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Voice of Russia host fired after criticism of South Ossetia president

Russian journalist Maxim Shaligin, a presenter on pro-government radio station Voice of Russia has been fired for criticising the outgoing president of South Ossetia.

Maxim Shalygin was sacked on 14 November, just ten minutes before his show was due to begin. He and his colleagues say he was discharged after speaking out against South Ossetia president Eduard Kokoity.

“Why do you let spin doctors with doubtful reputation rule the country and actually supervise presidential elections,” Maxim Shalygin appealed to Kokoity on the air. He expressed an opinion that Kokoity supported Kremlin favourite candidate Anatoly Bibilov,in the ongoing presidential election.

Voice of Russia head Andrey Bystritsky refuted the allegation of firing Shalygin because of the criticism he subjected Kokoity to. He told journalists Shalygin was a “freelancer who never could be discharged de jure”. Bystritsky added Shalygin was no longer employed by Voice of Russia because he suddenly stopped fulfilling “creative requirements”.

Alexey Simonov, head of Russian human rights organisation Glasnost Defense Foundation said he was upset by both sides: Bystrytsky and Shalygin.

“If Shalygin didn’t meet Voice of Russia’s conditions, he wouldn’t have had access to live broadcast. Still, Shalygin appealed to Kokoity in a tone characteristic of spin doctors rather than journalists,” Siminov said.

The first round of presidential elections was held in South Ossetia — the self-declared state in South Caucasus — on 13 November. The second round will be held on 27 November. The two main competitors are Anatoly Bibilov, whom political scientists consider pro-Kremlin, and local opposition leader Alla Jioyeva.

“Web attacks were aimed at Georgian blogger”

Max Kelly, chief security officer at Facebook, told technology website CNET News that denial-of-service internet attacks which disrupted Twitter, Facebook and Live Journal services yesterday were targeted specifically at a Georgian blogger known as Cyxymu. “It was a simultaneous attack targeting him to keep his voice from being heard,” he told the website. The blogger has told the Guardian that he blames the attack on the Kremlin. Today marks one year since the war between Russia and Georgia over the South Ossetia region. Read more here

TV crew detained in South Ossetia

Three members of a television crew from Polish channel Telewizja Polska (TVP) were detained on 8 September near the village Karaleti, between South Ossetia and Georgia. They had been trying to enter the area to report on the expected Russian troop withdrawal. A group claiming to be Ossetian police took them into custody and confiscated their equipment and mobile phones. They were then handed over to the Russian military forces in the region.
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Journalists killed in South Ossetia

Georgian journalists Grigol Chikhladze and Alexander Klimchuk were shot dead on Sunday by pro-independence fighters in South Ossetia. They had been traveling with Teimuraz Kikuradze and US journalist Winston Federley when they came across a road block in Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. Ossetian forces opened fire when the journalists attempted to avoid the roadblock. Chikhladze and Klimchuk were killed outright, whilst Kikuradze and Federley were injured in the attack. Chikhladze had been head of Alinia TV and Kikuradze a correspondent for Itar-Tas.