The death of Magomed Yevloyev is a terrifying and tragic blow to freedom of expression in Russia, writes Maria Eismont
Magomed Yevloyev, owner of opposition Ingushetiya.ru webpage, was killed in Ingushetia yesterday soon after the police detained him in Margas airport. Yevloyev had flown in from Moscow on the same plane with the president of the region. On disembarking from the plane Yevloyev was forced into a police car and taken in an unknown destination. Relatives found him on a highway with a bullet wound in his head. He was taken to a hospital where he died. Authorities say a policeman shot Yevloyev accidentally when the website owner attempted to seize his gun. But the opposition in Ingushetia insists the killing was deliberate.
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Dutch news cameraman Stan Storimans was killed by Russian bombing in the city of Gori, central Georgia on 12 August. Another Georgian journalist, and his driver, were killed by Russian shells in Gori’s main square in the same offensive, bringing the total number of journalists killed in the six-day conflict to four. Georgian journalists Grigol Chikhladze and Alexander Klimchuk were shot dead on Sunday by pro-independence fighters in Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports at least 9 journalists have been wounded since hostilities commenced.
Russian investigators have charged four people in connection with the murder of Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya.
Politkovskaya’s Novaya Gazeta colleagues say they remain sceptical that the investigation will discover who ordered the killing.
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