Russia is a notoriously dangerous place to be a journalist. The list of reporters who have been murdered while uncovering organized crime in Moscow or reporting on the war in Chechnya is chillingly long. An article by Clifford Levy in The Times this week describes the bravery of journalists who have been brutally attacked for reporting on local corruption.

The Kremlin has tried to stifle most independent reporting. That attitude turns journalists who dare to do their jobs into easy targets. The Committee to Protect Journalists says that 32 journalists have been murdered in Russia since 1992. Most of these cases, like the ones in the recent article, are unsolved…

…If President Dmitri Medvedev really wants to combat corruption, he can start by pursuing and prosecuting those who are trying to silence Russia’s independent journalists.

The New York Times 

ChechenCenter.info