deaths more vigorously:[4]

The brutal murder on 7 October 2006 of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, known for her critical reporting on the conflict in Chechnya in which she sought to expose human rights abuses, was yet another reminder to Russian journalists that violence awaits those who investigate or criticise," the resolution read. "It is estimated that 21 journalists have been killed since Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power in March 2000. In the great majority of cases, no one has been convicted and sentenced for the murders.[4]

American journalist Anne Applebaum wrote, concerning the murder of Politkovskaya: "Of course, if this murder follows the usual pattern in Russia, no suspect will ever be found, and no assassin will ever come to trial."[5]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has also kept track of the numbers of Russian journalists killed since Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000.[6]

"According to CPJ [Committee to Protect Journalists] research, Russia is the third deadliest country in the world for journalists over the past 15 years, behind only the conflict-ridden countries of Iraq and Algeria," the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a June 2007 statement. "A total of 47 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992, with the vast majority of killings unsolved."[7]

Kirill Pankratov criticized CPJ for applying different standards to different countries and for classifying some suspicious deaths of Russian journalists as "confirmed".[8]

Since 2000, according to the CPJ, 17 journalists have been killed in Russia "in the line of duty". A total of 14 were murdered in retaliation for their journalism; "two died in crossfire; and one was killed while covering a dangerous assignment". The CPJ continues to investigate the deaths of eight other journalists to see if their deaths were also related to their work. None of the 14 murders committed since 2000 has been solved and "13 bear the marks of contract hits", according to the group.[7]

The Web site of New Statesman magazine in Britain, in "solidarity with the dead, and in association with Amnesty International, Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Index on Censorship published a list of 40 Russian journalists killed since 1993, representing only some of those who died.[9]

On June 18, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution 151, calling on Putin to "step-up efforts to investigate" the murders.[10]

According to Reporters Without Borders, an international organization of journalists, 21 journalists have been murdered since March 2000. In 2007, the International News Safety Institute said Russia was the country with the second largest number of journalists killed in the previous 10 years.[10]

[edit] 2008

[edit] 2007

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2005

[edit] 2004

  • Yefim Sukhanov, ATK-Media, Archangelsk;
  • Farit Urazbayev, cameraman, Vladivostok TV/Radio Company, city of Vladivostok;
  • Adlan Khassanov, Reuters reporter, killed in Grozny;
  • Shangysh Mondush, correspondent for newspaper Khemchiktin Syldyzy, Tuva Republic;
  • Paul Khlebnikov, editor of Russian version of Forbes magazine, Moscow;
  • Payl Peloyan, editor of Armyansky Pereulok magazine, Moscow;
  • Zoya Ivanova, BGTRK broadcaster, Republic of Buryatia;
  • Vladimir Pritchin, editor-in-chief of North Baikal TV/Radio Company, Republic of Buryatia;
  • Ian Travinsky, Saint Petersburg, killed in Irkutsk;[17]

[edit] 2003

  • Aleksei Sidorov, Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye, October 9, 2003, Togliatti. He was the second editor-in-chief of local newspaper, "Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye" to be shot to death. His predecessor, Valery Ivanov, was shot in April 2002. The newspaper was known for reporting on organized crime and corruption in the industrial city of Togliatti. [8]
  • Yuri Shchekochikhin, Novaya Gazeta, July 3, 2003, Moscow. Deputy editor of the Novaya Gazeta, he died just a few days before his scheduled trip to USA to discuss the results of his journalist investigation with FBI officials. He investigated "Three Whales Corruption Scandal" that involved high-ranking FSB officials. Shchekochikhin died from an "acute allergic reaction" to a substance that was presumably identified as thallium. [9]
  • Dmitry Shvets, TV-21 Northwestern Broadcasting, April 18, 2003, Murmansk. He was deputy director of the independent television station TV-21 Northwestern Broadcasting. He was shot dead outside his station offices. Shvets' colleagues said their station had received multiple threats for its reporting on influential local politicians. [10]

[edit] 2002

  • Natalia Skryl, the Nashe Vremya newspaper, Taganrog town;
  • Konstantin Pogodin, the Novoye Delo newspaper, Nizhni Novgorod city;
  • Valeri Batuev, Moscow News newspaper, Moscow;
  • Sergei Kalinovski, the Moskovskiy Komsomolets, Smolensk;
  • Vitali Sakhn-Val'da, photojournalist, Kursk town;
  • Leonid Shevchenko, the Pervoye Chteniye newspaper, Volgograd;
  • Valeri Ivanov, the chief editor for the Tol'yattinskoye Obozrenie newspaper, the Samara region;
  • Sergei Zhabin,the press service of the governor of the Moscow region;
  • Nikolai Vasiliev, Cheboksary city, Chuvashia;
  • Leonid Kuznetsov, the Mescherskaya Nov' newspaper, the Ryazan region;
  • Paavo Voutilainen, a former main editor of the Kareliya magazine, Kareliya;
  • Roddy Scott, the Frontline-TV TV Company, from Great Britain.
  • Alexandr Plotnikov, the Gostiny Dvor newspaper, Tyumen city;
  • Oleg Sedinko, the founder of the Novaya Volna TV and Radio Company, Vladivostok city;
  • Nikolai Razmolodin, the general director of the Europroject TV and Radio Company, Ulyanovsk town;
  • Igor Salikov, the chief of the Department of information safety of the Moskovskiy Komsomolets newspaper in Penza;
  • Leonid Plotnikov, the publishing house "Periodicals of the Mari-El", Yoshkar-Ola.[18]

