(RSF/IFEX) – On 21 April 2003, RSF called for the immediate launch of an investigation into the murder of Murmansk television station owner Dmitri Shvets, who was shot dead on 18 April as he was getting out of a car in front of the station’s offices in the north-western Russian city. RSF noted that at […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 21 April 2003, RSF called for the immediate launch of an investigation into the murder of Murmansk television station owner Dmitri Shvets, who was shot dead on 18 April as he was getting out of a car in front of the station’s offices in the north-western Russian city.
RSF noted that at least three Russian journalists were murdered in 2002, likely because of their reporting and political views, yet their killers have not been found. The organisation asked that Shvets’ journalistic work be taken into account during the investigation, and that those responsible for the killing be tried and punished. The assailant got away after firing three shots at Shvets, but left his gun behind. Police confirmed they would be launching an investigation into the murder.
Shvets, aged 37, was co-owner and deputy managing director of the TV-21 station, which he helped launch in 1990 as the region’s first independent station. Station owners Prof-Media considered him key to the station’s success in becoming one of the most popular in the region.
TV-21 had recently broadcast criticism of the Murmansk municipal government and of candidates in the 2004 municipal elections. TV-21 journalists said they were previously verbally threatened by mayoral candidate Andrei Gorshkov, who warned he would sue if they broadcast an interview that he found unflattering. The local journalists’ union condemned the threat on 14 March, and the general prosecutor took up the matter.
Shvets, a prominent businessman who also owned shops and a night club in Murmansk, was also a political advisor of Regional Governor Yuri Evdokimov.
