Municipal district assembly introduces restrictive rules on journalist accreditation
(CJES/IFEX) – The Balakovo Municipal District Assembly has introduced new accreditation rules for the mass media, REGNUM information agency reported on 2 July 2007, quoting the mass media of the town of Balakovo, in Saratov region. Journalists believe the new rules contradict federal legislation. Under the new rules, media organizations seeking accreditation for their staff […]
Court rules seizure of media organisation’s documents to be legal
(CJES/IFEX) -On 21 June 2007, the Moscow Golovinsky Court ruled as legal the January 2007 seizure of documents in the office of Educated Media Foundation (formerly known as Internews Russia), which is headed by Manana Aslamazyan. Thus, the court took the side of the prosecutor’s office, which linked Aslamazyan’s alleged violation of legislation governing currency […]
“Moskovskaya Pravda” newspaper ordered to pay damages for article quoting Moscow governor’s statement concerning federal corruption
(CJES/IFEX) – On 16 June 2007, the Moscow Koptevsky Court ruled in favour of the plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit filed by the Moscow region’s governor, Boris Gromov, against Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Federal Service for Supervising Natural Resources, and the newspaper “Moskovskaya Pravda”. The suit was filed over an article entitled “How […]
Two journalists assaulted by company guards while filming a fire at mining site
(CJES/IFEX) – Alexander Kucheruk and Sergei Berdnikov, journalists with the state-run television and radio company Murman, were beaten by security guards of Norilsk Nickel, Russia’s largest mining company, in Murmansk on 8 June 2007, the “Vecherny Murmansk” newspaper reported on 15 June. The attack occurred as the journalists were filming a fire at one of […]
Website editor convicted in slander case
(CJES/IFEX) – On 21 June 2007, Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of the website Novy Fokus, was found guilty of slander and insulting a police officer under Articles 129 and 319 of the Russian Criminal Code and sentenced by an Abakan court (Republic of Khakassiya) to a fine of 50,000 rubles (approx. US$2,000). The charges stem from […]
Government eviction of journalists’ union aims to sabotage international media event, says union
(CJES/IFEX) – On 15 May 2007, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) received a notice signed by Mr Grigoryev, deputy head of the territorial department of the Federal Property Management Agency (Rosimushchestvo), stating the termination of the contract allowing the union to occupy its office space on Moscow’s Zubovsky Boulevard, giving no reasons for the […]
Courts delay action on media NGO’s complaint about raid on office; part of a campaign to silence critical NGOs, says CJES
(CJES/IFEX) – The Moscow Golovinsky Court on 11 May 2007 rejected a complaint filed by Manana Aslamazyan, the head of the foundation Educated Media, which is a successor of Internews, the international non-governmental organization (NGO) that fosters independent media and access to information. In her complaint, Aslamazyan alleged that the 18 April confiscation of documents […]
Television journalists prevented from filming exterior of missile disposal plant, harassed, detained briefly by police
(CJES/IFEX) – The agency Skrytaya Kamera (Yekaterinburg’s Channel 4 television) has spent 20 days waiting for a response from the Perm Kirovsky district prosecutor’s office to its report on an incident involving a group of its reporters, which occurred in Perm on 20 April 2007, the agency’s founder Robert Karapetyan told CJES on May 10. […]
Publication of newspaper suspended following raid; police prohibit journalist from using laptop
(CJES/IFEX) – Police confiscated three computers from the office of the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta v Samare” on 11 May 2007. The police accused the newspaper’s journalists of using counterfeit software, reports NEWSru.com. The newspaper’s director, Sergei Kurt-Adzhiyev, has announced that the publication of the paper has been suspended. He believes that the actions taken by […]
Human rights worker sentenced to seven years in prison for “speaking up about things the government tries to silence,” says CJES
(CJES/IFEX) – The following is a statement by CJES: On 1 May 2007, the Sergeli District Court in Tashkent, under the presiding judge Nizam Rustamov, sentenced CJES’s colleague Umida Niyazova to seven years in prison. During two days of so called “justice”, Uzbekistan managed to demonstrate neglect of its own Constitution. Criminally enough and – […]
Magazine publisher and son harassed, threatened for reporting on illegal wiretapping by Omsk region’s organised crime prevention unit
(CJES/IFEX) – Sergei Suslikov, the owner of the Omsk publishing house TTIES and founder of the magazine “Biznes Kurs”, has written an open letter to the Omsk region’s prosecutor, Sergei Kazakov, saying he is being pressured by officials from the local department for the prevention of organized crime over articles criticizing the department. Suslikov told […]
Critical television journalist, previously threatened and attacked, fears for his life
(CJES/IFEX) – Fyodor Bykhanov, a journalist with the television and radio company RIF based in Biisk, Altai territory, announced on the 5 April 2007 broadcast of the programme “Zloba Dnya” that he is afraid that his life is in danger. Bykhanov said unidentified individuals had thrown two bottles containing liquid explosives into his apartment window […]
Television journalist, previously attacked over his work, found dead
(CJES/IFEX) – Vyacheslav Ifanov, a cameraman with the television station Novoye Televideniye Aleiska (NTA), was found dead in his car in Aleisk, Altai territory, in the early hours of 5 April 2007. The journalist’s colleagues believe he was murdered. The journalist’s death shocked his colleagues, NTA Director Yevgeny Filippov told CJES. “The thing is that […]
“Krasny Sever” newspaper editor and journalist forced to resign, black-balled by local authorities
(CJES/IFEX) – Vladimir Voloshin, editor-in-chief of the Salekhard newspaper “Krasny Sever”, and Pavel Razuvayev, a journalist with the newspaper, have been forced to resign. They resigned shortly after the elections to the Yamal region’s parliament, which were held on 28 March 2007. According to Razuvayev, the journalists were asked to resign by officials from the […]
“Delovoi Petersburg” photojournalist beaten, injured, by pig farm security guards
(CJES/IFEX) – Andrei Kulgun, a photojournalist with the newspaper “Delovoi Peterburg”, was beaten in St. Petersburg on 3 April 2007. “Delovoi Peterburg” editor-in-chief Andrei Yershov told CJES the attack occurred as Kulgun and his colleague Mikhail Svetov tried to cover a meeting of shareholders of the pig farm Novy Svet. Although the journalists showed the […]
Journalists arrested, assaulted while covering demonstration
(CJES/IFEX) – Reporters from several Russian and foreign publications were beaten and detained in Nizhny Novgorod while covering the March of Dissent, organised by the joint opposition on 24 March 2007. Media reports say 12 to 20 journalists were exposed to violence. According to information filed by CJES correspondents on 26 March, nine journalists were […]