[edit] 2001

  • Eduard Markevich, 29, editor and publisher of local newspaper Novy Reft in Sverdlovsk Region, was found dead (shot in the back) on September 18. He often criticized local officials and had received threatening telephone phone calls prior to the murder. [11] [19]

[edit] 2000

  • Vladimir Yatsina, February 20, 2000. A correspondent for ITAR-TASS, he was kidnapped and later killed by a group of Wahhabis in Chechnya [20]
  • Aleksandr Yefremov, May 12, 2000, Chechnya. A photojournalist of the western Siberian newspaper Nashe Vremya was killed in Chechnya when rebels blew up a military jeep in which he was riding. On previous assignments, Yefremov had won acclaim for his news photographs from the war-torn region. [12]
  • Igor Domnikov, from Novaya Gazeta, July 16, 2000, Moscow. Unknown assassin hit him repeatedly on the head with a hammer in the entryway of his apartment building in Moscow. The killer was never found. It is believed that the assailant mistook Domnikov for a Novaya Gazeta reporter Oleg Sultanov who received threats from the FSB for his reporting on corruption in the Russian oil industry.[13]
  • Sergey Novikov, Radio Vesna, July 26, 2000, Smolensk. He was shot and killed in the stairwell of his apartment building. He often criticized the government of Smolensk Region. [14]
  • Iskandar Khatloni, Radio Free Europe, September 21, 2000, Moscow. He was killed at night with axe in his Moscow apartment by an unknown assailant. The motif of the murder is unknown, but Khatloni work on stories about the human-rights abuses in Chechnya.[21]
  • Sergey Ivanov, Lada-TV, October 3, 2000, Togliatti. He was shot five times in the head and chest in front of his apartment building. He was director of Lada-TV, the largest independent television company in Togliatti, which was an important player on the local political scene. [15].
  • Adam Tepsurgayev, Reuters, November 21, 2000, Chechnya. A Chechen cameraman, he was shot at a neighbor's house in the village of Alkhan-Kala. He produced most of Reuters' footage from Chechnya in 2000, including shots of Chechen rebel Shamil Basayev having his foot amputated. [16].

