Impunity is an urgent issue facing press freedom campaigners. Joel Simon of the Committee to Protect Journalists outlines a roadmap for action
(more…)
Claims of internet censorship have spread amongst the Russian blogosphere after the wireless internet service provider, Yota, admitted blocking access to certain websites. Denis Sverdlov, chief executive of WiMax operator Skartel, which runs the Yota brand, acknowledged that Yota blocks access to sites that are classified as extremist by the Justice Ministry. “This strongly smells of political censorship,” said Denis Bilunov, a senior member of Kasparov’s Other Russia movement. He said the most likely explanation was Russian Technologies’ involvement in the company. Read more here
Friends and colleagues have called for an investigation into the death of a Russian TV journalist, Olga Kotovskaya who plunged from the 14th storey of a building one day after winning a major legal case. She was a prominent journalist on Kaskad regional TV channel which broadcasts in the western enclave of Kaliningrad. The channel had a reputation for objective news reporting, live broadcasts, and studio guests who were sometimes critical of regional leaders. The death was originally considered to be suicide however Solomon Ginzburg a deputy in Kaliningrad’s regional parliament told the Guardian: “I have no doubt at all that this was a political killing.” Read more here
Website Ingushetia.org has lost a second owner in just over a year to violence. Maria Eismont reports
(more…)