Editor of “Forbes” ordered to pay damages over article on business owned by Moscow mayor’s wife
(CJES/IFEX) – The Moscow Chertanovsky Court has ordered the editor of the Russian edition of “Forbes” magazine, Maksim Kashulinsky, to pay a company, Inteko, 109,165 rubles (approx. US$4,186) for “non-material damages done as a result of dissemination of untrue and defamatory information”, reports NEWSRU.COM. The damages granted represented one ruble for every copy disseminated of […]
Editor charged with three crimes after publishing statement alleging sexual harassment by top official
(CJES/IFEX) – Gleb Ivanov, editor of the Astrakhan opposition weekly “Fakt i Kompromat”, was charged with three crimes by the Astrakhan prosecutor’s office and the interior affairs department for the Astrakhan region on 17 March 2007. Ivanov’s colleagues believe this repressive action was taken against the journalist over a statement by a subordinate of Tatyana […]
Prosecutor summons journalists for questioning over article about opposition event
(CJES/IFEX) – Tatyana Krasilnikova, editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Kommersant-Nizhny Novgorod”, was summoned to the Nizhny Novgorod prosecutor’s office on 19 March 2007, for questioning about an article published by the newspaper, entitled “Nizhny Novgorod Mayor’s Office disagrees with the Disagreeing Ones”. The writer of the article, Yuliya Sukhonina, was the first to be summoned, but […]
Fourteen IFEX members call to end criminal prosecution of journalists and to release imprisoned journalist Umida Niyazova
(Adil Soz/CJES/IFEX) – The following is a joint action statement, signed by 14 IFEX members: Fourteen IFEX members call to end criminal prosecution of journalists and to release imprisoned journalist Umida Niyazova International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech (Adil Soz) and the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations (CJES), along with 12 other […]
Independent newspaper and staff ordered to pay “damages” to powerful businessman, face other pressure tactics
(CJES/IFEX) – Andrei Mikhailov, founder of “Khronograf Togliatti”, the only independent publication in Togliatti, a city in the Samara region, has reported that serious pressure is being exerted on the newspaper. Mikhailov told CJES a defamation lawsuit was filed against the newspaper with the Togliatti Central District Court by Vladimir Avetisyan, managing director of the […]
Journalist legally persecuted, his working material seized, in defamation lawsuit by regional governor
(CJES/IFEX) – Bailiffs seized the property of Georgy Borodyansky, a reporter for the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta”, in Omsk on 14 February 2007, the radio station Ekho Moskvy reported. The seizure was made on the orders of the Omsk Kuibyshevsky District Court, which ruled in favour of the lawsuit filed by Omsk region’s governor, Leonid Polezhayev, […]
Critical, independent website severely hacked, made inoperable, accused by official of “fanning ethnic tension”
(CJES/IFEX) – The independent website http://www.ingushetia.ru has stopped operating as a result of a powerful attack by hackers on 15 February 2007. According to site owner Magomed Yevloyev, on 13 February, North Ossetia prosecutor German Shtadler said a probe of the site found some publications to be fanning ethnic tension. Tamerlan Aliyev, a CJES expert […]
Court finds newspaper guilty of defaming Chechen prime minister
(CJES/IFEX) – Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov has won a defamation lawsuit against the “Kommersant” newspaper, Ekho Moskvy radio reported on 7 February 2007. The lawsuit was filed over an article entitled “Commandante of Chechnya”, run by “Kommersant” on 15 July 2006, which contained statements made by Vissarion Aseyev, the head of the non-governmental organisation […]
CJES correspondent sentenced to three months in prison for “illegal transportation of information material”
(CJES/IFEX) – A CJES correspondent has been sentenced to three months in prison on spurious criminal charges. On 22 January 2007, Uzbek journalist and human rights defender Umida Niyazova was arrested and taken to the pre-trial detention unit in the Uzbek city of Andijan. She was detained for four days. On 26 January, she was […]
Sakharov prize winner detained under spurious allegations
(CJES/IFEX) – “Novaya Gazeta” reported on February 8, 2007 that Vladimir Chugunov, a journalist with the paper, was arrested on January 21 and detained for several days. Chugunov also publishes and writes for the newspaper “Chugunka”, a publication based in the Solnechnogorsk district of the Moscow region, where he lives. Chugunov’s brother told “Novaya Gazeta” […]
Journalist beaten, injured, for taking photographs in public employment agency
(CJES/IFEX) – On 19 January 2007, in the city of Partizansk (Primorsky region), Tamara Golovanova, correspondent for the newspaper “Vesti”, was badly beaten while on assignment. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Ms. Olga Aksakova, informed the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the journalist was beaten in the offices of a public employment agency while […]
Court allows website to continue operating but rules that it must register as a media outlet; editor to appeal
(CJES/IFEX) – On 17 January 2007, the City Court of Abakan ruled that the Khakassian website “Noviy Fokus” (“The New Focus”), belonging to journalist Mikhail Afanasyev, will not be closed down, despite Public Prosecutor Vladimir Dyuzhev’s insistence, news agency Khakassia reported. However, the website can continue operating only after it has been registered as a […]
Newspaper faces three defamation lawsuits as electoral period approaches
(CJES/IFEX) – In the city of Omsk, three lawsuits entailing demands for damages totalling 1.7 million rubles (approx. US$64,000), have been filed against the newspaper “Omskoe Vremya” (“The Omsk Times”). As the editor of the newspaper, Mr. Yury Perminov, told CJES, all three claims were filed under clause 129 of the Criminal Code of the […]
Online newspaper editor’s conviction, fine for “insult to authority” confirmed by regional court
(CJES/IFEX) – On 11 January 2007 in Ivanovo City, the Ivanovo regional court confirmed the prior verdict of the Lenin area Justice of the Peace against Mr. Vladimir Rahmankov, editor of the Internet-based newspaper “Kursiv”. The news agency New Region reported that the ruling was sent to the press service section of the State Office […]
Editor’s home target of arson attack, police briefly detain newspaper staff following reports critical of regional governor
(CJES/IFEX) – On 1 January 2007 in the city of Pskov, at about 7:00 pm (local time), an unidentified individual or individuals set fire to the door of the apartment of Irina Tikhonova, the editor-in-chief of “The Bulletin” of the news agency Pskov News Bureau. Tikhonova is convinced that the incident is directly related to […]
Journalist knocked unconscious, his documents stolen and audio recordings erased
(CJES/IFEX) – On 11 January 2007, Edward Kitashov, correspondent for the magazine “The Person and the Law”, informed CJES that he was the victim of an assault on 5 December 2006. He reported the assault, which took place near the Moscow subway station “Polezhaevskaja”, to a regional police station. “An unidentified person struck my head […]