The leader of the opposition Yabloko party said that protests will be held at the Republic of Kalmykia's offices every year on 7 June until those behind the crime are punished.
(CJES/IFEX) – Members of Russia’s opposition Yabloko party went to the building of the permanent office of the Republic of Kalmykia in Russia on 7 June to mark the 12-year anniversary of the murder of journalist Larisa Yudina.
Yudina, editor-in-chief of the “Sovetskaya Kalmykia” newspaper, was murdered in Kalmykia’s capital, Elista, on 7 June 1998.
Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin told reporters that the journalist’s killing was perpetrated by people close to Kalmykia’s administration and the republic’s president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Ilyumzhinov’s legal adviser, S. Vaskin, has been convicted of the crime. “The masterminds of this crime have not been announced yet, although we know that the investigators know their names,” Mitrokhin said.
“Until the masterminds’ names are announced we cannot clearly say whether Ilyumzhinov is involved in this crime. We do not rule out that he was the mastermind,” Mitrokhin said.
Mitrokhin said protests will be held in front of the Kalmykia republic’s offices every year on 7 June until the masterminds of the crime are punished.
