IPI Public Statements

2 Journalists were
killed in 2009

This Country is currently
on the IPI Watch List

IPI: Find Politkovskaya’s Killers

19 February 2009

Russian authorities should intensify their search for both the killers and the masterminds behind the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya after a Moscow court acquitted three men accused of the October 2006 killing, the International Press Institute said today.

"Russian prosecutors have so far shown they are incapable of bringing to justice those who orchestrated this crime", IPI Director David Dadge said. "If the Russian justice system is to retain any credibility, the authorities need to redouble their efforts in this investigation and prosecute the killers, no matter how highly placed they may be".

Politkovskaya, who developed a reputation for her daring reports on human rights abuses in the Russian Caucasus region of Chechnya, was posthumously given IPI’s World Press Freedom Hero award in 7 December 2006, two month after she was found shot dead in the lift of her Moscow apartment building.

A Moscow police officer, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, and two Chechen brothers, Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov were charged with the murder and went on trial in October 2008. An officer in Russia’s spy service, Pavel Ryaguzov, was charged in a separate but related case. All four were acquitted.

Since the killing, the authorities have been accused of carrying out a botched investigation and failing to catch the masterminds behind the murder of Politkovskaya, who was a special correspondent for the Novaya Gazeta. The newspaper is known for its fierce independence and daring reporting. Three other Novaya Gazeta reporters have been killed in recent years. Last month, 25-year-old reporter Anastasia Baburova was killed in broad daylight as she tried to help human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who was also murdered.

Read Country Reports on 'Russia':

2007 World Press Freedom Review
2006 World Press Freedom Review
2005 World Press Freedom Review
2004 World Press Freedom Review
2003 World Press Freedom Review
2002 World Press Freedom Review
2001 World Press Freedom Review
2000 World Press Freedom Review
1999 World Press Freedom Review
1998 World Press Freedom Review

'Russia' is on the IPI Watch List!

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Journalists killed in 'Russia':

2009 (2)
2008 (4)
2007 (1)
2006 (2)
2005 (2)
2004 (3)
2003 (3)
2002 (8)
2001 (1)
2000 (6)
1999 (12)
1998 (5)
1997 (1)

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