(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 […]
(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 on Chechnya and Ingushetia, said the materials in question are publications dealing with the long conflict between two neighboring nations: Ossetians and Ingushes. “However, in my view, it is not just those materials, as they are no different from the other materials run by the site. It seems to me that the reason this has happened is the site’s forum, where some people posted sharp statements criticizing the republic’s President Murat Zyazikov,” said Aliyev.
Aliyev added that the hacking attack and the pressure on the site could also be due to the site’s being independent. “Because the site publishes objective, independent, and prompt information, it is one of the 10 most popular Internet resources in Russia. Another reason for its popularity is that there is a big information vacuum in Ingushetia and practically no alternative information.
“Most of the publications in the republic are state-run. I know of one opposition newspaper, ‘Angusht’, which comes out once or twice a year. I know of cases where young journalists tried to publish independent media, but after several successful issues the authorities ‘had a talk with them’ and they closed, preferring to avoid trouble,” he said.
Aliyev assumed the site will not be closed as it is very difficult to do so, but said the authorities may try to put pressure on the site’s owner, Yevloyev, and to persuade him not to let sharp, critical materials appear on the forum in future.
