2 Russian journalists killed in recent months

By freedomforum.org staff

07.10.02

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Two Russian journalists have been murdered in recent months, bringing to six the number of journalists killed in that country so far this year.

Natalia Skryl, 29, a reporter for Nashe Vremya, was attacked near her home in Rostov-on-the-Don on March 8 and died of what have been reported to be massive head injuries. A large sum of money was found in her purse, eliminating robbery as a motive for the attack.

Nashe Vremya Editor in Chief Vera Yujanskaya said she believed the attack was linked to Skryl’s journalistic efforts, particularly her investigations "into the business activities of several large companies in the region," according to pravda.ru, a news Web site in Moscow.

The Vienna-based International Press Institute, the Moscow-based Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations and the Ottawa-based Canadian Journalists for Free Expression have protested the killing and have linked Kryl’s murder to her work as a journalist.

Sergei Kalinovsky, 26, editor of the Smolensk edition of the Moscow daily Moskovsky Komsomolets, disappeared the evening of Dec. 14, 2001; his body was found April 1, 2002, near a lake outside the city.

Kalinovsky reported on local politics and crime for the newspaper and for a local television station. He disappeared after telling his father that he was going out "to an important meeting and would return late."

When his body was found buried in the snow, it was covered with bruises.

Last year, Kalinovsky’s apartment was destroyed in a fire that has never been explained. His newspaper colleagues believe the murder was related to his journalistic work, a claim that has been picked up in various Russian and other news reports.

Related

Journalists in peril
Preliminary list of journalists who died in the line of duty in 2002.  01.15.03