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Russian Journalist Yevloyev MurderedIngush Citizens Protest Amid Violence and Media OppressionThe murder of a prominent Russian journalist has caused unrest in the province of Ingushetia.
Police formed blockades in the streets last Thursday to stop protests by anti-government dissenters. The recent bout of clashes between Russian authorities and opposition forces was brought on after journalist Magomed Yevloyev was found dead on August 31st . Yevloyev ran a popular online publication, Ingushetiya that reported on government corruption, protests, and human rights abuses in this volatile province in the North Caucasus. The website had been ordered to shut down in June on charges that it spread “extremist and racist views” but had stayed active. Controversial Death of Yevloyev Causes Protests Yevloyev was taken into police custody for questioning at a local airport last week. The journalist’s body was found hours later in front of a nearby hospital with a single gunshot wound to the head. Regional prosecutor Yuri Turygin gave statements claiming Yevloyev was shot accidentally after attempting to take a police officer’s gun. According to the CurrentTV website, over a thousand mourners showed up to the funeral on Monday, turning it into a demonstration. Citizens carried banners accusing police of lying about the circumstances surrounding the death and demanding a full investigation along with the resignation of regional pro-Moscow President Murat Zyazikov. War in "The New Chechnya"? Violence has been escalating in this primarily Muslim republic of about 400,000, with daily gun battles and attacks on police cruisers. Troubles in neighboring Chechnya, where a war for independence has been ongoing for over a decade, are mostly contained but some have argued that the violence has merely moved to Ingushetia. Moscow sent 2500 interior ministry troops to control the situation last July but shoot-outs between local guerillas and security officers occur regularly. Called “the new Chechnya” by Reuters, Ingushetia residents regularly report violent security raids on their private homes. Media Oppression in Ingushetia Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was elected to the presidency seven years ago in part, due to his pledges to wipe out insurgency in the North Caucasus, has not been successful in Ingushetia. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, authorities in Ingushetia have tried to repress news about conflict in the region. Yevloyev’s website was one of the last available news sources in the province not run by the soviet government. According to a Reuters report last January, nine journalists and two human rights activists were taken into custody while trying to report on protests in the Ingush city of Nazran. The Editor in Chief of Ingushetiya, Rosa Malsagova, left Russia in August to seek asylum in Europe after repeated threats and harassment, fearing for her life. The CPJ has called Ingushetia “a lawless zone where enemies of the press can attack journalists with impunity.” The director of the Ingushetia-based nongovernmental organization Mashr has called for a full investigation of the Yevloyev’s death. Director Magomed Mutsulgov asked Radio Free Europe “How long can this go on – to take a person off the plane openly, in the most brazen way, put him in a special vehicle, and ten minutes later deliver him to a hospital with a head wound?”
The copyright of the article Russian Journalist Yevloyev Murdered in International Affairs is owned by Sandra Phaneuf. Permission to republish Russian Journalist Yevloyev Murdered in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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