[edit] Journalists who reported on the conflict in Chechnya

  • Cynthia Elbaum. On assignment for Time magazine, Cynthia was photographing in the streets of Grozny, when she was killed in a Russian bombing raid in 1994.[22]
  • Vladimir Zhitarenko, a veteran military correspondent for the Russian armed forces daily Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star), was hit by two sniper bullets outside the town of Tolstoy-Yurt, near the Chechen capital of Grozny on December 31, 1994.
  • Nina Yefimova, a reporter for local newspaper "Revival" was abducted from her apartment and killed together with her mother. Journalists in Grozny and Moscow believe that her murder was related to stories she had published on crime in Chechnya.
  • Jochen Piest. On January 10, 1995, Piest was killed in a suicide attack by a Chechen rebel against a Russian mine-clearing unit in the village of Chervlyonna, about 24 kilometers northeast of the Chechen capital, Grozny. The rebel was firing his submachine gun as he drove a small diesel locomotive at high speed toward a Russian troop train parked on the track. Piest was fatally hit by three bullets. Rossiskaya Gazeta correspondent Vladimir Sorokin was wounded in the attack. The gunman died when the locomotive collided with the military train.
  • Farkhad Kerimov. Farkhad Kerimov was murdered on May 22nd 1995 while filming for Associated Press on the rebel side of Chechnya. No motive has ever been established for the killing.
  • Natalya Alyakina. Natalya Alyakina, a free-lance correspondent for German news outlets, was shot dead in June by a soldier after clearing a Russian checkpoint near the southern Russian city of Budyonnovsk.
  • Shamkhan Kagirov. Kagirov, a reporter for the Moscow daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta and the local paper Vozrozheniye, was shot and killed in an ambush in Chechnya. Kagirov and three local police officers were traveling in a car near Grozny when they were attacked. The three officers were also killed.
  • Viktor Pimenov. In March 11, 1996, he was fatally shot in the back by a sniper positioned on the roof of a 16-story building in Grozny, the Chechen capital. Pimenov had been filming the devastation caused by the March 6-9 rebel raid on the city.
  • Nadezhda Chaikova. On March 20, 1996, Chaikova disappeared while on assignment. Her body was found buried in the Chechen village of Geikhi on April 11, blindfolded and bearing signs of beatings. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
  • Supian Ependiyev. On the evening of October 27, 1999, several short-range ballistic missile hit a crowded outdoor market in central Grozny, killing or wounding hundreds of people. About an hour after the attack, Ependiyev went to the scene to cover the carnage for his paper. As he was leaving the site, a new round of rockets fell about 200 meters from the bazaar. Ependiyev suffered severe shrapnel wounds and died in a Grozny hospital the next morning. According to other sources, he died two days later.
  • Ramzan Mezhidov. The journalists were covering a refugee convoy en route, along the Baku-Rostov highway, from Grozny to Nazran in neighboring Ingushetia. As the convoy approached the Chechen town of Shaami Yurt, a Russian fighter bomber fired several rockets from the air, hitting a busload of refugees. Despite warnings from colleagues traveling with them, Mezhidov and Gigayev left their vehicle to film the carnage. As they approached the bus, another Russian rocket hit a nearby truck, fatally wounding both journalists.
  • Vladimir Yatsina, a correspondent for ITAR-TASS was kidnapped and killed by a group of Wahhabis in Chechnya on July 19, 1999. [23][24]
  • Aleksandr Yefremov. A photojournalist of the western Siberian newspaper Nashe Vremya was killed in Chechnya when rebels blew up a military jeep in which he was riding. On previous assignments, Yefremov had won acclaim for his news photographs from the war-torn region.
  • Roddy Scott. On September 26, 2002, Scott was killed in the Russian republic of Ingushetia. Russian soldiers found his body in Ingushetia's Galashki region, near the border with Chechnya, following a bloody battle between Russian forces and a group of Chechen fighters.
  • Magomedzagid Varisov, a political scientist and journalist, was shot to death near his home in Makhachkala. He "had received threats, was being followed and had unsuccessfully sought help from the local police" according to Committee to Protect Journalists. Sharia Jamaat claimed responsibility for the murder. [25]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ A database by Committee to Protect JournalistsCommittee to Protect Journalists
  2. ^ Russia: Thirteen murders, no justice. Committee to Protect Journalists
  3. ^ "Putin Strikes Again" By Jamey Gambrell, New York Review of Books, v.54, no.12, July 19, 2007 [1]
  4. ^ a b [2]News release from the World Association of Newspapers, "World's Press calls for Justice in Murder of Russian Journalists", dated June 5, 2007, release dateline: Capetown, South Africa, accessed July 8, 2007
  5. ^ [3]Applebaum, Anne, "Anna Politkovskaya, 1958-2006 / Russia's best-known journalist, murdered in Moscow", article in Slate magazine, dated October 9, 2006, accessed July 8, 2007
  6. ^ [4]Web page titled "Russia: Thirteen murders, no justice" at the Web site of the Committee to Protect Journalists]], accessed July 8, 2007
  7. ^ a b [5]"Exiled journalists, CPJ brief US congressional caucus on dangers facing Russian journalists ", a news release from the Committee to Protect Journalists]], dated June 28, 2007, accessed July 8, 2007
  8. ^ The eXile, Liars Without Borders, 27.02.2008
  9. ^ [6]Web page titled "Russian journalism's body count", at the Web site of The New Statesman magazine, no date seen on Web page, accessed July 8, 2007
  10. ^ a b House Passes Smith's Resolution Calling on Russia to Accept Outside Aid to Investigate Murders of Journalists. PRNewswire-USNewswire (2007). Retrieved on [[=10 Mar 2008]].
  11. ^ Russian: Погибшие журналисты - 2007 Glasnost Defence Foundation
  12. ^ Chechen war reporter found dead BBC
  13. ^ Agent unknown (Russian) Novaya Gazeta
  14. ^ Anna Politkovskaya The Guardian
  15. ^ Russian: Погибшие журналисты - 2006 Glasnost Defence Foundation
  16. ^ Russian: Погибшие журналисты - 2005 Glasnost Defence Foundation
  17. ^ Russian: Погибшие журналисты - 2004 Glasnost Defence Foundation
  18. ^ Russian: Погибшие журналисты - 2002 Glasnost Defence Foundation
  19. ^ Russian: Погибшие журналисты - 2001 Glasnost Defence Foundation
  20. ^ Russian: Погибшие журналисты - 2000 Glasnost Defence Foundation
  21. ^ Journalist Murdered In Moscow. Committee to Protect Journalists (2000). Retrieved on [[=10 Mar 2008]].
  22. ^ An article about journalists killed in Chechnya
  23. ^ Chechnya: Civilian hostages at risk Amnesty International
  24. ^ Dangerous Profession. Monitoring of Violations of Journalist' Rights in the CIS 2000 Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations
  25. ^ ASSASSINATIONS CONTINUE IN DAGESTAN The Jamestown Foundation