According to information before IPI, Magomedzagid Varisov, a prominent journalist and political analyst, was shot and killed on 28 June 2005, in Mahachkala, capital of Russia’s republic of Dagestan. Varisov was returning home with his wife, when unidentified assailants opened fire on his car. Varisov was fatally wounded and died at the scene. His wife was unharmed, and their driver was hospitalised with injuries. Reportedly, police believe that the attackers targeted Varisov.

Varisov was the author of a column, “Political Analysis”, in Mahachkala’s Novoye Delo weekly. He had also been interviewed by foreign media, such as Berliner Zeitung, about the situation in the region, and police believe that his reporting was one of the primary motives for the murder. His colleagues also cite his work as the most likely motive.

According to local reports, Varisov’s last article, on events in Borozdinovskaya village in Chechnya, analysed the situation, and was extremely critical of the authorities. After a special task force operation had been carried out in the village, during which one person was killed and 11 injured, about 1,000 people, mainly natives of Dagestan, fled from Chechnya to Dagestan.

According to the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations (CJES), Varisov was under surveillance by unknown individuals. Novoye Delo’s editorial office had repeatedly received threatening phone calls, which called for Varisov to stop writing his analytical reports.

Last year, on 18 June 2004, Tagib Abdusamadov, director of GTRK “Dagestan” television channel, was shot in the chest by unknown assailants in downtown Mahachkala, and had to be hospitalised in a critical condition.

Commenting on the situation, IPI Director Johann Fritz said, “We are very concerned about the situation in the region and urge the Russian authorities to take all possible steps to stop the harassment of journalists and the alarming impunity that accompanies these crimes.”

“I call on the Russian authorities to carry out a rapid and thorough investigation of Varisov’s murder, and to do everything in their power to protect journalists in the future,” Fritz said.