(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the Russian public prosecutor and interior minister, RSF voiced outrage over the 30 March 2005 beating of photographer Vladimir Lavrov, of the local newspaper “Moyo”, by several policemen in Voronezh (500 km south of Moscow). The officers also took his digital camera’s memory card, which contained images for the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the Russian public prosecutor and interior minister, RSF voiced outrage over the 30 March 2005 beating of photographer Vladimir Lavrov, of the local newspaper “Moyo”, by several policemen in Voronezh (500 km south of Moscow). The officers also took his digital camera’s memory card, which contained images for the newspaper’s next issue.
“This was the second time that a journalist was beaten up in the Voronezh region during the month of March,” RSF noted. “This sort of practice has no place in a democracy and must be brought to an end immediately in order to prevent a climate of impunity from taking hold in this region,” the organisation added, calling for an investigation.
The incident took place when Lavrov saw a group of policemen in the process of detaining about 30 young football supporters. He approached the officers, introduced himself as a news photographer, showed his press card and took several photographs.
As he was leaving the scene, Lavrov was suddenly assaulted by several uniformed and plainclothes officers. They pushed him under the arch of a building, threw him to the ground, punched him several times in the face, and left with his camera’s memory card, leaving him almost unconscious.
Several colleagues took Lavrov to hospital, where he was treated for bruises and eye injuries. The next morning, he filed a complaint at the local Interior Ministry office.
On 8 March, Viktor Naikhin, a correspondent for “Moyo” and “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, was beaten unconscious by thugs at his home in Voronezh. He was covering municipal and regional elections at the time. Naikhin suffered a concussion, bruising to the face and three broken ribs, and temporarily lost the use of his right hand (see IFEX alert of 21 March 2005).
